2011 Silver Best launch campaign

Client Virgin Media

What is wonderful about this work? A simple dramatisation of the benefits of TiVo, through DM, print, outdoor, TV, online and PR. In four weeks we increased average monthly sales by 119%, drove 15% of retail footfall and 377,178 website visits, with 89% 'thumbs-ups'.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Sky has the lion's share of digital TV. Despite providing TV, broadband and phone to millions of homes, Virgin Media is often perceived as a lesser alternative. All this was about to change. The latest TiVo box was about to launch to Virgin Media customers; it was set to revolutionise the set-top box market. Our job was to build awareness, encourage consumer engagement and ultimately, unseat Sky+. But TiVo has nine killer benefits, and research showed we needed to communicate them all. All with only a 10th of Sky's budget - not including their own media. We knew demonstration was key so this had to be core, in three phases: launch and demonstrate (to build a prospect pool and generate buzz online); leverage this buzz to technology magazines and the media, with launch print and posters; launch to the nation.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? We sent over 1,000 VIP customers a personalised TiVo remote - with the offer of a TiVo box and free service. Then we sent 965,000 high-value customers the chance to register for TiVo before the masses. Next we invited journalists to a demo and used the resulting PR in print and outdoor to prove it wasn't just Virgin who thought TiVo was the best way to watch TV. Next was TV, focussing on the most frustrating issues with current products, before demonstrating how TiVo avoids each. We used the 'thumbs' from the remote as a device for users to tell us whether they liked the functions. Once online, all nine benefits were communicated through videos, with the user encouraged to give each the 'thumbs-up', creating interaction and building data to convert interest into sales.

Results Once launched we saw sales increase by 119%, drove 15% of retail footfall and had 377,178 site visits, with 89% giving the benefits a 'thumbs-up'. The first mailing achieved 98.5% sign-up and our second converted 12%, leading to a 120,000 prospect pool before our public launch. Average dwell-time was 4.6 minutes on the site, a 53% increase. Over half of all visitors watched at least one video, with views at 204,270. One in four existing customers visited the 'upgrade' page and one in five prospects went to the sales page.

Team Guy Bradbury, Howard Willmott, Steve Hall, Danny Seager, Sam Turk, Paul Robbins, Lucy Westmore, Richard Atkins, David Bowles, Andy Ballantyne Gilbert.