Virgin Money wanted to position themselves as a facilitator of positive money management; the key challenge was to change people's behaviour around spending money and raise awareness of 'spending better'. Communications needed to introduce the concept of 'spend neutral' amongst a target audience of 25-45 year olds and ultimately drive new account sign ups. The idea was to create a platform that would position Virgin Money as a brand that helps people manage their finances better.

To change people's behaviour around spending money and raise awareness of 'spending better'.

The campaign was executed through print and online platforms. A micro site was created and formed the central hub for the campaign; content included tips on how to be 'spend neutral', holiday savings, advice on haggling as well as money saving podcasts, a competition to win a Virgin balloon flight and an 'ideas bank' for users to share their comments. The micro site was supported in print by an advertorial in the Finance section of the Guardian. Three pre promotional adverts appeared in main news and finance to drive people to the micro site and highlight the competition.

The results were impressive; the micro site received over 33,000 impressions and 18,221 unique visitors with an average dwell time on the site of just over 5 minutes. Over 3,000 people entered the competition to win a balloon flight and there were a total of 833 pledges posted in the spend neutral forum. The impact on brand awareness and attitudes towards Virgin Money were measured pre and post wave. The results indicated the campaign increased overall awareness of Virgin Money by 16% and over a third of respondents said the microsite had improved their perceptions.

The idea to postion Virgin Money as a brand that helps people manage their finances better enabled Virgin Money to provide people with information and tips on ways to make their savings work harder, spend more wisely and ultimately have more money. The campaign delivered against the objectives set with almost a third of the audience trusting the micro site to provide a high standard of financial advice; 40% also said their behaviour will change in future after seeing the micro site. Additionally, traffic to virginmoney.com rose 29% across the campaign.