The Background
Virgin Media shifted its investment strategy from programmatic display to targeted TV advertising, focusing on the peak
consumer switching week each month. This approach capitalised on TV’s mass reach, leading to record sales through datadriven insights, marking a successful transition for their 2024 campaigns.
This campaign was shortlist in the Best Tactical Use of TV category at the 2025 TAMI Awards
The Challenge
This was a sales campaign with the single-minded objective of increasing sales. Marketing supported both short-term sales and long-term brand growth in an increasingly homogenous market. Virgin Media’s competitors were focused on the short-term with most of their effort on price. Virgin Media were losing in the short-term with declining sales and market share. While competitors engaged in always-on sales tactics focused on price and promotions, saturating various channels
including TV, OMD recognised the need to balance immediate competition with long-term brand differentiation in an increasingly homogeneous market. They didn’t want every TV message to centre around sales; and needed a strategy that allowed them to compete while fostering brand identity.
What Virgin Media did before this strategy was implemented? Traditionally the sales campaigns were focussed on 3 bursts annually. An analysis of weekly sales data from 2019-2024 and saw there was a clear sales uplift in “payday week” at the end of every month. This became the key sales insight that was leveraged.
How could Virgin Media afford to run this strategy? MMM results showed that TV was the best channel in terms of
ROI. So OMD made the big call of reducing the programmatic display by 65% to finance the new payday strategy. 60% of this new budget was invested on TV, supported by BVOD and Radio.
The Strategy
By analysing five years of sales data, OMD discovered a consistent uptake in sales at the end of each month, coinciding with payday for most individuals. Their analysis indicated that being active during the final week of the month—payday week— was most likely to yield significant rewards in terms of site visits and conversions. Thus, instead of deploying sales messages weekly throughout the month, they chose to focus on the weeks that would yield the greatest impact.
Understanding that broadband sales occur throughout the entire year—with natural peaks during events like back-to school/university and Black Friday— they aimed to maintain mental brand awareness by strategically reducing the gaps between their three key sales periods. Their payday strategy entailed an active TV presence for 7-10 days leading up to the end of each month, ensuring effective weight to maximise impact.
To implement this strategy, they collaborated closely with Virgin Media Broadband and their creative agency, Publicis. Together, they developed a templated TV commercial (TVC), allowing for last-minute adjustments to offers without incurring significant costs. This flexibility not only optimised advertising efforts but also enabled them to remain responsive to changing market dynamics, thereby enhancing their overall effectiveness in a competitive landscape.
Once they established the weights for each burst of activity, the focus shifted to maximising reach during these pivotal payday weeks. The TV strategy rested on three programming strands:
1. Light Viewing Programs: They targeted shows that indexed highly with light viewers to enhance unique reach. Examples of these shows included live events, especially sports.
2. High-Rating Programs: They aimed to select programs that would deliver quick coverage, considering that each campaign typically only lasted one week. This ensured that they could effectively capture audience attention within a limited timeframe.
3. Peak Programs: OMD’s strategy included an upweight on peak programming, which typically attracted higher attention levels and was well-indexed against their core demographic of adults aged 25-44.
Through these smart strategies, Virgin Media was able to carve out a distinctive position in the market while driving both short- and long-term sales growth.
The Results
The decision to invest significantly in the payday strategy marked a pivotal shift for Virgin Media in 2024, with an investment exceeding €500k. The true measure of any strategic initiative lies in two crucial questions: 1) Did it achieve the objectives set for the year? 2) Will it be replicated in the future?
In this case, OMD can confidently affirm a resounding YES to both queries.
The campaign proved to be an immense success, achieving its primary objective of boosting sales.
Business KPI’s:
•They experienced our highest sales year on record, with a remarkable 21% increase compared to the previous year and versus the target of 14%.
• Prior to implementing the payday week initiative, the sales figures for the last week of every month had already shown an
upward trend, increasing by 8% versus the preceding weeks. However, with the introduction of the payday week strategy, this growth surged to 14%, reflecting the effectiveness of the approach.
Media KPI’s:
• They achieved a minimum 1-2 reach level of 23%-28%, helped by our careful programme curation, versus the target of 20%.
The positive results validate the decision to invest heavily in this strategy, as it not only delivered immediate benefits but also reinforced the brand’s position in a competitive market. Given the success of the payday strategy in 2024, we are confidentially planning to repeat it in 2025. The goal is to outmanoeuvre competitors with a more calculated sales approach, leveraging the best medium available — Television. TV
remains a powerful channel for reaching mass audiences and driving engagement, making it an essential component of Virgin Media Broadband’s route to market.
“”We’re operating in an immensely competitive market and are constantly challenging our agency partners to deliver
strategies and tactics that can give us the edge over our competitors. The ‘payday’ strategy from OMD is driven by past sales
data analysis that highlighted end of month sales spikes. We then leaned into this insight using broadcast media channels to
drive awareness of our acquisition offers each month. The results have contributed to a significant increase in demand
across all our sales channels, resulting in 21% increase in sales year on year. The strategy is working and so it continues to be
an integral part of our annual plan for 2025.”
Fiona Mahon, Senior Marketing Manager, Virgin Media Broadband
Credits
Brand:
Virgin Media Broadband
Media Agency:
OMD
Award:
Shortlist in the Best Tactical Use of TV category at the 2025 TAMI Awards