Operation Wedding

Telenor Bulgaria's network has won the Best in Test certificate three times in a row making it the best mobile network in the country. But proving your network is the “best” does not comprise only factors such as speed and coverage. In the end it is reliability and being there when in need while not interfering when not needed. 

d:istinkt and Telenor's creative agency guts&brainsDDB were tasked with creating a campaign to promote the network in a viral yet organic way. This is the story of the most unusual wedding, internally dubbed Operation Wedding. 

Two people in love got married during times of pandemic, turmoil, and confusion. She’s Bulgarian, he is American. They both live and got married in Bulgaria. Because of Covid-19 prevention measures – Ethan had to make this huge step in his life and start his family alone... His mother, his father, his closest friends, and relatives – they were all stuck abroad and could not come and be by his side.

But it is 2020. The fact that you physically cannot be present at the wedding, doesn’t mean you can’t be there. And when everything is against us being physically together...

Be there for Milena, be there for everyone. We would provide the couple with the opportunity to have their families join them in celebrating their special day.

We came up with a “video-wall” of tablets that would stream the event live to the US. Telenor invited the couple’s favorite Bulgarian band to sing live for them, but as the event coincided with another concert we upped the challenge - we would stream that too.

The wedding would be streaming all ways - from New York to the small village of Beli Izvor near Vratsa, Bulgaria and Stara Zagora, all the way up to Singapore and Peru.

Ethan’s mother would have a chance to have the first dance with her now married son. And the bride – with her father in law, dancing with the tablets.

On the day of filming Bulgaria was hit by one of the biggest storms. This added unexpected spice to the overall campaign, again reaffirming our message - Telenor’s network is always there when you need it, even in the worst of moments.

The campaign consisted of three phases:

we started with an emotional video,

continued with the official “Reveal”,

followed by the digital commercial.

The bride first published a non-branded emotional video her FB showcasing the troubles the couple went through during their unexpected wedding day. 

We sent out a white-label PR to all national media (Telenor not mentioned anywhere).

Telenor then published the video on its own channels, owning the story and pushing its message towards the end, putting Milena and Ethan at the center of the campaign.

Milena and Ethan’s story went national, with major TV broadcasters covering the story.

Strangers flooded SM with comments, congratulating the couple for withstanding the challenge to carry out a wedding in uncertain times and saying the technology could be our best friend.

The video

The video has been watched by over 60 000 people and the story has been covered in over 20 news outlets, including national broadcasters recording over 800 000 impressions and views online and over 1.2 mln. views on TV.