Sprint extends Evelyn the robot storyline with TV campaign, social video series

Dive Brief:

Sprint is bringing back Evelyn the robot, first introduced during a successful Super Bowl push this year, for a new national campaign, a press release announced. Evelyn is this time joined by other robots, Arm, Atlas, Roberto and Sassbot, as they analyze data around consumers' choice in wireless carriers and decide to go on a mission to help people save money by switching to Sprint,
The campaign features a 60-second spot, "Time to Go," that will air in movie theaters, online and on ESPN and TNT during the NBA Finals. In the ad, Evelyn can't comprehend why some consumers choose to pay more with Verizon. She and her friends then visit Sprint's headquarters to help spread the word. There is also a 30-second spot where Atlas storms Sprint's marketing department to make sure everyone knows that consumers switching to Sprint get 50% off a Samsung Galaxy S9.
Sprint also launched a series of social media videos, called "Road Trip," to support the effort. The videos highlight Evelyn and her friends' adventures from their lab to the Sprint headquarters, including by hitching a ride with everyday people.

So where are the robots headed? To Sprint of course, to learn more about our great Network and great phones. pic.twitter.com/mCXpwGgepp
— Sprint (@sprint) May 19, 2018

Dive Insight:

Sprint's latest marketing push around Evelyn highlights how, as marketers' investments in digital video continue to grow, they're experimenting with more ways of building out a brand narrative across channels. While the campaign is centered around traditional 60- and 30-second TV spots, the telecom has added a social media series with separate, shorter ads that round out the narrative and Evelyn and her companions' journey.

Consumers prefer online ads to be briefer than TV ads, and more than one-third are more interested in online ads that are shorter than 30 seconds, according to recent research from Kantar Millward Brown. Viewers also think online ads should show the brand quickly, cut to the chase with content and be a little edgier than TV ads.

The creative around Evelyn also continues to lean into growing consumer interest in artificial intelligence and smart assistants, suggesting that such technologies would use data analysis to select Sprint over its competitors. The campaign's initial Super Bowl run ended up having a long tail and drove a good deal of purchase consideration for the brand, according to YouGov BrandIndex data.

Sprint has been ramping up its digital marketing efforts over the past several months. In September, it unveiled an in-house digital marketing agency intended to create a stronger digital presence, cut costs, speed up ad creation and better leverage consumer data. As part of the initiative, Sprint planned to hire 100 employees to specifically focus on digital.