2024 Silver Travel and Leisure

Agency: RAPP

Client: Virgin Media O2

Entry Title: Roam On

Executive Summary

O2 became the only network not to charge for EU data roaming. But confusion fuelled by Brexit and bad memories of previous big bills had left a deep-seated fear of roaming.

Strategy

Even O2 customers turned roaming off in favour of cautiously hot-spotting around hotel wi-fi. O2 saw an opportunity to help customers overcome their ‘Roam OFF Reflex’ and get more from their trip, and their relationship with the brand. The strategy zeroed in on flipping the fear and drive the desired behavioural change.

It used ONS and O2 travel data to identify when travel was high on the cultural agenda, and designed comms to engage at the most relevant times, transforming nice-to-know messages into need-to-know messages.

RAPP incorporated third-party data to create a just-in-time integrated journey, mirroring that taken by customers. The message landed before take-off, motivated while users were on the move, and played back their personal data usage as they unpacked.

Creativity

The team created a memorable mnemonic as a mental short-cut to the simple action it wanted customers to take - to keep their data roaming ON. The catchy aide memoire featured across comms, creating a drumbeat of consistent activity for customers to remember.

It dramatised that leaving roaming ON gave them access to so much more: music ON, maps ON, translations ON, educating users before they went abroad. Primed and excited to leave, customers travelling to the EU were targeted at touchdown to reinforce that while everyone else was unbuckling their seatbelts and turning off their data roaming, they could leave their roaming on.

When they returned home, O2 replayed their data usage reminding them of how much they’d enjoyed - with no surprise bill.

Results

The consistency and timeliness of the message gave customers the confidence they needed to roam on without fear and realise the true value of what they were enjoying.

The campaign reached 95% of the UK population and more than 2.5 million O2 customers, on average 8.6 times across the initial eight-week period. There was a +28% uplift (+700mb per person) in GBs used per customer when in the EU.

When they recalled the campaign, O2’s Comms Satisfaction Score - a foundational driver of NPS - was +51.8pt higher. And when it came to the impact on the entire O2 base, NPS gain was almost double that of 2023’s roaming campaign.

At a brand level, the campaign saw O2 take the top spot in Kantar’s ‘Number 1 for Roaming’ measure, with ‘Best for roaming’ increasing by 28% over the course of the campaign and outperforming 2023’s performance by +16%.

The Team

RAPP - Vicky Gelling, Managing Partner - Matt Wiseman, Planning Partner - Sebastian Weston, Strategy Director - Adam Rolfe, Creative Director - Sarah Buller, Senior Creative - Becky Smith, Senior Creative - Greg Chapman, Senior Retoucher - Oz Osborne, Head of 3D and Motion Graphics - Jade Thomson, Senior Copywriter - Julie Adams, Head of Copy - Natalie Smith, Associate Strategy Director - LJ Archer, Account Director -Russell Handy, Data Analytics Director - Nicky Patel, Account Director - Helena Clark, Data Analyst - Lionel Cull, Associate Design Director - Caroline Stuart-Nicolls, Senior Project Manager - Skye Taylor, Senior Account Manager - Buzz Robb, Account Manager

Virgin Media O2 - Paul Stevenson, Customer Marketing Director - Ben Mooney, Head of Customer Planning & Measurement - Eve Thirsk, Head of Customer Marketing Engagement, Service and Loyalty - Debbie Evans, Head of O2 Commercial Offnet - Andrew Rees, Campaign Manager Virgin - Natasha Evans, Senior Campaign Manager - Richard Brown, Head of Advertising and Campaigns

VVCP - Luke Chaplin, Account Director - Lotte Jones, Strategy Director

Manning Gottlieb OMD - Will Maclure, Client Business Director - Anneka Williams, Client Account Director - Larak Eleftheriou, Senior Client Executive