DENNIS HUNTER
60-second TV spot. First air date: December 20, 2023.
Say Hello 👋 to the New Hughesnet
Hughes, a multi-billion dollar satellite communications and internet service provider, has been my client for over two decades, across three different agencies. Their consumer division, Hughesnet, is the leading provider of satellite internet service to homes and small businesses in rural America. Over the years I've created multiple TV spots for Hughesnet — including, most recently, a major new campaign with a new brand spokesperson.
In December 2023 Hughesnet introduced a new generation of its service, powered by JUPITER 3, the largest and most advanced commercial communications satellite ever built — which sits in a geostationary orbit 22,000 miles from earth, with a wingspan of ten stories.
Working with Hughesnet's general market agency Marca Miami, I helped the company rebrand every aspect of its marketing and communications for the new service. The keystone of this brand relaunch is a set of two national TV spots that represent a major leap forward for Hughesnet.
Breaking from the emotional tone and style of past Hughesnet campaigns, we developed a quirky spokeperson character named Hugh, who introduces an element of light-hearted humor to the brand. Hugh's role in the spots is to constantly reaffirm and celebrate the things people living in rural America are now able to do with the new Hughesnet.
I conceived and wrote these spots and served as creative director, presenting our work to the client and supervising every aspect of the pre-production, filming, and post-production phases: concepts, scripts and storyboards, character development, casting, locations, wardrobe and props, filming, editing, voiceovers, music, color correction, VFX, sound engineering, and more.
Hughesnet's TV marketing is always direct-response: subscriber acquisition is the name of the game. For that reason, direct-response elements are prominently featured, along with key customer benefits. The campaign's centerpiece is a 60-second spot where our character Hugh, in his friendly and quirky way, drops in to transform the lives of a typical rural American family.
WATCH THE 60-SECOND SPOT:
We also created a 30-second spot that is a hybrid between direct-response and branding, to add buzz and excitement about the new satellite and the things made possible by this cutting-edge new technology.
WATCH THE 30-SECOND SPOT:
Earlier TV Spots: 2013–2015
"Ubiquity" 60-second Spot
2013 was another key moment in the evolution of the Hughesnet brand, as the company launched the fourth generation of the service under a new brand extension, HughesNet Gen4, with faster speeds and greater download capacity. Supervising a team of art directors, producers and creative professionals, I created an innovative TV spot that became the most successful one in HughesNet's history.
"Ubiquity" was a massive production involving four scripts, multiple interwoven storylines, 18 actors, and 10 sets—all filmed in a studio in Brooklyn during a blizzard that shut down New York City.
The commercial was so successful at making the phone ring that the client kept it on-air for over three years.
HughesNet "Possibilities" TV Spot
HughesNet asked for online video for their annual sales meeting—one that would ramp up the emotional appeal of their brand for internal audiences. Produced on a shoestring budget, the video used stock footage, supers, and music to deliver an emotional message about the benefits of HughesNet service.
The sales meeting video was so popular with Hughesnet executives that the client asked us to repackage it into a consumer-facing TV commercial. We reconceived the video for TV with a new script, music and voiceover, but kept the heartwarming, emotional spirit of the original.