Virgin Media 5yrs
Celebrating our 5 year partnership, 28 projects later, from the join journey/ to the stream verse, genre defying, highly collaborative, from initial sign up to long term installation, a street full of Virgin Media characters and homes full of Virgin products.
Art&Graft celebrated their 5 year partnership with the team at Virgin Media, a milestone that warranted some taking stock with Head of Production, Tom Bromwich and Creative Director, Stephen Middleton.
The last 5 years have been punctuated with creative briefs by the Virgin Media team, from creating the entire universe of characters around their Join Journey to the space and time defying universe of Virgin 360. From concept to campaign, our studio team worked alongside the Virgin Media team in a highly collaborative way.
Increasingly, brands are seeking a multifaceted creative partner to offer wide-ranging explorations for their creative briefs. To unlock the full potential of its visual campaigns, Virgin Media partnered with Art&Graft on a series of projects to unlock the magic of new products or retain its community by creating companionship in its setup resources.
It has been an honour to build this relationship with the team at Virgin Media and in reviewing the ongoing partnerships, we’ve put together the following edit:
"Art&Graft are a pleasure to work with and always feel like an extension to the team when trying to pull an idea together. We have created some great work while working collaboratively, they understand our brand and always bring our briefs to life with energy and enthusiasm."
Kelly Mfuk-Tull, Senior Brand Manager at Virgin Media
Kelly Mfuk-Tull, Senior Brand Manager at Virgin Media
PLUGGING IN
Virgin Media really tapped into this hive mind structure with great effect, knowing they could “plug into our studio team any point in the creative process” Tom explains, “often long before a script was developed” and they would know we would propose something new every time.
Art&Graft is a broad church of technical and artistic talents. This helps us stay totally style-agnostic: “we’re not wedded to any particular approach; that’s fertile ground for unique styles and fresh ideas” Stephen remarks.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Our portfolio with Virgin Media is a shining example of the open-ended process we take such pride in. Throughout the partnership, “VM used every corner of the studio, working with us on motion graphics, 3D and editorial aesthetics” Tom continues.
It began with the character led ‘Join Journey‘, a series of 11 films and other marketing collateral taking new customers from sign up to installation.
Character had been identified as an important design vessel for their campaign, “and our job was to transform their demographic profiles into a cast of characters, packed with personality, that could come along for the ride” says Stephen.
HAND IN HAND WITH BRAND
This ability to metamorphose between styles and concepts, whilst retaining brand tone is testament to how close our collaboration has been with VM over the years: “they understand the potential of long-term partnerships, not just one off projects” Stephen surmises.
With Virgin Media, Tom explains, “the brand knowledge we’ve absorbed has meant we know what works and what doesn’t (…) but it also means there is a deeper level of trust that allows us to be brave and go on that unique journey together for every project”.
A big thank you to all our friends over at Virgin Media. Who knows what dimension we’ll be venturing to next… we’re just getting started!
Related Projects
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Virgin Media Join Journey
Taking new customers on a joyful journey from sign up, to installation and beyond.
Dreamers and Streamers, Have-it-allers, Loyal Diallers and TV recliners: 3 distinctive demographics and 13 films, from Welcome to Get Ready – the fully animated companion to Virgin Media’s Join Journey.
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Virgin Media 360
Bending time and space to demonstrate the anytime, anyplace.
A galactic glimpse, the inception of something new, subatomic modelling, high resolution product rendering, a series of discs and portals — the 360 TV experience.
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Virgin Media Stream
A cohesive motion system for a legendary launch, from comedy gold to sporting ad-ons, a gridded system of logos and icons, an infinite stream-verse.