After scoring a viral hit with a video of its heavy-duty vehicles playing a game of Jenga, Caterpillar is back with the next incarnation of its "Built For It" campaign. This time it's showing off the durability of its brand by dropping, drowning and rolling over cell phones.
In its latest Ogilvy-created YouTube video, released Tuesday, one of the phones -- which are licensed to Cat by cellular-device maker Bullet -- is dropped 30 feet into a pool of water, where it remains submerged for 20 minutes. Then, 600 of them are rolled over by its heavy equipment. These "trials" were performed at the same Illinois equipment demo facility where its "Jenga" video was filmed.
The phones are designed to take a beating and are made for field personnel and consumers. However, the video isn't trying to sell phones as much as it's meant to show off how tough the Cat brand is.
"Our idea with this [video] is to show that anything that carries the Cat brand will live up to the same brand promise; it's durable and versatile," said Archie Lyons, creative director, global brand marketing for Caterpillar. "Our goal here is to take our brand and make it more hip, relevant and approachable. The views we got on our recent YouTube video were off the charts, not something we planned for, but the positive feedback we got from around the world was what it was all about. Hopefully that will continue."
Mr. Lyons noted that none of the phones in the video were damaged, all were turned on and worked properly afterwards, which served to highlight some qualities of its large equipment.
"Cat's equipment, despite weighing thousands of pounds, has a unique weight-distribution system equal to a human footprint. Therefore, in our second 'Built For It' experiment, we showcase Cat's lightness of touch by rolling over Cat-branded mobile phones without damaging them," said Adam Tucker, president of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, New York. "It's this artful, yet playful approach we think will engage a global audience."
Last month Caterpillar launched its first "Built For It" trials video, which showcased several of its large vehicles moving giant wood blocks in a game of Jenga. The video received 1.2 million views in just a few days.
