In collaboration with HAVAS Middle East, Virgin Mobile introduced the ‘Made for You’ campaign in May. This initiative aimed to personalise the nature of Virgin Mobile’s services, and was crafted to suit the distinctive lifestyles of its customers.
Virgin Mobile’s offerings were reflected in created personas informed by thorough target audience research. This strategy enabled a creative and compelling presentation of the reasons for choosing Virgin Mobile.
“The Made for You campaign is a great reflection of Virgin Mobile’s customer-first approach,” said Anshuman Bhattacharya, Group Creative Director at HAVAS Middle East.
To bring the campaign to life, these imagined personas played on humorous tropes of everyday data users. “Each persona was created using research and data, identifying unique behaviors. These characters will now always remind us of who we are speaking to for future campaigns,” noted Saniya Zafar, Brand & Communications Manager at Virgin Mobile UAE.
The campaign also featured collaborations with influencers, including Emirati musician Abdullah Al Shamsi (not.so.human) and Jordanian personality Naser Al Azzeh (naseralazzeh). Together, they produced two catchy jingles shared on Virgin Mobile’s regional Instagram and TikTok accounts.
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For the personalised jingles, HAVAS and Virgin Mobile provided the musicians with an open brief, encouraging unrestricted creativity.
Al Shamsi appreciated the supportive environment, saying, “The moment I stepped into their office and said, ‘Hi,’ I immediately felt a sense of positivity and genuinely considered them friends.”
“I realised how much they truly believed in me to go beyond our perceived limits and turn ideas into reality. To say it simply, I loved every moment,” Al Shamsi added.
The impact of the jingles was so significant that Virgin Mobile revamped their radio ads, incorporating one of the songs instead. “Music is in the DNA of the Virgin brand, and it was great to bring this to life in this campaign. Our two creators infused an additional layer of excitement and energy. Their songs were in our heads for weeks,” shared Hanz Valbuena, Communications Manager, HAVAS Red.
From a technical perspective, the campaign was meticulously optimised from start to finish.
HAVAS and Virgin Mobile phased out creatives throughout the launch, targeting different audiences and adapting plans as needed to ensure success.
“We quickly realised that all creatives worked well for all audiences, not just focused on their segment needs but also enjoying the other character narratives too,” said Rachel Devereux, Marketing and Digital Director at Virgin Mobile UAE.
She further detailed, “We developed different creatives for awareness, consideration, and conversion,” and noted that media spends were adjusted throughout the campaign to align with customer buying cycles.
“We strategically timed the launch of creatives to ensure ad conversion, focusing investments at the beginning and end of the month, coinciding with most people’s payday,” Devereux concluded.
The campaign witnessed a boom in success within the first month of its launch, with a 15 per cent increase in site traffic and 2,883 additional Virgin Mobile app downloads.
The TikTok Lift Studies analytics showed a potential 5 per cent likelihood in ad recall, and an 8 percent uptick in awareness. By the end of May, the brand had a 21 percent increase in Google searches in the UAE.
“In May alone, we saw an 11% increase in new business,” said Devereux. “Virgin Mobile is a playful brand, and Made For You brings that to life. I’m excited to launch more human-centered, fun, and insight-driven campaigns to the UAE, such as this one.”
Credits
Agency: Havas Middle East
Executive Creative Director: Leonardo Borges
Creative Director: Anshuman Bhattacharya
Senior Copywriter: Rickie Cheyne
Senior Art Director: Shalisha Hira
Senior Graphic Designer: Ahmed Selim
Communications Manager: Hanz Valbuena
Senior Communications Executive: Tala Majzoub
Strategy Director: Bruno Araldi
Social Media Director: Ayah Mounzer
Social Media Manager: Malaka Shoukair
Senior Social Media Executive: Bassam Dergham
Managing Director: Fabio Silveira
Group Account Director: Selina Khiroya
Account Manager: Elea Benoit
Lead Senior Producer: Stella Violla
Producer: Simran Alwani
Production House: Goldmine
Executive Producer: Madhup Agarwal
Producer: Shaharbano Zaidi
Director: Ahmed Abdulqader
Photographer: Naim Chidian
AD: Saif Al Chalabi
Focus Puller: Srini Toyota
Camera Operator: Nikita Pesta
2nd Asst Camera: Jericho
Key Grip: Joshi
Gaffer: Lok Raj Pandey
BTS: Jamsheed
Sound: Jamsheed
Set Designer: Charbel Naimeh
Wardrobe Stylist: Lorna Galves
Makeup Artist: Kim Nourtajali
Client team
Managing Director: Rob Beswick
Marketing Director: Rachel Devereux
Brand and Communications Manager: Saniya Zafar
Creative Manager: João Alvarez
