Koodo

When Koodo launched two years ago, it debuted with a bold look and the proposition of affordable mobility on customers’ own terms.

Two years’ worth of campaigns with eye-catching colours and pop culture references
had firmly established the Koodo brand, but the CRTC rulings opening up the mobility space meant that Koodo would be facing a new wave of value players.

Its not-so-secret weapon was the Tab, Koodo’s unique alternative to contracts and pricing. While it had been featured in communications since the launch, it had never been the singular focus of a campaign. The challenge was to take Koodo’s most differentiated brand asset and make it a core part of communication.

Koodo is a brand with change in its DNA. While the attitude and style remain constant, the creative idea evolves to zero in on the strategic needs of each campaign. So to turn the Tab, a billing option, into something of interest, Taxi again looked to pop culture and came back with the luchador (a style of Mexican wrestler made popular by the movie Nacho Libre), creating El Tabador, a character who would lead the fight for phone freedom.

El Tabador became the focal point of a multimedia campaign that began in winter, with the neon-spandex-clad character appearing in television, out-of-home and print.

Two online experiences extended El Tab’s reach. The first was a game, “Get in the Ring,” which featured Bloatimus Contractimus, an evil opponent who personified the competition. Users were able to control the action and create their own personalized experiences.

A three-minute YouTube mockumentary shared the backstory of El Tabador. It featured some of the characters in his life – his former girlfriend, his manager, and banter and friendly rivalry from real-life wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart.  

Koodo does not release sales numbers, but El Tab caught on. He’s now in the top 20 most-viewed sponsor channels ever on YouTube in Canada and the number 12 most subscribed-to channel of all time. In the first three months of the campaign, more than 275,000 views were recorded on Koodo’s YouTube channel. El Tabador’s mission is well underway.