Flying goats: Virgin Media's latest WiFi guarantee campaign
Following on from bicycle-riding cows, Virgin Media and VCCP have released the second instalment of their ‘To Better and Beyond’ creative platform
07 July 2023
Network provider Virgin Media has released the second instalment of its ‘To Better and Beyond’ creative platform, which sees a new protagonist with an unstoppable spirit, the Goat Glider, take the spotlight to embody Virgin Media’s superior WiFi Guarantee.
In partnership with VCCP London, Virgin Media has created the integrated brand campaign to showcase the company’s new ethos and tagline ‘See What You Can Do’ – all with Virgin Media’s ultrafast broadband.
The film opens on a herd of goats stuck on a remote mountainside, each stumbling around on the precipice. As the 80’s classic song, 'St Elmo's Fire’ by John Parr kicks in, the wheels of a hang glider come into view travelling across the rocky mountain terrain. As the glider gathers speed, a plucky goat is revealed as the pilot, and reaching the edge of the mountain, it takes off, soaring off into the skies. Having found a better way to the rest of the herd, the camera pans to its joyful face, at the same time the voiceover reveals the campaign strapline, 'Why stumble when you can soar?'
The campaign reflects Virgin Media’s pledge to make things better for its customers and challenge the status quo. The brand offers the UK's fastest WiFi Guarantee of any major provider, promising customers minimum download speeds of 20Mbps in every room or money back.
The bold and playful campaign will roll out throughout the UK across multiple platforms, airing on 7 July during ITV’s new Black British drama 'Riches' and will lead with a hero 60” film directed by celebrated Director, Sam Brown. Following the success of the award-winning Highland Rider, Virgin Media and VCCP London collaborated with Emmy and Bafta award-winning Untold Studios again to create the courageous mountain goats.
Built in CGI, the mountain goat will feature across a number of upcoming brand and trading campaigns across multiple formats.
Simon Valcarcel, Marketing Director, Virgin Media O2 said: “Our latest campaign highlights the truly unstoppable spirit of the Virgin Media brand and our ambitions to provide our customers with the very best connectivity to help them reach new heights. Through our market-leading WiFi Guarantee, we want our customers to truly feel like they can do anything in life – like our hang-gliding goat.”
David Masterman, Deputy Executive Creative Director, VCCP London added: “Picking up from where our Highland Cow left off, we wanted to dramatise the unstoppable power of Virgin Media's broadband with the story of a goat who leaves his stumbling herd behind to take to the skies in a hang glider."
Credits
CAMPAIGN TITLE: Goat Glider
CLIENT: Virgin Media
ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: David Masterman
CREATIVE: James Hodson & Jason Keet
BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Sonia Gilchrist
SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Helena Chaplin
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Ella Gurdon
DEPUTY HEAD OF PLANNING: Jenny Nichols
PLANNING DIRECTOR: Alex Horner
AGENCY SENIOR TV PRODUCER: Ed Mueller
AGENCY CREATIVE PRODUCER: Johnny Brock
AGENCY DIGITAL PRODUCER: Francesco Segramora
AUDIO PRODUCER: Beth Massey
CMO / DIRECTOR OF BRAND & MARKETING - Simon Groves
MARKETING DIRECTOR - Simon Valcarcel
HEAD OF ADVERTISING - Katie Kinchin Smith
SENIOR CAMPAIGN MANAGER - Ella Wilcox
SENIOR CAMPAIGN MANAGER - Ben Jobson
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Rogue Films
DIRECTOR: Sam Brown
PRODUCER: Polly Ruskin
DOP: Sebastian Blenkov
EDITOR: Tim Thorntan-Allan
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Hannah Yerbury
VFX Studio: Untold Studios
EP: Ian Berry
Producer: George Reid
Production Assistant: Vanessa Ribeiro
CD: Ben Cronin
VFX Supervisor: Sam Driscoll, Christian Baker
VFX Leads: Suvi Jokiniemi
Colour: Untold Studios
Colourist: Julien Alary
Producer: Eli Sandal
SOUND STUDIO: Factory
SOUND ENGINEERS: Anthony Moore and Josh Campbell
PRODUCER: Beth Massey
MUSIC SUPERVISION: Siren
MUSIC SUPERVISORS: Siân Rogers & Joshua Gibbard
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Chris Christoforou
MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: Manning Gottlieb OMD
BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Lucy Mitchell
DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER: Miranda Roberts
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Nabeel Nehim
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Tessa Jourrou