2022 Bronze Entertainment, Music and Publishing

Agency: RAPP

Client: Virgin Media O2

Campaign Name: The Virgin Media BAFTA Must-See Moment

Campaign Overview

Virgin Media wanted to make its sponsorship of the Must-See-Moment Award at the BAFTAs as big a win as the megastars involved. The brand desired wow-levels of nationwide awareness and engagement.

Strategy

The dual strategy focussed on when and where to grab attention. Rather than fight the BAFTA TV broadcast, Virgin Media wanted its own unmissable moment. Recognising the diverse and inclusive nature of the contenders, it needed to fiercely lean into a moment of cultural significance.

The brand put the spotlight on the stories of 2021's topical nominees in Virgin Media's Must-See Moment Award in the run-up to the TV BAFTAs. It also took over social channels to make it impossible to ignore.

With a social-first execution, using platform trend insights and channel mechanics, the brand wanted to inspire and engage a younger audience by spotlighting one of the most diverse nominees: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Bimini's 'UK Hun?'.

Creativity

Virgin Media decided to pay homage to Bimini's pink drag look with a make-up masterclass. To make the campaign go viral, a trending idea was needed which would elevate awareness of the drag community and a glamorous influencer iconic to the audience: enter TikTok drag artist Ellis Atlantis.

Ellis showed how to get red-carpet-ready in the spirit of the original moment, with the cowboy hat and vibrant pink outfit Bimini wore in the TV show; creating a 60-second video broadcasted on TikTok ahead of the TV BAFTAs. This got people talking not only about the show but also the importance of a non-binary artist being nominated for a mainstream award.

To tie the work back to the original brief of creating awareness around Virgin Media's sponsorship, the brand asked Ellis a series of questions about the diverse moments nominated - and how proud Ellis felt of RuPaul's Drag Race being up for such a prestigious award.

Results

At peak time, 3.8 million people watched the BAFTAs. By comparison the 'Red Carpet Ready' activation was viewed 15.5 million times, giving Virgin Media a 10:1 ROI on the media spend. In addition, a £10,000 talent spend turned a projected 1.5 million views into 15.5 million views, equating to approximately £500,000 earned media.

The brand had turned BAFTA into BAFTA-daaaaaaa!

The Team

RAPP - Al Mackie, Chief Creative Officer - Jason Cascarina, Executive Creative Director - Gabrielle Ludzker, Chief Executive Officer - Caroline Parkes, Chief Strategy Officer - Hiten Bhatt, Head of Design - Adam Rolfe, Creative Director - Tristan Povey, Senior Designer - James Norton, Middleweight Designer - Matt Gardner-Lewis, Group Account Director - Becky Smith, Senior Creative - Estelle Rice, Designer - Jeffrey Osbourne, Head of 3D and Motion Graphics - Andy Wolff, Motion Designer - Chloe McMahon, Strategy Director - Fred Schjottz, Social Strategist - Nikita Patel, Account Director - Yasmin Gibson, Project Manager - Mel Schouw, Group Account Director

Virgin Media 02 - Lee Scarratt, Social Media Manager - Sam Slee, Partnerships Lead - Maya Lekkas, Product Analyst - Rachael Courtney, Social Lead - Amy Allen, Social and Content Graduate

Contributors

Manning Gottlieb and OMD