It’s the middle of the night, and a woman is struggling to get her baby to sleep. At a low moment, she walks into her kitchen and finds a group of other mothers who are also awake and ready to offer encouragement.
“You’re doing great. Trust me,” one mom says.
“Mine literally only sleeps to techno,” another chimes in.
Cue the comforting tune of “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, as the next scene reveals an empty kitchen and the actual source of the women’s words: a group chat called Midnight Mums’ Club.
The slice of life captured in the new ad from Three, one of the U.K.’s largest mobile network operators, might be familiar to many mothers who lean on their group chats in stressful or confusing moments. But it’s not just moms who will relate to the campaign, which celebrates the power of belonging to personal networks, especially those facilitated by smartphones.
This is the fourth iteration of Three’s “Life Needs a Big Network” platform, created by London-based agency Wonderhood Studios. Debuting on Friday during the UEFA Euro 2024 championship’s opening game between Germany and Scotland, it is the brand’s biggest marketing push since the campaign’s launch in 2021.
A second ad follows a young man named Dev who is waiting for a job interview. To calm his nerves, he retreats to a stall where he encounters his entire family, who pump him up before his big moment.
This spot represents the all-too-common family group chat, a virtual space that can be “slightly chaotic and hilarious, multi-generational, sometimes with different political opinions—but ultimately there’s a lot of love,” said Aidan McClure, co-founder and chief creative officer of Wonderhood.
Along with these TV ads, the integrated campaign will run across cinema, radio, out-of-home and digital, with in-store activations and social media content spotlighting local community groups.
Positive connectivity
Three’s message focusing on “the positive impact of connected human networks,” per McClure, is timely amid growing public disquiet around the dangers of spending too much time online.
Some countries, including the U.K. and France, are considering legislation that would curb social media or smartphone use for children, with multiple studies pointing to the mental health impact of viewing harmful content online.
