Virgin Media hypes new streaming service in MC Neat-narrated spot
Virgin Media is bigging up its new entertainment service, Stream, with a multi-million pound campaign called ‘Hyped‘.
A 60-second spot opens on a couple being disturbed when their TV starts talking to them. Voiced by British garage icon MC Neat, the TV announces ‘Listen, this is your TV speaking!’ before viewers are taken on a journey as hyped TVs around the country disrupt their owners’ viewing experience to tell them about the benefits of Stream.
In blocks of flats, houses and high street shops, people react as their TVs burst into life and an eye-catching and bold mouth takes over their screens. A man in a bath sits up to take notice, while a stunned couple are rooted to the spot in their local chippy. As the track builds, the TVs energetically rap about the many benefits of Stream.
The film concludes with the line ‘The future of viewing is here, the future of viewing is Stream’.
Virgin Media partnered with MC Neat to co-create the rap, with the garage artist directly inspiring the CGI mouth.
Bespoke 30-second film will run across TV, video on demand (VOD) and broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) with the aim to target customers with interests in music, gaming and entertainment, as well as families.
Virgin Media worked with UK agency of record, VCCP London, content studio Girl&Bear and product and service innovation company Bernadette to conceptualize the campaign. MG OMD handled the media planning and buying and Rapp is looking after customer communications.
Virgin Media and VCCP London worked with partners Electric Theatre Collective, Jungle, Soho Music and Duffy Sound, as well as director Rollo Jackson from Somesuch to create the spot.
Amy Gilbert, the marketing director at Virgin Media, said: “Stream offers a convenient, flexible and more personal connected entertainment experience, bringing the future of viewing right into our customers’ living rooms. For a truly disruptive proposition, we needed a truly disruptive creative approach, so we’ve taken the idea beyond a TV spot, disrupting viewers in blipverts across ad breaks and in video on demand (VOD); with a little help from MC Neat. Disruption is part of Virgin Media’s DNA and that’s exactly why it’s at the heart of this campaign.”