As Virgin’s only brand in Canada, Virgin Mobile is responsible for bringing its parent company’s Pro Social strategy to life here. Under the umbrella of the employee charity Virgin Unite and with a focus on the environment, youth in need and the ‘big three’ preventable worldwide diseases – HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis – Virgin Mobile’s Pro Social purpose is to drive its charitable movement in Canada and inspire grassroots change.
On the eco-frontier, Virgin Mobile Canada brought MuchMusic, Roots, Key Gordon Communications, Environmental Defence and the province of Ontario together in April 2007 to develop Flick Off, a cross-country initiative designed to educate young Canadians about global warming and motivate them to do something about it.
The program included a competition in which the Canadian city or town with the most pledges to reduce carbon emissions won a free, carbon-neutral music festival. In its first year, the program attracted over 200,000 hits on flickoff.org, and target-group awareness was over 50% in Ontario and just under 40% countrywide. The winner among over 300 entries, Estevan, Sask., was announced in November.
To support the fight against HIV and AIDS, Virgin Mobile joined forces with UNICEF and Vancouver laboratory BioLytical in October to educate young Canadians on the importance and ease of HIV testing. The campaign included three groundbreaking public testing events in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. More than 5,000 people (including local celebs) were tested with a unique diagnostic kit that delivers results in 60 seconds.
Set up in high-traffic areas with bright colours and provocative slogans, the campaign aimed to replace the negative stigma of HIV testing with a more positive image. BioLytical also donated 100,000 Insti HIV tests for use in South Africa.
Also on health, Virgin Mobile orchestrated November’s Midnight Magic fundraising gala for Virgin Unite’s Heaven’s Angels, an army of health care workers who deliver medical supplies by motorcycle into remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa. A live auction offering a guitar signed by Elvis Costello, meet and greets with Elton John and Criss Angel and a week on Sir Richard’s private island raised over $2 million in cash and medical supplies. Over 54 million media impressions were generated, including $5.8 million in PR.
Judges’ comments
‘Virgin has seamlessly tied the philosophy of its founder to the environmental attributes of its products to its social causes with inimitable style and a cheeky, irreverent attitude.’- Marc Stoiber, Change
Jump to:
cause + action top champion: Vancity
cause + action winner: G.A.P Adventures
cause + action winner: Pantene
