Eyes on Vodafone's latest mobile moves

Vodafone staff wear giant eyeballs on their heads as part of a promotion of Vodafone's new 3G phone services. Picture / Martin Sykes

If you get the feeling someone is watching you tomorrow, you might be right.

That eye tracking your every move could be part of a media offensive by mobile phone company Vodafone to advertise new next generation - or 3G - phone services.

"3G is the biggest thing this company has ever done - so our advertising will be comparable," said Vodafone's new ventures general manager, Kieren Cooney.

He would not disclose how much the company would spend, or specifics on timing, but said to expect individual campaigns based around specific services using the new technology: video calling, high-speed mobile data, mobile television and music downloaded on the go. Advertising for the new offerings will come in waves over the coming months.

"We won't be advertising 3G per se - that's just a technology layer and we believe people don't care about it."

"Eyeball liberation day" tomorrow, which will see people wearing large eyeballs on their heads approaching passersby at high traffic areas in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, is part of the campaign for video calling.

"Video calling allows face-to-face communication, talking on the phone - the eyeballs have never been involved before," said Cooney.

Run by Vodafone's new public relations partner Mango - which won the telco's account in a five-way pitch eight months ago - the stand-alone ambient advertising is additional to a TV campaign which started on Sunday.

The campaign is based around the idea that with video calling, people will see what is happening when events can't be described in words.

The first ad shows a wake-boarder beating traffic by zipping up a flooded roadside pulled by a team of huskies; the second will be a kayaker coming down a flooded staircase - both stunts were actually done and were not the result of digital trickery.

Vodafone's advertising account is held by LOWE Worldwide, while Creative Juice does its retail advertising and spark its media buying.

Print and radio will also be used for all the campaigns, as will experiential advertising, beginning this week.