Virgin Mobile Case Study
CHALLENGE
How can Virgin Mobile win and stand apart in the crowded telcom market
with a media budget that is dwar fed by their competitors?
SOLUTION
Team up with the fine folks at BuzzFeed to create a 24/7 newsroom strategy that listens to social
conversations and responds with interesting, timely, and brand-relevant (which in this case meant
fun, technology oriented, and pop-culture -aware) content.
Virgin is known for championing the consumer, creating breakthrough advertising, and paying their
success forward. BuzzFeed empowers its audience of 25 million to engage in SuperSharing, quickly allowing
them to discover, react, and share the hottest content across the social web. Virgin & BuzzFeed’s similar
approach to media, along with BuzzFeed’s suite of proprietary technology, allowed for sponsored stories to
be created and optimized in real-time for a successful social advertising strategy.
EXAMPLE POST
When Instagram became available on Android, Virgin was quick to react. The company immediately
published the post “11 Things No One Wants To See You Instagram,” engaging readers with timely, fun, and
brand-relevant content. When Facebook purchased Instagram, the evergreen post received a second wind,
reinforcing Virgin’s position as a company in tune with pop culture and mobile trends.
• 329,676 Total Engagements
• 16x Viral Lift (300K Views Via Social)
• 2,000+ Facebook Likes
“Our relationship with Buzzfeed really put Virgin Mobile Live on the map.
These guys know all the tricks to optimizing viral content. They taught us the
crucial difference between being funny and being shareable.”
— Ron Faris , Head of Brand Marketing, Virgin Mobile USA
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Virgin Mobile Case Study
ME THODOLOGY
Virgin Mobile and BuzzFeed enlisted Vizu, an online ad technology company whose solutions allow
advertisers and publishers to measure and optimize Brand Lift in real-time, to evaluate the impact of this
content strategy on users’ perceptions. Using an intelligent survey-based methodology, the study measured
brand affinity based on whether a viewer had no exposure to the content, viewed the content as a result of
paid media, or received the content through social sharing (ie. a friend’s Tweet or Facebook post).
RESULTS
Visitors overwhelmingly embraced Virgin Mobile’s content on BuzzFeed, leading to heightened brand
affinity and relatability.
Users who responded...
“Virgin Mobile is a company that understands technology and culture”
20
20%
17.6 %
13
13%
100% Brand Lift
8.8 %
Control via Social
Exposed via Social
Overall Control
Overall Exposed
Users who responded...
“Virgin Mobile is a brand I like and relate to”
26.9 %
9.5 %
Control via Social
17.7 %
183% Brand Lift
Exposed via Social
10.1 %
Overall Control
Overall Exposed
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Virgin Mobile Case Study
Overall, those who were recipients of BuzzFeed’s sponsored stories through social channels were
24.1% more likely to view Virgin Mobile positively.
44.4 %
Control via Social
35.8 %
Exposed via Social
24.1% Overall Brand Lift
Total Positive Responses
KEY LEARNINGS
• Branded social content strongly influences brand affinity and product consideration.
• All media is now social. Brands like Virgin can work with BuzzFeed to nimbly and efficiently
create that shareable content.
• Shoot for the moon, and if you miss, Sir Richard Branson might still take you there.
Start breaking through the clutter with measurable, branded content:
sales@buzzfeed.com
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