Deutsche Telekom has launched a new app which enables anything magenta to become a viewable screen, and is launching the initiative with new exclusive content from British virtual band Gorillaz.

  

The colour, which is associated with the Deutsche Telecom brand, will work with The Lenz App created especially for Telekom Electronic Beats, to transform magenta-coloured buildings, underpasses and even some London taxis into screens for content, artwork, videos and new music.

The technology works by identifying colours in the real world to activate the app, revealing exclusive Gorillaz content, based on insight garnered by agency Saatchi & Saatchi London that

brand colours have historically been used as the main distinguisher between rival network providers.

The launch is aimed at millennial consumers, typically Deutsche Telekom’s least engaged group, making the virtual band accessible in the real world to their mainly 16-34 year old audience.

The partnership will see the first-ever ‘live’ interview with the band using motion capture and composition technology, and exclusive clips from the first ever-live performance of the brand’s new studio album, ‘Humanz’.

Gorillaz will also be holding exclusive concerts across Poland, Hungary and Germany this summer with content from selected shows being streamed live via the app.

Deutsche Telekom vice president of international marketing communications Wolfgang Kampbartold argued that the Lenz App is a good example of how the power of connected mobile technology can be used to unlock a whole new dimension of music.

“Innovative new AR applications such as the App allow us to blend one dimension with another to create something entirely new and never seen before, allowing fans to experience a level of depth and discovery previously unimaginable,” he said.

“A virtual brand can literally pop up anywhere,” added Saatchi & Saatchi regional executive creative director Jan Teulingkx. “And we took this very literally: anything magenta is a portal for Gorillaz to come to our world. A post-it note, a magenta T-shirt, an out-of-date strawberry yoghurt.

“With The Lenz App they are turned into screens for Electronic Beats content. Soon, you’ll be able to see your first live concert on a magazine ad, or discover a new release somewhere on a wall in Warsaw. Anything is possible on magenta from now on.”

Launching across Europe, The Lenz App is available for free to download from the App store and Google Play, with exclusive Gorillaz content being released in the lead up to their album launch on 28 April, plus more planned throughout the year.

MediaCom handled media for the digitally-weighted campaign, which will include a 90-second film. It was revealed earlier this year that Deutsche Telekom is currently reviewing its media-buying account across Europe.

 

Deutsche Telekom – The Lenz App from Saatchi & Saatchi London on Vimeo.