Virgin Mobile: FAIR GO BRO

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Strategy
Category: Acquisitions
Advertiser: VIRGIN MOBILE AUSTRALIA
Product/Service: VIRGIN MOBILE
Agency: HAVAS WORLDWIDE AUSTRALIA North Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Executive Creative Director: Steve Coll (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Executive Creative Director: Kat Thomas (One Green Bean)
Creative: Lucas Jatoba (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Creative: Ben Pearce (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Creative: Jack Nunn (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Interactive Art Director: Will Brown (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Interactive Art Director: Stan Cheung (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Director: (Glue Society (Matt Devine))
Director Of Photography: Igor Jadue-Lilo ()
Designer: Darren Cole (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Designer: Jon Wilson (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Production Producer: Alex Kember (Revolver)
Head Of TV: Monique Pardavi (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Editor: Bernard Garry (The Editors)
Production House: (Revolver / Oblique / Will O'Rourke)
Print Producer: Warrick Nicholson (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Account Team: Scott McIntyre/Ross Jauncey/Josh Sandford/Matt Holmes (Havas Worldwide Australia)
Client: David Scribner/Nicole Bardsley/Tracy Hall/Ashley Killeen (Virgin Mobile Australia)
Photographer: Janyon Boshoff ()
Describe the brief from the client
Virgin Mobile promises Australians the fairest deal. But, for ten years, they have remained a niche player. Three huge telcos, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, have 87% of the Australian market, outspending Virgin Mobile 4 to 1 and buying the best advertising and sponsorships for their aggressive customer acquisition campaigns. Our brief was to deliver Virgin Mobile’s ‘fairness’ message to the Australian mass market in a way that would compete with their big-spending rivals for the first time ever. To do this, it was essential our campaign generated considerable earned media value.

Creative Execution

Fairness is at the heart of Virgin Mobile’s promise. By making Doug the centre of attention for the first time, Australians saw how good it feels to be treated fairly. With a quarter of the budget of other telcos, the campaign had to generate earned media to reach the mass market. A viral launch featuring Doug created headlines around Australia and worldwide. Aussies then voted to bring Doug ‘Down Under’, again generating huge earned coverage. With tactical outdoor and TV in support, this mix of bought, earned and online media meant Virgin Mobile’s ‘fairness’ message was being talked about everywhere.


Creative Solution to the Brief/Objective.

We wanted to remind everyone how good it feels to be given a fair go. We launched a campaign called ‘Fair go Bro’, featuring Doug Pitt - brother of world famous actor Brad Pitt. Virgin Mobile invited Australians to give Doug ‘a fair go’ by making him the centre of attention for the first time in his life, and thousands of Australians helped make him feel like a star. And while Doug got a taste of his brother’s lifestyle, the campaign generated millions of dollars of earned media and made Virgin Mobile’s promise of ‘a fair go’ unmissable.


Results

Fair Go Bro is the most successful campaign ever for Virgin Mobile
• 40% increase in market share
• 15% growth while the overall category grew by less than 1%
• 22% increase in sales, the best sales quarter in history
• 25% growth in customer base
• Fewest ‘lost customers’ across the industry
• 2 million+ YouTube views for campaign video content
• 428,000 unique visitors at FairGoBro.com.au
• 9,553 tweets and 7,980 blog pieces worldwide