How can we make a tech company's 10th birthday and its product's success unforgettable? Does anyone even care about this? NNG's iGO Navigation turned ten in 2015. The campaign started for this event aimed to create a young and energetic company and brand image. This was challenging because the company focuses on B2B, doesn't sell , and doesn't have customers here (except for people who own smartphones).
We crafted our plan based on the knowledge that Android users had been awaiting the official iGO Navigation app, which was available for iOS at the time. The BirthdayApp however, works on both platforms. We shaped our campaign around this fact, which led to a broad audience (demand) spreading our messages during the teaser communication.
During the teaser stage, we stuck to our plan and shared special info with an online navigation site. Index featured this on its main page - the first picture of iGO running on an Android device. This got people talking: Android fans spread the news. We sent out invites for the big reveal printed on coffee mugs, to reporters. Index ran a one-on-one talk with the CEO (Petya Balogh led the company then) right when we held the press event, which drew 16 attendees. We started the countdown to launch the app: 5 days to go.
App release: The app launched. We issued a follow-up press release then another as the 10-day download window neared its end. We also put out a humorous video starring NNG's CEO. To wrap things up, the CEO expressed gratitude for the downloads in a separate video, and we sent out a final press release summarizing the results.
We also asked NNG staff to join in celebrating the day and success, and we let them know about the outcomes through intranet posts. We gave them birthday stickers and encouraged their use, helping spread word of the app through this enjoyable and eye-catching tool both in person and online.
The campaign had a big impact. It led to over 700 articles getting published. On day one, 100,000 people visited the microsite. In total, 500,000 users downloaded the app. This meant iGO was on one in eight Hungarian smartphones at the time. The topic got so many comments on a major local mobile news site that the editor-in-chief asked to interview NNG's CEO. For days, the app topped download charts in app stores, both on Android and iOS. It turned out to be a birthday to remember.
