Dom Joly takes to the streets for second phase of Bing It On campaign

Launch of three social media videos supported with paid social media spend

Microsoft today announces the launch of the second phase of its ‘Bing it On’ campaign, which challenges consumers to directly compare Bing’s search results with Google’s.

Launching today are three promotional videos, featuring celebrity comedy actor, Dom Joly, from the hidden camera/practical joke reality television series, ‘Trigger Happy’. Promoted with digital and social media, the videos feature real-life comical sketches around three emerging social media ‘habits’ that Brits have: ‘selfies[1]’, ‘phubbing[2]’ and ‘oversharing[3]’.

These trends have grown ever more prominent over the last year, highlighted by the announcement last week that ‘selfie’ is the Oxford Dictionary’s ‘word of the year’ 2013.

Viewers will be invited to reinvent these emerging digital habits by submitting their own take on a ‘selfie’ and uploading it to a supporting microsite www.do-something-new.co.uk. Participants simply include the hashtag #DoSomethingNew along with their creative selfies on Facebook, Vine, or Instagram for a chance to win a Nokia Lumia 1020.

The new microsite will complement the existing online tool at www.bingiton.com, where consumers enter a query to receive unbranded results from both Bing and Google, allowing them to make an unbiased decision as to which engine’s results they actually prefer.

The campaign is designed to drive an increase in consideration amongst consumers, and demonstrate Bing’s continued effort to challenge the search engine market – Bing now has 12.6 million unique searchers, almost one third of internet users in the UK.

Brian Kealy, Head of Bing at Microsoft UK says: “This second phase of the Bing it On campaign is a humorous look at what we found us Brits do every day, often without even realising we’re doing it. Working with Dom Joly on this project was great fun and his particular humour shines through in the final edits, which I think are very funny.

“We believe Google is a default currently and we want to challenge people’s search habits. Bing is going from strength to strength in terms of its product offering across the entire Microsoft ecosystem and this campaign is about getting people to try it and make their own informed choice. But don’t take my word for it, go to www.bingiton.com and see for yourself.

“For marketers, the Yahoo! Bing Network is an essential part of any broader marketing strategy, representing 20 million unique searchers^[4] from Bing and Yahoo sites. We’re focused on extending Bing’s audience base through customer-centered activity that inspires and excites and ultimately benefits the consumer, our advertisers and the Bing platform.”

[1] Selfies are a growing trend and guilty pleasure for most. This video sees Dom take to the streets of London to capture selfies with unsuspecting members of the public. Dom pretends he is on holiday in a sunny, exotic location in order to improve the look of his selfie.

[2] Phubbing is a habit gaining traction across the nation. It is the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to the person you’re supposed to be talking to. In this video, Dom visits a shopping centre and phubs unsuspecting shoppers.

[3] Disclosing too much information about oneself over social media is one habit gaining mass momentum. This video sees Dom Joly take to Leicester Square whilst vocalising his every move and thoughts with hashtags.

^[4] comScore qSearch, June 2013