Mercury hid broadband prizes in everyday media and made homes the game board

Broadband advertising usually promises speed and reliability, claims consumers have learned to tune out. Mercury wanted its Bring the Buzz platform to make home technology feel energetic rather than infrastructural.

Cheat Codes reframed media as a scavenger hunt. Codes appeared in places New Zealanders already saw, from social posts to outdoor ads and real household objects. The payoff was practical: Samsung smart appliances, broadband packages and a total prize pool of $100,000.

The neat move was that the mechanic demonstrated the proposition. Fast broadband was not described; it powered a game that made domestic life feel more alive. Spikes Asia later listed the work as a 2026 Brand Experience & Activation bronze winner.

Make broadband feel playful by hiding codes where it powers life

It turned passive media into a participatory system.

The hidden-code mechanic gave people a reason to inspect ads instead of skip them.

The prizes matched the home-tech context, so the promotion did not feel bolted on.

It let a utility brand borrow gaming behavior without pretending to be a game publisher.

For a low-interest utility, make the category benefit playable: attention rises when ordinary touchpoints become clues.

Campaign Brief reported the August 2025 launch, the $100,000 prize pool and the AI-driven integrated build by FCB and Assembly. Spikes Asia's 2026 result table lists Mercury's Cheat Codes as a bronze winner in Brand Experience & Activation.