Jane Lynch Targets the Absurdities of Social Media for Virgin
Virgin Mobile Australia today announced the launch of a major integrated brand campaign called ‘Making mobile better’. The telco has enlisted US actress, comedian and star of Glee, Jane Lynch, to front the campaign, which will demonstrate the tangible ways Virgin Mobile is making the mobile experience better for its customers and aim to transform our silliest mobile behaviours into a force for good.
The campaign launched this week with a 60-second online content piece that demonstrates the absurdity of our mobile behaviour by removing the mobile phone from the situation – a Facebook check-in becomes a public megaphone announcement, a text is written on a typewriter, and selfies are taken with Polaroids and handed out to strangers. The video content is being housed across Virgin Mobile’s owned channels, including a new website dedicated to the Making mobile better campaign, makingmobilebetter.com.au, and is being pushed out as pre-rolls.
This Sunday 13 July, a 45-second launch TVC will air across free-to-air and subscription television nationally. The TVC stars Jane Lynch and is directed by acclaimed Hollywood director, Jeff Tremaine, the driving force behind comedy hits Jackass and Bad Grandpa. The spot was produced by US-based production company, Virgin Produced, part of the global Virgin brand family and equally renowned for pushing creative boundaries with a focus on quality and innovation. In the spot, Jane highlights some of the silly ways in which we use our phones and the effect this is having on our relationships and lives, before outlining the ways in which Virgin Mobile is going to make it better. The TVC will also run in cinemas nationally.
Nicole Bardsley, Director of Brand and Communications, Virgin Mobile, says of the humorous launch spot and content piece: “Better than anyone, we know the power mobile phones have in bringing people together and strengthening human relationships. However, we also acknowledge that some mobile phone behaviour can be antisocial, when not kept in check! Our hope is that by Jane pointing out the humour in some of this behaviour, people are in a better position to find that important balance between what’s happening on their phone and what’s happening right in front of them.”
Additional media support at launch will include major national outdoor, digital, display, pre-roll video, mobile executions and Facebook advertising all promoting the range of benefits Virgin Mobile offers customers, including coverage on the Optus 4G network, free Voicemail within Oz, and free Virgin to Virgin calls & texts and rollover on unused calls & texts for Postpaid customers within Oz, as well as tips and tricks for making the mobile experience better.
The campaign is centralised around makingmobilebetter.com.au, which will be the campaign hub featuring an ongoing and regularly updated series of ‘Making mobile better' content and information produced by various partners. As part of the campaign, Virgin Mobile has also embarked on a yearlong content partnership with VICE Australia, which will see ‘Making mobile better’ brought to life through a range of content pieces across VICE’s digital platforms and Virgin Mobile’s owned channels.
The making mobile better ethos underpins all activity undertaken by Virgin Mobile.. A number of internal initiatives will be launched including ‘mobile free meetings’ and a policy to reduce the sending of non-urgent emails out of work hours, to encourage staff to live a life of balance and improve communication with one another.
Nicole Bardsley explains further: “Our new brand positioning recognises Virgin Mobile as a brand that is growing up, but still willing to shake things up in the market! For years we’ve believed in giving our customers a fair deal and feel it’s our role to make the mobile industry better by keeping the pressure on the big guys. By coming out and saying we’re making mobile better, we’re showing we’re committed to improving our customers’ mobile experience through innovative products, excellent service and great value for money. But we’re also walking the walk by launching a range of inspiring initiatives that will tackle some of the more trivial mobile behaviours and encourage people to use their mobile phones as a force for good.”
“Mobile phones are so intrinsically ingrained into our lives, we hope that by making mobile better we might be able to have a positive impact on the bigger world we live in too,” Bardsley continued.
Jane Lynch adds: "Positive communication is something that's close to my heart. While I know mobile phones are incredible devices and love mine dearly, I can also see they have a sneaky tendency to sometimes reduce the quality of our communication – we tweet someone instead of calling them and scroll through the newsfeeds of strangers while ignoring the ones we love. I think it's brilliant that a telco has identified some of this behaviour and I'm so excited to join Virgin Mobile in their quest to make mobile better."
