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 theyd do if they were in the drivers
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 Mobiles 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 Mobiles 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, Were really excited to see our consumers
brilliant vision and what comes out of this next phase of the All You
Can Eat campaign.