by Renee Israel
A new cheeky TV ad for Virgin Bingo has
all the quality, pizzazz and entertainment value one would expect
from a Virgin-branded product, Virgin Bingo being part of the
popular Virgin Games online gaming site.
The ad has a distinct "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" theme
in that it depicts a factory that creates everything online
bingo-related, but instead of Oompa Loompas, the factory's workers
are predominantly attractive female workers, in true Virgin style.
In the ad, a woman is taken on a tour of the Virgin Bingo factory
and shown where the bingo balls are polished, Virgin Bingo's
generous deposit £10 and play with £35 bonus as well
as all the generous prizes that can be won.
Simon Burridge, chief executive officer of Virgin Games, said,
"This new advert has a flavour of Willy Wonka for adults about it.
It has lots of energy, excitement and fun - just what consumers
have come to expect from a Virgin advert."
This cheeky advert from Virgin Bingo online site is a part of a
£500,000 marketing campaign scheduled to run in the first
quarter of 2012. A large section of online bingo players are
housewives and the target for this campaign are women between the
ages of 25 and 54.
Accordingly, the advertisements will run on a day-time schedule
on channel Five, a range of Sky UK and ITV channels. The online
bingo web site also plans to run multiple campaigns throughout the
year.
New Virgin Bingo Advert Created by ABF Pictures
The new Virgin Bingo ad was created by ABF Pictures, which is a
Manchester-based agency located in the digital production complex
of the Sharp Project.
It was awarded the contract in stiff competition from a number of
London-based agencies and was filmed at the Sharp Project over two
days. However, the addition of the computer generated scenery took
two months.
ABF creative director Matt Barraclough said that working with
the Virgin Games team was a thrilling experience. He added, "A
brand like Virgin allows us to think bigger and look at online
bingo in a different way. We wanted to stand out from traditional
bingo commercials and do it in a very Virgin way."
The ABF creativity and enthusiasm succeeded in producing a
commercial told the bingo story but without taking it too
seriously. Barraclough concluded, "Bingo is fun, the Virgin brand
is fun, I think the commercial is too."
