Docomo's position as market leader in Japan had been slipping, especially following the launch and subsequent media focus on new Apple products like the iPhone and iPad. Docomo needed to regain its status as market leader and let consumers know they were a serious telecommunications contender.
The brand set out to launch a campaign positioning the mobile phone as an 'extension of self' rather than just a gadget. The campaign was centered around the concept that the user and their phone are one. The phone talks to you, plays with you and its always with you, whenever and wherever.
In the launch campaign, well known Japanese actor Ken Watanabe portrayed a young man's mobile phone, in human form. In the second phase, Darth Vader became his mobile phone, a personification of the Android phone Galaxy S. A subsequent search was launched to find the owner, prompting all participants to ask who owns Darth Vader? The teaser maximised market chatter to anticipate the mystery in the main campaign titled 'Walk with you', which reveals Darth Vader's boss.
The search was announced nationwide across nine cities running across print, OOH, and staged events with Dart Vader walking through the streets were shown on YouTube, Twitter, online and mobile. The creative featured a picture of Darth Vader with the caption 'Who is my boss?'.
Those wanting to claim Darth Vader were sent to a dedicated website to enter their name and upload a photo. A short video was then automatically generated that shows Darth Vader encountering the profile. After reading aloud the name, he says, "Sorry, but you are not my boss." Darth Vader's boss was eventually revealed on nationwide TV.
Results
The website, both online and mobile, received 396,400 page views and 9,417 tweets were sent. The number of phones sold during the campaign's quarter increased five per cent over the previous year, which marked the first increase in three years. 1,770,000 new users joined in this quarter, which was 400,000 more than forecasted. The campaigned model Galaxy S sold out nationally.