Robin da Hood – right or wrong?

This ad campaign is great. It is quirky and makes a refreshing change from the usual mobile phone jargon about caps, bonus plans, coverage and extra credit.   It delivers its message in a cheeky, tongue-in-cheek manner, something you would expect from Virgin.

Utilising a combination of traditional media (TV, radio and outdoor advertising), social mediums (the campaign microsite, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter) and a combination of experiential marketing through its sponsorship of the hugely popular Splendour in the Grass, VMA has ensured it has not only reached the masses but also targeted its market – Gen X, Y, the “twixters” and “tweens” and the ‘young at heart’) with its ‘Robin da Hood’ campaign.

Experiencing Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile used its partnership with the music festival Splendour in the Grass not just to generate brand awareness and promote its new Robin da Hood themed plans, but to add to the experience for festival goers and those not able to make it to the event and reinforcing its “youthful proposition with its current customers”.

"The main things we are looking to communicate are that we want to enhance the festival experience for members at the festival through member benefits, and that for those that can't make it, we are bringing the festival to them through the Virgin Mobile live stream."[1]

According to Current.com.au “Connecting with its current consumers with opportunistic rewards and attracting new, and importantly, young mobile users to the upstart telco are the two primary objectives of Virgin Mobile's partnership (with the music festival).”  

Speaking to Current.com.au at the festival, a Virgin Mobile spokesperson said that music "was in Virgin Mobile's DNA"....Experiential activity is an opportunity for us to have fun with our customers and make them feel part of something bigger.

"At Virgin Mobile we are dedicated to providing a more rewarding telco relationship, which we believe should go beyond the transactional to include all the fun and personality that comes with being a Virgin brand."

http://splendourinthegrass.com/#news/items/virgin-mobile-presents-the-splendour-live-stream.html

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[1][1] http://www.current.com.au////article/No-virgins-to-fun-telco-talks-up-Splendour-in-the-Grass-partnership/GPBDYIASTF.html accessed 12 August 2011

Networking with Robin da Hood

VMA uses Facebook, Twitter and You Tube to engage with their consumers, to educate them about the product and reinforce brand messages. Driving traffic through these sites not only increases brand awareness and (ideally) boosts product sales, it also enables VMA to learn more about the target market, encourage feedback and product improvements and innovation.

Participation in social media is a key tenet of Virgin Mobile's overall strategy to win over and satisfy customers. Virgin Mobile COO Matt Anderson said monitoring sites such as Twitter and Facebook and using that feedback to improve customer service was a priority for the telco and that VMA currently had several fulltime staff members whose job involved staying abreast of social media commentary, with these staff members empowered to respond to comments, both positive and negative.(2)

VMA has also used the Facebook plugin ‘Like Box’ on it's website, that enables Facebook page owners to “attract and gain Likes from their own website”. [1]  It also allows consumers to see how many users like the page, which of their friends like it too and read recent posts from the page.  This is just another interactive tool aimed at the tech-savvy, social networkers that make up their target audience.

 

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[1] http://www.current.com.au/article/No-virgins-to-fun-telco-talks-up-Splendour-in-the-Grass-partnership/GPBDYIASTF.html accessed 12.8.11
(2) http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box/

Robin da Hood and Social Media

Using it’s microsite www.robindahood.com.au, VMA can focus on the product and deliver targeted messages on the telco’s new mobile plans. With new ‘Fair Go Plans’ offering free voicemail, unlimited talk to text, credit rollover and better coverage, VMA is targeting the ‘young at heart’, more budget-conscious, social users.

The microsite features humorous images and video clips and colloquial words commonly used by young Australians (such as “peeps” and Robin “da” Hood), which the target audience will identify with and be attracted to.  VMA could be seen as a cheeky brand personality and the light-hearted parody of Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor communicates this well.

The microsite also allows users to buy online and go to the VMA website for further information, providing a useful sales tool for the product.

Who is Virgin Mobile’s target market?

According to the marketing director, Jean Oelwang at the launch of Virgin Mobile Australia (VMA) in 2000, Virgin's target market will be "the young at heart, work hard, play hard" customers.  Oelwang said “It's not one demographic segment...we attract a wide range of people."   Whilst they attract all markets, it would be fair to say VMA’s target market is predominantly Generation X (those born 1965 – 1979 and generally assumed to have more information at their fingertips via the Internet, want to carefully evaluate their choices and reach their own purchasing decisions), Generation Y (born 1979 -1994/5, are more savvy about being marketed to, want to be treated with respect, be listened to and have their needs and expectations addressed.")[1], the “tweens” (those aged 8 to 14) and “twixers” (those between 18 – 25 who enjoy life and maintain close relationships through email, text messaging, online communities[2]).

VMAs target market would respond well to:

- traditional mediums such as TV and radio (to create awareness and reach the masses)

- Word-of-mouth marketing (otherwise referred to as buzz marketing, viral marketing or experiential marketing).  Using pre-existing social networks to increase brand awareness and boost product sales, messages can be delivered by word-of-mouth or through the network effects of the internet (such as through video clips, interactive Flash games, images, text messages); by building web communities for consumers to chat about their experiences online or by providing consumers a first-hand experience of the product through product samples and events.

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[1] The Revenge of Brand X: How to Build A Big Time Brand - on the Web or Anywhere Else, Frankel R (2010)

[2] Advertising & Promotion Belch, Belch, Kerr & Powell, 2009, p 145

Virgin Mobile "A Fair Go For All"

Publicis Mojo Sydney has introduced a new, integrated marketing campaign for Virgin Mobile ("VM") featuring the tagline "A Fair Go For All", starring 'Robin da Hood'. The campaign aims to reinforce the telco's positioning as a consumer champion.

David Scribner, marketing director, Virgin Mobile said: “This campaign builds on our existing Virgin philosophy of putting the customer at the heart of everything we do and renews our commitment to giving Australians a fair go by providing a quality product, great value and exemplary customer service.”

The PR speil says: "For too long the people of Australia have suffered injustice at the hands of their mobile telephony communication companies and so a hero hath returned. Robin Da Hood is back to get medieval on the asses of unfairness." (Campaign Brief, 1 July 2011, http://www.campaignbrief.com/2011/07/virgin-mobiles-robin-da-hood-o.html)

The campaign was kicked off with a quirky video on Facebook and Twitter campaign featuring a character called Robin Da Hood, who has been appointed by Sir Richard Branson to rescue the Australian public from "the tyrannies of telecommunication service providers". Robin Da Hood "liberates people from unhappiness and unfairness" by bringing them "choice and merriness".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXbkh4NdOsQ&feature=player_profilepage
This was followed up with a 60-second TVC, released on July 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-BE1xFGv4&feature=player_profilepage

Further TVCs highlight product benefits, such as free voicemail, unlimited talk to text, credit rolloever and coverage for 97% of Australians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RKCtM6SuNY&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhTgEhKK_4&feature=player_detailpage


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7fRqaBgqGM&feature=player_detailpage

The campaign will run across print, online, radio and outdoor and includes a national partnership with Nova (including intergrated stations promos and an 8-week breakfast platform including live reads and placements).

"Virgin Mobile will also be maintaining a strong presence across social media on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, linking to the dedicated microsite (http://www.robindahood.com.au/) featuring the TVCs, funny outtakes and interstitials. A digital promotion is also set to kick off on August 1. (http://www.bandt.com.au/news/breaking-campaign--virgin-mobile-gets-merry)