In 2014, the UK Government’s ‘Internet Matters’ initiative promoted awareness of web safety for children, and required ISPs to encourage customers to activate web protection software.

Most ISPs created work presenting the web as a scary place, and themselves as protectors. To zig where the others zagged, we created a campaign for Virgin Media that focused what an amazing world a safe internet experience is to see.

As Virgin Media provides the fastest, widely available broadband in the UK, and provides Websafe services for free, it was an opportunity to reinforce their value as the best facilitator of online entertainment.

The essential promise of the internet has always been that it’s a “superhighway” of information and entertainment. Especially with a fast connection, it’s a window to many exciting worlds. Only later did it become such a dark place, full of scams, predators and malware. We wanted to return to the real spirit of the internet, which also happens to align so well the fun and exciting perception of Virgin Media. Our campaign approach – utilizing interactive online banners, animated emails and pop out glasses in the DM pack – dramatized the fact that once the internet safety products were switched on, children would be free to have as much fun as they liked online. Just as one might expect from Virgin. This was great news for them, and even better new for their parents.

As we were looking to strengthen our perceived sense of value to avoid customer churn, the results were to be found across a few key indicators, all showing positive movement. Our churn rate was, indeed, down in the October-November period, despite impending rate adjustments. Our Care and Aware scores, a key measure of customer satisfaction, jumped from 20.8% to 24.4% for Virgin’s Web Safe service. And key industry benchmarks showed Virgin Media ranking as #1 in speed, reliability and customer service, with a steady increase in perceived broadband value for money satisfaction by 3% by the end of the year.