Songs by iconic artists like Elvis Presley, ABBA, Bob Marley, The Beatles, anyone can sing them along. We call them Evergreens: songs that have maintained their popularity over the years. Now we (unfortunately) do not produce songs, but we do produce products. Some innovations from our hand have been successful for years. In GBO Evergreens these ‘timeless’ products are in the spotlight. This time Parlino.
At the end of April 2006, the Netherlands was in an
uproar. Suddenly yellow garden gnomes appeared everywhere. This was the beginning of a mystery. Squares, gardens, bus stops. Nowhere was safe anymore. They even crossed the border. Reports came from Belgium, Luxenburg, Denmark and Sweden. Where did they come from?
Online and offline, it was all over the news. The only hint about the yellow gnomes was a reference to a website: ‘they-do-exist.com. The website contained photos of the yellow gnomes spotted in new
locations. The wildest theories were shared on forums. It became a real hype. There even was a run on the yellow gnomes. People took them home and gave them a spot on the windowsill or in the garden. Some people even sold them on forums. Still it remained a mystery where the gnomes came from.
Mystery of the yellow gnome
After two weeks, the mystery of the yellow gnomes finally came to an end. Tele2 revealed that they were behind the stunt. They launched a digital call platform by the name of Parlino. Perhaps the best guerilla marketing stunt of 2006. For us a great moment because we produced those little yellow friends.
Our first production challenge
Tele 2 approached us with the question whether we could produce those yellow gnomes. It marked our first production challenge. Since then on we were more than just a design and engineering agency. We actually started producing products. We noticed that we could provide a full-service. And now, more than 15 years later, we continue to develop ourselves in this field. We always look back at the Parlino story with a smile. They really changed us.
