2024 Bronze AI

Agency: VCCP

Client: Virgin Media O2

Entry Title: The Bubl Generator

Executive Summary

This entry showcases a revolutionary asset creation process through a bespoke AI image generation model for O2’s brand mascot, Bubl.

Strategy

While Bubl was created to increase brand warmth and iconicity, O2’s ability to use it was restricted by time and budget constraints, limiting visibility and potential.

50% of O2 customers were unsure of Bubl’s role in campaigns. This lack of a consistent character restricted his storytelling prowess as well as his visibility. Objectives were to reduce time and costs, increase visibility across diverse media channels and develop a stronger character personality - enabling Bubl to do more of the narrative heavy lifting.

Creativity
The solution was to harness the creative potential of AI tools by building a bespoke extension atop a base stable diffusion model that is only available to O2. AI helped ‘See what Bubl can do’ by using simple text prompts to generate images of Bubl is almost any fathomable context. The team learned to custom-train the model using images of Bubl from numerous unconventional perspectives in order to closely control our output.

The data-set was repopulated by creating a digital twin of Bubl into Unreal Engine, allowing the team to animate him in dynamic and novel poses. The images generated by the AI tool were strategically prompted to position Bubl in contexts that embody O2’s mission and offer. Bubl was given a personality as a travel-loving, bread-baking, gig-attending robot that can be disseminated across touchpoints.

Results

The AI tool directly completed the objective to leverage Bubl as a brand mascot for O2.

Efficiency gains allowed more frequent and cost-effective campaign iterations as assets that previously cost £4,000 to produce now cost £70. Taking production from four days to four minutes means time can be spent focussing on the quality of alternative content.

The tool has enabled Bubl to transcend the limitations of traditional broadcast media, amplifying his presence across digital platforms. By producing a variety of contextually relevant images, Bubl now engages audiences through reactive social media posts, websites and other online channels, enhancing his visibility and reinforcing O2’s iconicity.