Publicis Dublin has rolled out the second iteration of the “It’s Playtime” campaign for Virgin Media.
Building on last year’s ‘Toys’ creative, the campaign celebrates how Virgin Media “empowers its customers to unleash their play, in whatever way they choose.”
The new campaign is currently running across AV, OOH, digital and social. The ad was directed by director duo Biceps and produced by Outsider, while media is being managed by OMD.
The campaign urges us to break free from boredom by featuring two characters with the most boring job ever: being a shop mannequin. In much the same way as we can feel trapped in the mundane, it’s even worse for a mannequin; stuck in a glass case of tedium while modelling smart-casual business wear. But thanks to Virgin Media, they’re freed from their rigid ways to seek out their own play.
According to Niamh O’Driscoll, head of brand and marketing, Virgin Media: “We’re delighted to once again bring our Playtime positioning to life with the Publicis team. We know that Play is an important part of our lives at all ages, so with this campaign we wanted to go further to show just how expansive it can be and the many forms it can take for all our customers”.
“The creative challenge was to follow up from ‘Toys’ with an execution that was just as much fun,” adds Ger Roe, Publicis.
“However, we wanted the execution to be as authentic as possible. We achieved this by working with real mannequins, bringing them to life all in-camera. This meant we were giving the audience more credit and making them play with it a little bit more. So even in the way the audience consumes our story, it can be playtime.”
Sinead Dennis, business director, Publicis adds: “Our mannequins give us a fun and flexible platform to work with to tell even more chapters of the Playtime story, and we look forward to bringing their story to life through more brand and product work to come this year.”
The ad was directed by director duo Biceps and produced by Outsider, while media is managed by OMD.
The campaign is currently running across AV, OOH, digital and social.
Credits:
Agency: Publicis Dublin
Board Creative Director: Ger Roe
Associate Creative Director: Nick Doring
Senior Copywriter: Paul O’Loughlin
Senior Art Director: Cormac O’Connor
Head of Production: Niamh Skelly
Business Director: Sinead Dennis
Senior Account Director: David Carter
Senior Account Manager: Daniel Harnett
Account Executive: Kelly Corbett
Head of Strategy: Fay Quilligan
Senior Strategist: Flora Skivington
Head of Social: Thomas Ryan
Digital Producer: Cian McIntyre
Finished Artist: Tim Kavanagh
Print Producer: Gavin Kenny
Motion Graphics: Karen Barry
Client: Virgin Media
Head of Brand and Marketing: Niamh O’Driscoll
Senior Marketing Manager: Fiona Mahon
Campaign Manager: Margaret Mahony
Media Manager : Yvonne O’Reilly
Social Media Manager: Lorcan Lambe
Production Company: Outsider
Director: Biceps
Production Company Executive Producer: Simon Elborne
Production Company Producer: Paul McPadden
DOP: Octavio Rodríguez Arias
Editor: Alexandra Wood @ Flock
Post-Production: Freefolk
VFX Creative Director: Jason Watts @ Freefolk
Lead Flame Artist: Andy Copping @ Freefolk
Grade: Marty McMullan @ Freefolk
VFX Producer: Cheryl Payne @ Freefolk
Service company: Trixtr
Sound Design: Folding Waves
Photographer: Leo Byrne
