First it was Ricky Gervais, then Usain Bolt and Mark Wahlberg and now Optus has added another big star to its books, bucking the trend for local talent in favour of imported US stars.
US actor Cuba Gooding Jr is the latest big name to be attached to the telco brand, filming a series of online videos in which he over performs his excitement for the new iPhone 8.
The ad, by Emotive, sees Gooding showcase the range of emotions people feel about the new devices, including begging staff, running into stores, moonwalking and even flirting to get his hands on the latest iPhone.
The mobile-first campaign is leveraging Facebook and Instagram to roll outs its message, including videos ads, Instagram Stories and branded content across both platforms.
It is one of the first telco brands globally to use Instagram branded content particularly, pushing the campaign through Gooding's Instagram.
Optus head of brand Corin Dimopoulos says the telco is already happy with the campaign analytics its seeing.
“For a couple of years we’ve been experimenting heavily with emerging advertising formats, integration of talent, and production techniques. Ads in Instagram Stories is a playful, absorbing full screen format we can capitalise on to drive saliency and awareness of a new product. It’s also a format commensurate with the quality of the product – and swipe up functionality to discover more is second nature behaviour to our mobile audience," he says.
Optus is leveraging Cuba Gooding Jr's own social following
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