In the era of abundant How-to content that suggests ways to create happiness, what is happiness for people?
According to a social listening survey conducted in Thailand for 3 months (September to November), there were over 1 million messages mentioning “happiness” on social media, with over 137.5 million engagements. Facebook was the platform with the highest number of mentions, at 55%, followed by X at 24% and Instagram at 7%.
Upon delving into the details of the data, it is found that discussions about happiness are diverse and can be summarized into the top 3 as follows:
Family-related Happiness (29%): This includes aspects such as living life with parents, spouses, children, and friends.
Entertainment-related Happiness (27%): This category involves activities like attending concerts, watching movies, listening to music, and following artists.
Travel and Financial Happiness (9% each): This encompasses aspects like being debt-free, using money to drive happiness, and enjoying leisure travel.
The diverse happiness of people is the starting point for the “dtac True 5G Happiness Express” advertisement. The intention is to communicate the brand emotionally and create smiles for viewers during the New Year festival. Within the first 7 days of its launch, this advertisement has garnered an impressive 3.9 million views on YouTube.
For the behind-the-scenes of creating this advertisement, the team from True Corporation includes Chanut Pattanapitoon, Head of Brand Management Department, and Katkanan Boonyarungsrit, Executive Marketing Manager. They serve as representatives to discuss the thought process, challenges, strategies used in communication, and storytelling that allow dtac True to effectively convey happiness to the audience.
The advertisement that does not prioritize selling for the network
The advertisement “dtac True 5G Happiness Express” is intentionally created under the core idea of “Better Together,” emphasizing that life is better when shared. This is a key concept in the integration of True and dtac. Choosing the year-end period for the launch, the team aimed to celebrate the New Year together for the first time for both brands and two presenters, Nine and Baifern.
The core essence of the advertisement is to promote the idea of selling the best network of dtac True without explicitly discussing numerical data and being the number one. Instead, it focuses on conveying the emotions, feelings, and significance of having the network in every dimension of people’s lives. Chanut, the Project Leader, explained that it is a reinforcement of the brand’s position since its inception.
“If you look back at advertisements from the Orange brand and early True brand ads, you will see that we emphasize stories related to emotions and the meaning of people’s lives, aligning with the philosophy of True Corporation. As our chairman (Suphachai Chearavanont) always says, True’s technology will not leave anyone behind; it must make everyone’s life better.
“Today, we don’t see ourselves as just selling network signals, but rather, we are talking about the connectivity of dtac True that we provide to all customers. It is a communication of happiness in every form, including calls, video calls, text messages, and sending pictures. It’s all about conveying meaning and emotions to the people we think of.”
“Today, we don’t see ourselves as just selling network signals, but rather, we are talking about the connectivity of dtac True that we provide to all customers. It is a communication of happiness in every form, including calls, video calls, text messages, and sending pictures. It’s all about conveying meaning and emotions to the people we think of.”
On the creative side, Katkanan, in his role as the project’s creative, is determined to create an advertisement that goes beyond providing information or stating privileges. “We want to make this advertisement memorable and meaningful, emphasizing the goodness of dtac True. Not by claiming to be number one in any aspect, stating how fast the speed is, or how many towers we have. Instead, we want to convey images and emotions that are easily understood by people.”
Emphasizing the meaning of being a signal of happiness
When planning the launch schedule for the year-end festival, a theme that couldn’t be avoided was the concept of delivering ‘happiness.’ The creative team, along with the creative directors, had to collaborate to brainstorm and address the question of how to tell a story about happiness that would reflect the goodness of dtac True and make it stand out. Amidst the keyword “happiness” that every brand and industry uses to communicate during the year-end season, the challenge was to narrate a story of happiness in a way that would showcase the distinctiveness and excellence of dtac True.
“In the end, it became a clear theme: ‘Happiness Express, Signals of Happiness, Fast and Strong, Nationwide.’ Because the business of dtac True is communication, and communication requires signals. This theme is suitable for the festival, conveying happiness, and making it the easiest for viewers to understand the brand,” summarized Katkanan.
In terms of strategy, the creative team chose elements that would make the advertisement likable and easily accessible to viewers, along with conveying a brand that is more than just a network service provider but functions as a signal of happiness for everyone. Here are the key strategies:
- Emotional Storytelling: Opting for narratives that connect with the emotions and personal experiences of the audience, showcasing how the network and technology of dtac True connect and bring happiness to people’s lives.
- Diversity and Inclusion: Presenting a diverse range of characters, covering different genders, ages, and lifestyles to reach a broad audience, representing diverse user profiles and addressing viewers without limitations.
- Technology Integration: Although the advertisement tells an emotional story, it integrates communication technology in the digital age, elevating the meaning of connectivity through dtac True’s network potential in various forms.
- Uplifting Atmosphere: Creating a celebratory atmosphere for the year-end, reflected in both visuals and music that embody warmth, liveliness, and generate smiles for people.
Explore the hidden meanings in the advertisement
One of the joys of making advertisements is to decode abstractions and present them in concrete forms, and that is another challenge—telling the story of being a Telco Tech Company in a way that feels more human, all while bringing happiness along.
Katkanan, speaking from the creative perspective, highlighted various challenges and how they crafted a narrative that is instantly understandable. Nothing tells a story better than a narrative that resonates with the real context of the users. The team chose to tell the story through various symbols and techniques, such as:
- Symbolism: Using different symbols to create images, like the juxtaposition of blue and red lights, representing signals from dtac True that come together and soar across all areas. It reflects the speed, strength, and coverage of the signals. The presence of two presenters, Mr. Fern, who symbolizes happiness for everyone, or the light streaks running across the sky representing Christmas lights, symbolizes the festival accompanied by special gifts prepared by dtac True for customers.
- Shared Moment: Choosing moments of happiness that people commonly experience, whether it’s the moment when fireworks light up the sky, sending New Year’s wishes, the ambiance of sea, mountains, or concerts, including the use of a Vanilla Sky background that signifies the beauty of evening moments providing a sense of relaxation, to better connect these atmospheres with the viewers.
- Emotional Resonance: Utilizing emotionally charged situations that continue to capture attention and evoke feelings. For instance, the scene of a young man sending messages to his ex for seven years without receiving a response, making it easier for viewers to relate.
- Inspiring Action: The phrase, “And you, don’t you want to send it to someone?” in the hook is designed to make the viewers reflect on themselves, creating a connection between the advertisement and encouraging viewers to think and take action.
In conclusion, Katkanan emphasized the overall picture and reiterated the key scenes they want to communicate to the audience.
“In summary, the story is an accumulation of joyful moments that bring smiles, culminating in the scene where the young man sends messages to his ex for seven years without ever receiving a response. What we want to convey is that happiness isn’t solely dependent on the recipient. For some, just sharing good intentions can be equally joyful, even without expecting a reply. Another pivotal scene is the question ‘And you, don’t you want to send it to someone?’ in the hook, serving as a good prompt for viewers to reflect on whether they’ve forgotten to share happiness with someone. Even the presenters themselves don’t forget to spread happiness.”
The advertisement goes beyond just communicating with customers
“I’m quite confident that people will like it, almost to the point where I can say it’s an advertisement that leaves a lasting impression. Because when we watched it in the post-production room about 7-8 times, we still smiled every round.” Chanut expressed his expectations after the release of this advertisement, saying, “Another thing is, I want everyone who watches it to finish and feel like sending positive messages and good vibes to someone.”
In addition, he also hopes that this piece of work will not only communicate with viewers or customers but will also be a means of delivering an important message with meaning to all dtac True employees.
“Even though the advertisement primarily tells a story for customers, it, in turn, serves as an inspiration for the dtac True workforce. It conveys that we are not just a network provider, but we are on a significant mission to deliver signals of happiness and meaning to everyone communicating through our network. Similar to the wrap line at the end that states, ‘Signals’ is a ‘promise’ to send happiness to everyone indefinitely.”
Note: Information collected from Public Posts on Facebook, X, Instagram, Pantip, News, TikTok, and YouTube using the keyword ‘ความสุข’ (happiness) during the period from September 1, 2016, to November 25, 2016, utilizing Social Listening tools.
Watch the ‘Behind the Happiness’ clip to discover the hidden signals in the ‘dtac True 5G Happiness Express’ advertisement.
Watch the full video here.
