Why Andre Braugher and Other Celebrities Presented Virgin Plus as the Obvious Choice for Canada
For, geographically, the second-largest country in the world, unlimited, nationwide 5G data is a very useful tool. After all, being able to access the online world from virtually anywhere in the great white north is pretty awesome when you’re talking about 9.985 million km of land, covering five different time zones.
So what does this cost? If you’re with Virgin Plus, the answer is, starting at $55 CAD per month… which, in partnership with creative agency Zulu Alpha Kilo (ZAK), makes it the obvious choice. So obvious, in fact, that multiple celebrities, including Andre Braugher of ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ fame, were brought in to tout this in as many ways as possible. Judge robes, detective outfits, cool highschool wear - nothing was off limits as the brand emphasised that no matter who you are or what you do, its ability to provide affordable data is perfect for you.
The campaign also coincided with a 360 redesign of the brand, which saw associated OOH, radio ads, TV ads and more embrace new aesthetic elements to sell this fact in a flashier manner. And, to boot, ZAK worked with agency partners LG2 and Dyversity to develop the French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Hinglish versions, making sure nobody was left out of understanding just how obvious a choice Virgin Plus truly is.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with the teams from ZAK and Virgin Plus to learn more about how this massive undertaking came to life.
LBB> This campaign would have been a massive undertaking, with so many various parts. As such, what was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Virgin> The brief was to come up with a new brand platform and design system to launch unlimited nationwide 5G data. Specifically, we needed the new look and feel to resonate with Canadians across age groups & cultures.
Zulu Alpha Kilo is no stranger to the BCE family, and has been a longstanding partner. It was an obvious choice to work with them on this campaign.
ZAK> The only things sacred were the logo and Virgin red. The first things that came to mind were, ‘that’s a shit ton of work, and one heck of an opportunity! How soon do you need it?’.
LBB> Building on this, what made now the right time to kick off a fresh look and feel, and specifically, emphasise the 5G data offerings?
Virgin> Previously, Virgin Plus focused on a younger, more exclusive target, but in order to grow the business and stay competitive, we needed to appeal to a wider audience and provide more affordable options that fit everyone’s needs and budgets. With prices increasing on almost everything, now was the perfect time to broaden the Virgin Plus audience and introduce more affordable offerings.
LBB> Creatively speaking, where does one start with an ask such as this? What pieces came first, and as a whole, how did you approach designing this new look and feel revolving around Virgin being the obvious choice?
ZAK> Every process is a bit different. But, our platform exploration usually starts with broad themes that act as umbrellas and guide our thinking along different strategic paths. We don’t love using the ‘m’ word, but different expressions of the platform are written as short manifestos with taglines under these themes, with different ways of bringing the platform to life following suit. As different campaign ideas evolve, we focus on the ones best suited to launch the platform.
Our design team is often engaged early on during the creative process, and this was no different. As we began shaping the platform, our designers looked for ownable elements of the Virgin Plus brand that would allow us to build a whole new toolkit. With the launch of unlimited nationwide 5G, we looked for a graphic treatment that expressed the feeling of ‘unlimited’ in a bold, graphic and obvious way. We extrapolated the shape that holds the Virgin wordmark into a repeatable graphic we call the ‘Plus Up’. This became a device to frame headlines, Andre, and the new 5G data offer.
LBB> Integral to the campaign is the inclusion of celebrities, including Andre Braugher. How did you get them all involved, and how did you tailor each piece of the campaign to feature them and their distinct offerings?
ZAK> After we landed on the platform, our exploration turned towards finding the right tone that would ensure ‘Obviously’ came across as witty and not sarcastic. As we wrote scripts, it became clear we needed to find the right humour to ensure the work didn’t fall flat. We threw a few photos of Andre into a deck, and everyone’s face lit up as we talked about different ideas for film. The gravitas, charm and dryness of his humour felt like the perfect self-aware tonality for the work.
From there, we began to see how many different ways we could use him. We knew he could pull anything off. Through the process, we began working with his agent and the work was shared with him. He must have been surprised to see how many different characters we’d photoshopped his face into!
LBB> Let’s talk about the main spot itself. What was the writing process like, and how did you come up with such wacky scenarios to showcase the value of 5G data?
ZAK> It began with an exploration of synonyms for the word ‘obviously’. We knew we needed to raise awareness of both the new 5G data offering and the brand, so we wanted to be able to express the feeling of obviousness in as many ways as possible. Once we had our list (‘it’s elementary’, ‘it stands to reason’, ‘obvs.’, ‘clearly’, ‘naturally’, ‘no shit’, etc.), we began exploring the best scenarios for each expression that would allow us to show the offer in unexpected and memorable ways.
LBB> Where did you shoot, how long did it take, and what was working with Andre like?
ZAK> We shot on a series of custom-built sets in a studio at Toronto’s Downsview park over the span of four days, with an additional day for our pre-light off the top. We shot with Andre for two days, while the other two days were devoted to French, Cantonese and Hinglish - which were handled by our agency partners LG2 and Dyversity.
Working with Andre was amazing! From our first kick off call to wrap, the thoughtfulness of his approach was clear. Our directors, Adam & Dave, built a great rapport with Andre, and his methodical approach and professionalism were only surpassed by his performance. There were a few fun BTS moments, and that doesn’t even account for the boy band scene!
LBB> Other aspects of the campaign are also great, such as the accompanying OOH, and the background jingle of the radio spot! How did you approach capturing and creating these?
ZAK> A lot of please and thanks you’s! All the still photography was shot in between filming. Andre came off each set and we had about 10-20 minutes with him before we lost him to wardrobe for his next scene. Our lovely photographers, Saty+Pratha, their producer, and the rest of our production team made it all happen.
As for the jingle, it started with some simple descriptions on the page. A choir singing the 5G data offer, and accompanying fireworks, a crowd cheering - whatever felt like it would make the spot feel as obvious as possible sonically. From there, the beyond talented team at OSO Audio worked its magic. Our audio director, Harry Kazan, pulled in singers he’d worked with before, and they crafted a demo that blew us away. Everyone loved it!
After that, when we got into studio and had Andre’s parts recorded, it became an exercise of layering the different elements to ensure the spot built to a great crescendo.
LBB> You mentioned working with LG2 and Dyversity to translate the campaign across five languages. What was this process like?
ZAK> Zulu has worked closely with LG2 on Bell (Virgin Plus’ parent company) for over 15 years, so there was already a deep level of teamwork and trust established between our agencies. We also share several clients with Dyversity, who adapted the work for Cantonese and Hinglish. Both teams had a clear vision for how the work needed to be tweaked for the different audiences. Antoine Vezina, our French talent, brought his own personal flair that dialled up the humour in a completely different way than Andre. Meanwhile, Dyversity were able to bring on Patrick Chen (AKA ‘Tarzan’) for Cantonese, and we cast a Canadian actor, Saad, who fit right with his Hinglish performance. Our fifth language, American Sign Language (ASL), was born from the idea that no matter how you say the offer, it's obviously a great deal. Through pre-production and production, we worked closely with our deaf talent and a consultant to ensure the same attention was paid to ASL as our other languages.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
ZAK> One of the biggest challenges was the uncertainty around getting Andre onboard. We fell in love with him so early in the process that the longer the negotiations took, the harder it became to imagine what the work would be without him.
Virgin> Building on this, our timelines to get this out into the world were crunched, so we needed Andre to sign-on by a specific date, otherwise we would have had to move on. Luckily, he was confirmed to work with us just in time!
LBB> Finally, how have people reacted to this campaign?
ZAK> Richard Branson said it was brilliant. It’s not easy to impress a billionaire!
In addition to the kind words from Sir Richard, the responses have been nothing short of positive.
Virgin> The reaction so far has been very positive. It is a fun, charming campaign with a lot of character, and everyone is really appreciating our fresh take on the brand.
