Virgin Money: VIRGIN MONEY PROJECTION

Credits & Description:

Category: Financial Products & Servcies

Advertiser: VIRGIN MONEY

Product/Service: HIGH STREET BANK LAUNCH

Agency: BEATTIE McGUINNESS BUNGAY

Creative Director: Trevor Beattie (BMB)

Art Director: Miles Stubbs (BMB)

Copywriter: Sheridan Lord (BMB)

Account Manager: Stuart Granger (BMB Neon)

Head Of Production: Graeme Hawkings (BMB Neon)

Account Director: Amit Patel (BMB Neon)

Account Executive: Mike Heath (BMB Neon)

Account Executive: Jaylee Miguel (BMB Neon)

Business Director: Aimee Luther (BMB)

Account Manager: Alex Budenberg (BMB)

Producer: James Murray (Projection Advertising)

Head Of Production: Tom Burch (Projection Advertising)

Creative Lead: Sean Lamonby (Projection Advertising)

Chief Marketing Officer: Paul Lloyd (Virgin Money)

Head Of Sponsorship Marketing: Andrew Nicholson (Virgin Money)

Head Of Public Relations: Scott Mowbray (Virgin Money)

Social Media Manager: Ant Simm (Virgin Money)

Public Relations Director: Kevan Reilly (Citigate Dewe Rogerson)

Media placement: Live/Experiential - Senate House, London - 9 January 2012

Media placement: Online Film - Youtube - 9 January 2012



Describe the objective of the promotion.

To create an immediate buzz –nay: a tremor, around the launch of Virgin Money as a high-street bank. January 2012 saw the realisation of Virgin Money’s banking ambitions. Many would be daunted, given the negativity that has surrounded financial services recently. But not Virgin, who historically have turned inefficient sectors into democratic and positive ones by shaking up the norms.

We needed to create a piece of activation never seen before; one that would both instil public confidence in the brand becoming a bank and one that would make people proud to be a customer.



Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation.

We wanted to tell the full, vibrant history of the brand from its inception and convey how the positive energy, bravery and commitment of the Virgin mother brand will be applied to banking - from records to spaceships; balloons to trains.

To achieve this, we produced the first ever 270-degree fully immersive 3D projection-mapping event, kicked off by Sir Richard Branson. 16 giant projectors worked seamlessly to create a stunning 3D effect using all 3 walls of Senate House. We had people ducking as planes skimmed their heads, reaching out to touch the balloons and jumping from the path of the train.



Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service.

The public are at best, sceptical of banks. We couldn’t simply rely on traditional media to launch to campaign – we needed something unique and differentiated, something that would show our pedigree in making categories better.

The ultimate goal was to have our message seen by as many people as possible. Our strategy defined 2 audiences – the media (both traditional and online) and the public. We specifically invited influential bloggers and press to come down to the private event. We filmed the whole thing and seeded it out on YouTube for all to view.



Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results.

The Projection Mapping has been an incredibly efficient part of the campaign to date, when compared to other media. Adding to the equation the ‘depth of engagement’, you could argue the projection was the wisest investment on the plan.

The official YouTube video has over 472,000 views and counting. Including the amateur content filmed by those in attendance it has over half-a-million hits. Not bad for a brand entering the world of dusty old banking, hey? As for the impact on the Virgin Money business? Well, from the day the projection went live, we have beaten every single month’s targets.