Simon Valcarcel and the Creative Six: The O2 Marketer Who Won 6 Lions

Simon Valcarcel doesn’t just believe in creativity; he believes in creating the conditions for it to thrive.

As head of marketing for both Virgin Media and O2, Valcarcel leads with clarity, honesty, and a spirit of collaboration. He describes himself as a listener who encourages challenge, values succinct feedback, and sets a clear direction, a client partner who knows that the best work emerges when agencies are trusted to push boundaries. It’s a leadership style that reflects a modern marketer: thoughtful, curious, and attuned to the transformative shifts happening in both creativity and technology.

This year, that approach helped deliver standout results. Working closely with VCCP, Valcarcel helped bring to life ‘Daisy Vs The Scammers’, a playful and provocative campaign that cleverly explored the cultural tensions around technology, and made Virgin Media O2 one of the most awarded UK brands at Cannes Lions 2025, picking up six Lions. The campaign was awarded a Gold in PR - Use of Technology, along with three Silvers in PR - Corporate Purpose, Creative Strategy - Breakthrough on a Budget, and Digital Craft - Innovative Use of Technology, plus a Bronze in Direct - New Realities & Emerging Tech. Walrus Whizzer for Virgin Media O2 won Bronze in Film Craft - Visual Effects, which features a walrus on a speedboat.

Heading up marketing for two of the UK’s biggest brands means Valcarcel has overseen a fair few high-profile campaigns in recent years, from a walrus on a speedboat to a robot roaming Europe, all created with VCCP. But he says his proudest piece of work this year was the revival of O2’s iconic “Walk” platform — which in the past has featured stars like Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Ed Sheeran. In its latest incarnation, music artist Dua Lipa lent her firepower to a campaign promoting O2 Priority, the rewards programme at the heart of the brand’s customer strategy.

And while some marketers are still circling the AI conversation from a distance, Valcarcel has already put it to work, collaborating with VCCP’s AI agency Faith on the ‘Bubl Generator’, a tool that allows his team to generate brand assets featuring the O2 mascot, Bubl, at speed.

For his creative ambition, clarity of leadership and thoughtful and entertaining embrace of technology, we name Simon Valcarcel as our Marketer of the Week.

Simon Valcarcel On Creative Excellence

How important are creative accolades to you as a marketer?

Simon Valcarcel: Awards are an output of doing great work that shifts business outcomes, based on customer insight. That said, we love winning awards. It’s a great celebration of the team’s work and increases our profile which helps us retain and attract talent.

What’s your personal style when it comes to being a great client partner for agencies?

I work on being a good listener, actively encourage challenge, be honest and succinct in my feedback and to set a clear direction.

How do you get the best out of the relationship?

Trust and a spirit of collaboration to get to the best answer. We work with agencies to get independent, innovative and challenging thinking. We strive to provide the best environment for that to happen with regularity.

Daisy uses AI so creatively but what’s your bigger-picture view of the role AI can play in commercial communications — creatively and strategically — and how do you see this changing the nature of the marketer/agency relationship?

AI will be transformational but only if it elevates people and teams. That’s why I firmly believe in keeping humans in the loop. We’ll see production models disrupted and the speed and quality of strategy improve. However, the real shift is more existential… what does it mean to be human/a marketer, in the age of AI? It’s a question I reflect on daily. And a question I haven’t managed to answer. However, what guides me is the belief in using AI for good in all facets of my role.

Any tips for other marketers who want to use AI wisely?

Think deeply about your views on AI, how it will affect your role, your team and your agencies. An excellent starting point is ISBA’s 12 principles on gen AI usage. Also read Max Tegmark’s book, Life 3.0, and decide what AI future you want to be a part of shaping.