Energy BBDO Shanghai introduces the stolen mobile phone tour for Time Out Shanghai

Energy BBDO Shanghai has created a memorable way to promote the local version of the internationally-renowned magazine, Time Out. They purposely “lost” Time Out Shanghai’s cell phone.

The phone was placed on a random street in Shanghai, available for any passer-by to pick up. Once someone did, they received a text message: “Get in the London cab that just pulled up.”

VIEW THE CONCEPT

The cab, a nod to Time Out’s London roots, carried the phone snatchers around the city to discover places they never would have found on their own. The only communication was through text messages on the phone. The campaign was called the “Stolen Phone Tour” and each stop along the way was captured by hidden cameras.

Stops included Homies, a tiny American-style hole in the wall breakfast joint; a vintage film collector who shows movies in the back room of a local store; UltraViolet, an unmarked restaurant where each course is served with customised wall projections, scents and soundtracks; the Peace Hotel Jazz Bar, where jazz music first came to Communist China, and where the same band (now in their 80s) plays weekly; Shouning Lu, a street food market favoured by locals; and a private table at Bar Rouge, one of Shanghai’s most exclusive nightclubs along the Bund.

“The Stolen Phone Tour is a brilliant idea that allowed us to not just say what we’re about, but to actually demonstrate it,” said Jake Newby, Editor at Time Out Shanghai.

This is the first partnership between Time Out Shanghai and Energy BBDO Shanghai. “At Energy BBDO Shanghai, we work with clients who ‘don’t have the budget to be boring,'” said Regional Account Director James Drummond. “The Stolen Phone Tour highlights Time Out’s strengths, as well as our agency’s approach to promoting brands.”