Virgin Media Proves You Can Do Anything with 'Unlimiting' TV Ad

Virgin Media is today launching a new creative platform 'Unlimiting', which embodies the feeling of life without barriers and demonstrates the endless possibilities of Virgin Media’s TV, broadband, mobile and home phone offering. The new creative direction is supported by a fresh campaign 'You can do anything'.

Created by adam&eveDDB, 'Unlimiting' signifies a huge step change for Virgin Media and is the first work from the agency since being appointed earlier this year. The 'You can do anything' campaign will run for three months and is fronted by a new TV ad which premieres on 14 June during Celebrity Gogglebox on Channel 4. The campaign will also run across out-of-home, VOD, press, radio, online and social media, with media planned and bought by Manning Gottlieb OMD.

Directed by Ian Pons Jewell with Academy, the new TV ad follows a dad as he realises he can do anything thanks to his new Virgin Media Ultimate Oomph bundle. The ad dramatises the unlimiting freedom of Virgin Media’s services, building on the dad’s new ‘I can do anything’ mind set, from the amusingly simple - completing a crossword - to making new friends and even thinking he can fly; culminating with a darkly comical ending. It’s set to a bespoke remix of 'Oh Yeah' by Yello.

The stand out, eye-catching campaign will run for three months with the new TV ad premiering on Channel 4. The ad will debut with an innovative ‘unlimiting’ twist, with Channel 4’s ident blocks merging directly into the opening of the advert, which breaks new ground for Channel 4’s premier break format. Later in the campaign, to further amplify the TV ad, additional footage within a ‘blipvert’ will air within the same ad break as the full 60-second version during The Voice Kids final, Love Island and Britain’s Got Talent, The Champions.

The 'You can do anything' campaign idea is rooted in the concept of ‘unlimiting’, with every element centred around what it means to live without limits. This is brought to life by the colourful swirl, crafted in HD 3D detail by Colour And The Kids, which lives at the heart of the creative. The unlimiting theme will be reflected in the outdoor execution where the striking swirl will live beyond the physical advertising sites – breaking the boundaries of conventional outdoor marketing.

The out-of-home activation is hyper targeted and was developed with an audience-first approach, making it one of the most complex data-led campaigns in the UK. Throughout the campaign the use of ‘-ing’ to create verbs from everyday language and popular culture phenomena is a headline feature, with the brand end line ‘Lightn-ing fast broadband, amaz-ing TV, neverend-ing mobile data’ which will appear on the TV ad as well as out-of-home marketing.

Director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media, Cilesta Van Doorn, said: “Unlimiting is a totally new creative platform for Virgin Media and ties in perfectly with the introduction of our new Ultimate Oomph bundle, which gives our customers the very best of our services. We’re known for our ultrafast broadband speeds so now we’re translating this into what it means for our customers – the ability to do more. Our new creative platform draws upon our ‘Virginness’ in an irreverent and rebellious way, bringing feeling of unlimiting to life. This is the first step on our journey to become the most irresistible brand in our market – and out of it.” 

Adam&Eve DDB chief creative officer, Richard Brim, said: “The moment we started working with the Virgin Media team, our shared ambition has been simple – to inject a new creative energy into the brand with a new promise for its customers. It’s also just been a lot of fun working with such an iconic brand at a really interesting time for them.”