To do this, we created the Virgin Mobile Data Auction: the world’s first auction where people’s unused data was accepted as currency to bid for real, big-ticket items and experiences. The auction ran exclusively on Facebook, where we auctioned off 30 lots over 30 days. This ensured everyone had a chance to bid, as monthly plans finish on different days.

Auction lots included everything from new phones, drones and hoverboards to the grand finale item – a week on a private island in Fiji, worth $40,000. We also reacted contextually to special days, like auctioning off Stormtrooper armour on International Star Wars Day (May the 4th), and news stories, offering a spot on a Mardi Gras float on the same day Telstra, a rival, backtracked on its support for marriage equality.

The Data Auction launched and ran exclusively on Facebook from 15 April to 15 May 2016. It was supported by daily Instagram posts and Tweets from Virgin Mobile’s other social channels, which drove traffic to the Virgin Mobile page where bidding took place.

One item was auctioned off live every day for 30 days, with bidding open between 7pm and 8pm AEST. Our unique daily auction video posts appeared in News Feeds hours before the bidding time to drive interest and engagement once the auction started.

The Virgin Mobile Data Auction was a hit, with a huge average winning bid of 6.1GB of unused data. Every daily auction drew our audience’s attention to just how much data is stolen by the other telco companies every month. News, entertainment and tech media outlets all covered the auction, giving us free promotion to a much wider audience. Just as importantly, every news story and article also spread awareness of the issue of data theft by Australia’s big telco companies and Virgin Mobile’s point of difference with Data Rollover.

• 258% increase in traffic to Virgin Mobile Facebook page

• 160% increase in engagement with Virgin Mobile content

• 1,624,418 impressions

• 483,345 total video views

Our Data Auction specifically targeted other telco companies’ customers on monthly contract plans, the very people having their data stolen every month. As with any auction the highest bid always won, so with every lot auctioned off we were turning the biggest data losers with the other telco companies into the biggest winners with Virgin Mobile.

By running the auction on Facebook, bidding was simple and instant – all people had to do was comment on our daily auction post with proof of their unused data. This way, we drew their attention to exactly how much data they personally were losing at the end of each month. It also meant that we were able to send a personalised, contextual message to every bidder about the benefits of Virgin Mobile’s Data Rollover service at the same time.

In Australia, people on postpaid mobile phone plans have their unused data taken back by the big telco companies at the end of every month. This is data they’ve paid for, but don’t get to use. On average it adds up to 4.5GB per customer per month, equivalent to streaming eight episodes of Game of Thrones. Only Virgin Mobile is different, offering Data Rollover to its customers, giving them a second chance to use it.

Virgin Mobile launched Data Rollover in 2015, yet it remains a strong point of difference against its competitors. Our challenge was to find a new way to talk about it and make Australia see the injustice of data theft, to prove that only one telco company truly values the data customers have paid for – Virgin Mobile.