Our 11th Virgin Mobile online viral and buzz marketing campaign features bikini-clad bodybuilders with a twist.

We’ve launched a new online connected marketing campaign as part of Virgin Mobile’s ‘Super Buff’ Christmas promotion featuring stripped-down, bikini-clad female bodybuilders - including Super-buff Gran(!) - and offering online visitors £35 free airtime when they buy any Virgin Mobile camera phone online.

James Kydd, brand director for Virgin Mobile, said:

Our Christmas camera phone promotion this year is all about getting your mitts on our super-buff range of mobile phones. We’re building on our reputation for providing young, entertainment-hungry online users with irreverent new material by sponsoring a quirky bodybuilder animation series from 12foot6, the creators of last Christmas’ cult Dog Judo animations. In addition, we commissioned Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R to create an eye-popping set of viral clips starring Super-buff Gran who has to be seen to be believed! All the creative material features in a new online connected marketing campaign planned and implemented by DMC to integrate with the forthcoming print, outdoor poster and radio strands of the promotion.

The 12foot6 animations (entitled ‘Florists’ and ‘Tube’) star rival female bodybuilders Flo and Jo trying to outperform each other in ordinary day-to-day situations. The Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R Super-buff Gran clips star an amazingly buff, bikini-clad granny with some cheeky moves and even cheekier quips. Is she for real? The overall promotion stars three of the UK’s top female bodybuilders who were chosen after a nationwide search. One of them, Kim Jones, was spotted after her national TV appearance as Chico’s personal trainer on the ‘X-Factor’

The connected marketing campaign animations and clips are available on the Super Buff microsite and as standalone files that can be downloaded and passed around. Each file invites viewers to click through to the microsite for more Super Buff fun.

With this campaign, Virgin Mobile is further pushing the boundaries of consumer-driven, peer-to-peer marketing, backing highly entertaining new creative material and using our online connected marketing expertise to kickstart buzz and maximise viral spread. Our online film tracking system will also help them to quantify the impact the online activity has on brand awareness.