• by Aaron Baar , November 16, 2010

Through an Internet marketing effort that includes an extensive microsite, www.deadbatteryanxiety.com, the company treats concern over a battery's life as a treatable illness. Activities on the site include an interactive test to determine whether a user has "DBA," with questions such as "When in an airport terminal you: a. Head straight for the cinnamon bun stand; b. Pull out a book and start reading, or c. Search the perimeter for empty outlets with ninja-like precision."

Another section of the site introduces the "Faces of DBA," such as The Queen of Snark, who "died a little inside" when battery failure kept her from making fun of a group of women who were to head to a generic restaurant and watch a mainstream comedy. Also featured: A "mattress violator" who unsuccessfully eluded police after pulling the "Do not remove" tag off a mattress because the battery powering the GPS feature on his phone died.

Elsewhere on the site are depictions of "DBA in the Media," videos of people such as a "plug hawk" (a man who scours airports looking for open outlets) getting tazed at an airport after unplugging someone else charging device, and a man missing his son's first steps because the battery on his phone is dying.

"We can all think of situations where you can't plug in a phone," Lauren Curler, marketing and communications manager for SLANT Media, the agency behind the campaign, tells Marketing Daily. "We wanted to flesh that out a bit."

In every case on the site, the solution to DBA is the new Philips ChargeOn line of portable chargers, which are rechargeable extra battery packs one can carry to ensure the phone never dies. "Before smartphones, you could get two to three days out of a battery; now it doesn't make it through the day," Curler says. "One thing the ChargeOn lets you do [compared with other wireless charging products] is it allows you to charge the pack ahead of time."

The Dead Battery Anxiety microsite will be promoted through a variety of interactive media including Twitter and Facebook efforts, as well as radio commercials and events in Oklahoma City, Tampa, Dallas/Ft. Worth and St. Louis. The campaign is aimed at reaching primarily business travelers and consumer electronics enthusiasts.

Philips and SLANT are also promoting the product with an online sweepstakes (available through the site), featuring a new Honda CR-Z sport hybrid car as a grand prize as well as product giveaways on a weekly and daily basis.