Throughout the history of pay TV, Cable and Telco have reigned supreme. Together they represent 66% of the market, compared to just 34% of consumers who subscribe to satellite TV. DIRECTV alone has only 19% market share, a small player up against the Goliaths of Cable and Telco.

The ‘Versus’ campaign took the fight directly to Cable by calling out their various shortcomings and comparing them to DIRECTV’s superior benefits. Because ultimately low price offers don’t make people leave cable, cable makes people leave cable. In order to break through, DIRECTV needed to rise above the price wars and create a superior point of difference. Targeting premium customers who want the latest and greatest features, not just the basics. Through clever, irreverent tone and memorable characters, the goal was to infiltrate pop culture and create conversation across all forms of media.

Six months and ten films later, the campaign had a life of it’s own.

In the third quarter of 2014, DIRECTV lost 28,000 subscribers. But the following quarter after the campaign debuted, we gained 149,000 subscribers. An astonishing 82% of which came straight from cable.

The idea behind the ‘Versus’ superiority campaign was to take on cable’s shortcomings through clear comparisons of DIRECTV’s superior benefits that DIRECTV offers and cable does not. Because ultimately low price offers don’t make people leave cable, cable makes people leave cable.

By taking on a competitive and edgy approach, conversation about the campaign erupted across all forms of media. The campaign ran on national TV and print for two quarters.

- 60% increase in net new subscribers (DIRECTV added 149,000 net subscribers, a significant improvement from the comparable period last year, when it added 93,000 net users)

- Churn rate down in to 1.37% in Q4 2014 from 1.41% in Q4 2013

- DIRECTV's fourth quarter revenues increased 4% to $8.92 billion principally due to strong ARPU growth at DIRECTV U.S.

- Revenues up to $7,136 in Q4 2014 from $6,773 in Q4 2013 (millions)