MTV reapplies wacky tone to attract unusual talent

Singapore - MTV has launched an unusual marketing campaign to promote its latest recruitment drive - the wacky campaign is in line with the company's branding and aims to convey the message of the importance of its staff.

"MTV recently refreshed our on-air look and introduced new music programming to the channel. In line with the channel's initiative, we wanted a creative campaign to bring across our image and further affirm MTV's position as ‘The Authority of Music," Joanna Tan, director, marketing and communications, MTV Networks SEA said.

"We felt the approach would meet our key objectives and the idea had potential for development into an integrated marketing campaign. With this concept, we have an opportunity to engage our target audience through a pseudo recruitment drive. This is where anyone interested to make music his or her career can aspire to be one of these quirky characters who make music special on MTV. The job appointment will not pay a salary of course but surely it will stimulate your imagination to what goes behind-the-scenes at MTV."

The Alchemy Partnership-conceptualised campaign has a strong emphasis on humour and calls for applications for the positions of MTV Beeper, Blingmaker and Rock Star Catcher. Three on-air spots are running on MTV and a dedicated website has also been set-up. The campaign is also running in the recruitment sections of both Singapore and Malaysia newspapers and brand ads, posters, radio spots, web banners and an on-ground event will also be rolled out in the lead-up to announcing a "new generation of unsung heroes".

The campaign targets the image conscious ‘generation finger tips' - youths who are technologically savvy and early adopters of new gadgets in the market. Applicants for the roles have to compete against each other through non-conventional means: for example, those interested in the Blingmaker and Rock Star Catcher positions have to submit creative artwork or a star-catching technique video clip which will be up for public voting by the community, while potential Beepers have to play a ‘Spot the Profanity' online game, with the five highest scorers to play off each other to nab the role.

Brand Story handled PR responsibilities - the agency was awarded a one-year brand PR communications retainer account for both MTV and Nickelodeon in March earlier this year across the Singapore and Malaysia markets; the incumbent agency was Vibes Communications.