Forget building a new brand. Build a new network.

Situation

When we first approached the branding assignment for Kajeet, a new cell phone service aimed at the tween (11 to 14 years of age) market, we knew we had to define this strange-sounding word for the Audience. Kajeet had only $8 million to out-gun Disney, ESPN and Mattel. With such a small budget (Disney's budget was $500 million), we had to choose our audience wisely. We had to appeal to those tweens that would not be sucked in by the high-dollar advertising that Disney, ESPN, and Mattel employed--not just any tweens, but smart tweens.

Objective

To convince smart kids that Kajeet gave them the power to change their financial situation by signing up their friends to "Build Your Own Network." This became the GASP strategy for Kajeet. It was simple. It was meaningful. It was do-able.

This strategy gave Kajeet something to stand for. Personal development was a sphere of mutual interest that could be quickly expanded upon. GASP believed that the foundation of the campaign was to let the smart kids join with other smart kids and build their own calling circles. We then developed group activities to help our network members learn about science and technology, starting their own business, bringing their family together, or solving brain teasers for scholarship prizes. By doing this, we knew kids would perceive being smart as being even better than being cool. Being smart wasn't just cool. It was one step beyond cool.

Results

These programs were put into several test markets and the results are currently being evaluated for further development.