Submitted by Purple Goat Agency

Virgin Media Gamepad: Operation Level Up

Purple Goat Agency ran Operation Level Up for Virgin Media, a creator-led social campaign for its Gamepad venue that delivered 241% of guaranteed impressions.

203%engagements vs. guaranteed
241%impressions vs. guaranteed
178%link clicks vs. guaranteed
17pieces of organic content

Case in 60 seconds

Virgin Media needed more awareness and footfall for the Gamepad at The O2, while previous campaigns aimed at dedicated gamers were not cutting through in a category where every gaming brand chased the same audience.

The campaign appears to turn on the reading that casual and mobile gamers, whom the agency cites from its State of Play Report as the majority of the UK gaming population, were ignored by competitors because they do not identify as the kind of gamer a gaming venue is built for.

Operation Level Up repositioned the Gamepad as somewhere anyone could enjoy, inviting everyday players to take their gaming beyond their phones rather than asking committed gamers to prove expertise at a venue.

Purple Goat Agency worked with a diverse range of creator pairs to produce 17 pieces of organic content across Instagram Reels, TikTok and Stories, with creators sharing experiences of exploring the venue together, and the strongest-performing assets amplified through paid media for reach and frequency.

The agency reports 17 creator-led assets across Instagram Reels, TikTok and Stories, with 203% of guaranteed engagements delivered, 178% of guaranteed link clicks delivered and 241% of guaranteed impressions delivered.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Casual and mobile gamers, described as the majority of the UK's gaming population and a wider gaming audience than the dedicated gamers previous campaigns targeted.
A dedicated gaming venue reads as territory for committed gamers, which suggests casual and mobile players who game daily on their phones did not consider the Gamepad as somewhere for them.
The page states that every gaming brand was competing for the same audience, so incremental spend against dedicated gamers was returning less cut-through and less footfall for Virgin Media.
Virgin Media used the campaign to reposition the Gamepad as somewhere anyone could enjoy rather than a venue that assumed gaming expertise from its visitors.
The idea was to move an existing habit rather than create one, inspiring people who already game on their phones to take that behaviour into a physical venue.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Reels
  • Stories
  • organic content

Partners

  • Purple Goat Agency (lead_agency)

Creator role

  • @jackandmax_ — creator
  • @maxxandkau — creator
  • @natandethan — creator
  • a diverse range of creator pairs

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
engagements vs. guaranteed203% of guaranteed engagements delivered.performance
impressions vs. guaranteed241% of guaranteed impressions delivered.performance
link clicks vs. guaranteed178% of guaranteed link clicks delivered.performance
pieces of organic content17 creator-led assets across Instagram Reels, TikTok and Stories.content_pieces

Why Purple Goat Agency's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Where every competitor targets the same committed segment, the cheaper route to cut-through appears to be an audience already inside the category but never addressed, because attention there is not being bid against.

  2. 2

    Casting creators in pairs and briefing them on shared experience rather than gaming skill reads as a way to lower the competence barrier, since a venue looks accessible when the people on screen are not experts.

  3. 3

    Running organic content first and amplifying only the strongest-performing assets through paid media suggests the organic phase was used as a selection mechanism, so paid budget followed evidence rather than prediction.

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