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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

April 25, 2016 | 3 min read

iD, the mobile network launched last year by Carphone Warehouse, has tied up with Vice Media for its first awareness driving campaign that promises to celebrate individuality.

The brand has flown under the radar since its launch last May, slowly acquiring some 250,000 users. But marketing director Mark Bowles – who took control of the brand six months after launch – told The Drum it’s now on an offensive to win more users from its larger rivals that would include 02, Vodafone and EE for example.

“We look at the market we’re playing in and we have a modest budget so we can’t necessarily be shouting on a scale with our key competitors,” he said.

Having been created on the idea that those in the 18-30s age bracket are no longer inclined to sign up to pricey and long-term contracts, iD promised flexibility and control. These are the two values it’s pushing heavily in its first advertising campaign, which will run on Facebook rather than TV.

“We identified that our audience were going to be young and the best way to reach them was through digital,” said Bowles.

“The way that we are single-mindedly focusing our activity through one media channel and also the strength of the creative, which is really bold and visually striking, will allow us to stand out in what is a really competitive environment with a lot of spend and activity.

Titled ‘#DOYOUROWNTHING’, the documentary-style series will consist of one film per week (split up across four episodes), showcasing people who embody the notion of individuality.

The first series will feature kids from the 'Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club' from Philadelphia, USA, where crime is prevalent, who have taken up riding through the streets on horseback.

The 'Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club' film series will be followed by a second campaign featuring 'Poetic Pilgrimage', a British Muslim hip-hop duo.

These films will be supported with a content series from Vice Media, called ‘New Originals’ which will profile individuals who are “doing their own thing in an authentic way.”

“The iD brand was born out of listening to consumers and understanding their frustrations and needs, thus creating a network that is as individual as the person. This sense of uniqueness is what we are looking to celebrate through our new platform of “#DOYOUROWNTHING”,” added Bowles.

The New Originals series will run across all of Vice’s lifestyle channels including Broadly, VICE Sports and Noisey. It was created by Virtue Worldwide, Vice’s in-house creative agency. Meanwhile, The 'Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club' and 'Poetic Pilgrimage' series was created by CHI&Partners.

The media planning and buying, and work with Virtue Worldwide, was led by Blue 449.

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