Iggy Pop campaign for Orcon claims top Canne Lions Direct Prize

Iggy Pop campaign for Orcon claims top Canne Lions Direct Prize

(from USA Today)

New Zealand broadband provider Orcon’s unique paring of an aging punk rocker with new technology earned the company a Grand Prix award in the direct response advertising Lions competition.

The telecom got Iggy Pop to record new vocals to his 1970s song The Passenger from a studio in Miami — but added a very 2010 twist: It asked New Zealanders to audition online and then selected eight those musicians to lay down the song’s instrumental tracks with Iggy on vocals via separate Orcon high-speed Internet connections.

The live collaboration — and multi-media campaign supporting it — got immense buzz in New Zealand. View above video and you can see why. The agency that created the promotion, Special Group, Auckland, also earned accolades in the creative community.

“It was one of the best uses of (a) celebrity that we’ve ever seen,” said Pablo Alzugaray, chief executive officer at Spanish ad firm Shackleton and president of the direct jury.” “Besides, it was a fantastic use of a product demo.”