A few of us went to Trafalgar Square last night to attend the new event/TVC from T-Mobile. This is the second ad in a series of flash-mob events that began with a dance event at Liverpool Street station where 350 trained dancers mobbed the station and encouraged morning commuters to dance along with them to various songs.

This second event turned out to be a giant sing-along. T-Mobile handed out thousands of microphones to the thousands of attendees. Trafalgar Square was packed with people singing along to favourites old and new.

T-Mobile Hey Jude sing along

Besides being impressed with the terrific organisation of the event, the careful building of drama during the hour long filming (including the surprise singing guest, Pink) and huge crowd that gathered for the event, we were struck by just how friendly the crowd became and how much they got into the sing-along event.

We interviewed a lot of the attendees during and after the event. The most common remarks we heard were:

1. It was great to help get people together and get everyone to take part
2. Any event that helps cheer people up in a recession is a good thing
3. It’s a blast and it’s free

‘Life’s for Sharing’ is the new positioning for the brand. It’s a social narrative about intimacy, optimism and unity. The comments from customers reflect this position rather well. Throw in the fact that the brand is trying to cheer people up and that they are getting something for nothing and it’s plain to see T-Mobile have a real winner on their hands.

T-Mobile Reactions from the crowd

Of course, the audience understood that there is a commercial perspective to the event, but this was never mentioned first in their responses and it was clear that attendees were having a genuinely fun time.

Vox pops are, of course, a limited research medium (especially when barging in on people having a sing-along). It’s hard to capture the positivity that was created at the event on video or in words. In the end we were struck by how clearly separate experiences between commercial and social life are merging in a way that people not only accept, but prefer.