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by The Newshound

on Jul 24

Virgin mobile embraces UGC for its latest campaign

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Virgin Mobile Australia is literally handing over the directorial reigns with the latest phase of its  'All You Can Eat' campaign, allowing customers to visit whathappensnext.com.au and storyboard their own ending for the 'All You Can Eat' TV adverts. Virgin Mobile will bring the winning entry to life, and screen it on Australian TV.

In the latest move by a major brand to embrace user generated content (UGC) in its marketing, participants choose from one of the three existing TV advertising scenes to extend with their own imagination. A tool kit is provided to assist in creation of a storyboard, on which actions can be added to complete the advertisement in any way the director chooses. The adverts can be animated; sound effects chosen and the final cut sent to friends or viewed through Facebook or MySpace. All submissions are available to view through a gallery on the site so entrants can check out what competition they’re up against.

Dave Cain, brand and comms manager for Virgin Mobile Australia said, "In order to put the customer first, you need to listen to what they want, and you need to understand what you hear. 'What happens next?' is about providing a format to bring this philosophy to life by asking our target market what they'd do if they were in the driver's seat.  Hopefully, the nature of entries we receive will provide a unique insight into how our advertising is being understood, enabling us to learn – which is really exciting."

The All You Can Eat campaign – designed to build awareness and understanding of Virgin Mobile's Free Virgin to Virgin offer – highlights Virgin Mobile customers' ability to call or text each other for free whenever they like, as often as they like; just like an 'all you can eat' buffet.

As well as airing the winning ad on TV, other prizes include an all American style road trip to Cairns (with an obligatory all you can eat dining experience), as well as Sony Ericsson T250i with a year free calls and texts on the Virgin Mobile Cap 90 for the winner and runners up.

The 'What Happens Next' initiative is another example of how far Virgin Mobile is willing go to put the customer in control of their advertising. The 'Russell' campaign in 2006 introduced an uninspiring lad called Russell, who promoted Virgin Mobile's offer by speaking straight to camera. Virgin Mobile then interrupted the ad to ask the public how they thought Virgin Mobile should improve their communications so that their advertising was as exciting as the offers.

David Cain added, "We're really excited to see our consumer's brilliant vision and what comes out of this next phase of the All You Can Eat campaign."

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