Virgin Mobile wins award for`V Festival’ at Mobile News Awards 2006

The V Festival has become one of the most prestigious live music events in Europe,happening across two sites in Chelmsford and Stafford and attended by over 300,000 people.The 2005 V Festival, headlined by Oasis and Scissor Sisters, sold out within days thanks to a sophisticated advertising, PR and marketing campaign. PR started months before the event with competitions and stories about what would be hot at V Festival. This was supported by a Road to V competition to find an up and coming band to open the Festival, which attracted a million viewers on Channel 4. 2005 also saw Virgin Mobile launch the first ever `festival buddy’, a downloadable Java application providing the entire running order of the festival. Another first was the creation of a live TV advertising campaign that ran as mini-programmes across the breaks the night before the festival. Loyalty to the Virgin Mobile brand was also promoted within the festival itself with free kebabs and beer for Virgin Mobile customers. The fact that the festival also attracts a bevy of celebrities has made it one of the biggest events in the music calendar.

James Kydd, Brand Director at Virgin Mobile, said: “V is a major property for Virgin Mobile, and is a twelve-month marketing, advertising and PR programme. We have never treated it as an opportunity just to stick loads of logos everywhere, but with our approach we have always tried to add real value back to the consumer experience and provide some added excitement. This award is recognition of the fantastic success that this unique approach provides. We hope this year’s V Festival is even better."
V Festival in August 2006 boasts Radiohead, Morrissey, Faithless, Beck, Razorlight, Kasabian, Paul Weller, Hard-FI and Keane. For more information on this year’s V Festival, visit www.vfestival.com