The Brief

Black Friday is the most competitive week in the mobile calendar. Every network is shouting. Tesco Mobile needed to do something that couldn't be ignored, scrolled past, or forgotten - something that got people off their sofas and onto the streets.

 

The Idea

The Golden SIM Hunt. A nationwide treasure hunt where giant, gold-plated SIM cards were hidden in secret locations across the UK - each one concealing a QR code that, when scanned, unlocked a prize. The bigger the find, the bigger the reward.

 

What We Built

We fabricated over 130 oversized golden SIM cards - each branded with the Tesco Mobile x Secret Media Network identity - and deployed a team of photographers and crew to place them across 9 cities: London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast, and Bristol.

The cards were hidden in genuinely surprising spots. Wedged into the ivy near Clifton Suspension Bridge. Tucked onto a lamppost in Brandon Hill. Propped in the stone archways of St Nicholas Market. The placements were chosen to reward curious, exploratory city-dwellers - not just people scrolling for clues.

 

The Mechanic

Clues were distributed via a dedicated Golden SIM Hunt landing page, with additional hints dropped to Tesco Mobile's Instagram and each city's Secret city page secretldn - creating a multi-platform hunt that built momentum across both organic and paid social throughout the campaign window.

Prizes included Apple iPhone 17s, Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus handsets, Google Pixel 10 Pros, Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro, Apple AirPods Pro 3, Fever vouchers, and Tesco gift cards secretldn - a prize pool designed to make finding a SIM feel genuinely life-changing.

 

The Result

A Black Friday activation that transcended the digital noise and put real, physical excitement back into a crowded retail moment - generating earned media, organic social content, and genuine public participation across the UK.