The Campaign
As the UK faced a summer of cancelled festivals, we partnered with Virgin Media to bring the V Festival experience to people’s homes! We brought highlights from previous V Festivals to ITV2, while promoting new talent and exclusive tracks. The campaign not only offered fans a welcome burst of fun during a difficult year, it also effortlessly helped Virgin Media strengthen its ‘Stay Connected’ campaign.
The Results
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1.3m+
Live viewers across the weekend -
10k+
Hours of V Festival archive footage watched on ITV Hub -
2m
Digital impressions served across ITV’s digital and social media channels -
24m
People reached by amplification activity -
32%
Increase in brand loyalty for existing customers who watched the virtual festival -
34%
Boost in brand pride for existing customers who watched the virtual festival
The Inisght
1/3
Of people in the UK have attended a festival in the last five years
28%
Of festival-goers are likely to mingle with their tent neighbours
Brits love festivals and in 2020, their loss would be felt across the UK. But festivals aren’t just about the music, they’re also about social moments—when people reconnect with old friends and make new ones.
The challenge
Well, during a year with no festivals, how could we ensure that people across the UK could still feel connected even though they were apart?
The Idea
We’d co-create a three-part advertiser-funded programme that would serve as a nostalgic look back at some of the best V Festival performances. Filmed at the original festival site in Chelmsford, Essex, the digital V Festival would be hosted by ITV2 talent, Joel Dommett and Maya Jama.
The Activation
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Throughout the weekend, Virgin Media’s virtual ‘fan wall’ gave people at home the opportunity to send in their content which would then be shown on TV. It was a simple way to ensure people felt connected during the festival experience.
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Alongside MG OMD, we ran an extensive amplification campaign throughout August encouraging users to join the first-ever virtual V Festival experience.
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This included us creating a co-branded TVC and our own marketing promos, which we shared across the entire ITV network. We supported this with digital inventory including display banners and premium push downs on ITV Hub and social posts on ITV2 and from talent. Sir Richard Branson even posted about the event to his 4.2 million Instagram followers!
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Virgin Media partnered with Global Radio to promote the event, with presenter Roman Kemp running a competition and drumming up awareness.
The Takeaway
Just because festivals were taken away didn’t mean the fun had to stop! By creating an authentic partnership and applying plenty of creativity, we helped Virgin Media to entertain its fans while seamlessly boosting brand loyalty and pride.
Thinking about getting on TV?
If you're looking to supercharge your brands growth, or revenue, then TV might be the perfect partnership. Why not partner with the UK's largest commercial broadcaster to kick start your conversation with the nation today.
Sound like the right opportunity for you? Get in touch with itvcommercial@itv.com for more information.
