Giffgaff Christmas Tree Campaign
As part of my university coursework, I was asked to respond to a fake client brief. I was required to create a digital brand experience that encapsulates the giffgaff spirit of 'mutual giving' that rewards existing members and shows potential new customers what they're missing.​​​​
Brand Analysis
I started off by conducting a brand analysis of giffgaff and identified their strengths and weaknesses. I quickly realised that they are a community-dependent, environmentally-conscious organisation, working to make phone plans available for all. They face competition from other services that provide fuller package deals, but their fun and recognisable branding works well to maintain their current customer base.​​​
This TV advert, addressed to the “bad”, positions giffgaff as the ‘good’ in comparison. The greedy, upper-class diners represent the selfishness of other highly priced mobile companies, while the hard-working waitress is a symbol for the underdog giffgaff. Giffgaff’s lower prices make them a good option for those facing financial difficulties, and the company values their users because of the community effort in the customer support department. The advert could be improved by guaranteeing lower price plans. Many companies promise to save the customer money but cannot follow through – giffgaff has a legitimate business model to provide this, so it should be explained in more depth.
This advert uses the voice of a customer to give credibility to giffgaff’s warm nature. The simplistic style showcases the consumer, demonstrating that the company values their community. The flexible pricing model is explained in a friendly tone, and the illustration symbols are modern and fun. While this advert presents giffgaff as a brand of the people, it does not fully show all the good that the company does, such as its environmental work.
This Instagram post advertises giffgaff’s stance on protecting the environment and unites its community in doing good work. Giffgaff uses its customers to showcase their good deeds rather than stating a statistic, making the company seem humble instead of pompous. A cheerful tone is used to convey company pride, showing giffgaff is a welcoming brand for any type of person. This links back to their value of doing good, for both community and environment.
Campaign Proposal
I planned to create a Christmas social media campaign in which members of the giffgaff community nominated on social media for ‘doing good’ would be taken on a ‘Christmas experience’ as a reward for having a positive impact in their community. This would become an annual tradition known as the Christmas Tree Campaign. The nominees would pick out their Christmas tree before planting a new one, highlighting giffgaff’s commitment to looking after the environment after being granted B Corp status. The festive theme reflects the spirit of mutual giving.
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I created a short ripomatic using stock footage to demonstrate the aesthetics of my project, as well as a moodboard.
Final Product
I took influence from the social media presence of other charities such as SSAFA (for whom I am a digital marketing volunteer) when creating my posts. Because I was not actually running the campaign myself, I decided to use actors to play 4 people who have been "up to good" in their community and are taking part in the Christmas Tree Campaign. For each of the 4 short videos I produced, I created a script, moodboard, storyboard, shot list, location recce, props list, risk assessment and personal release form. I recorded the footage using a JVC camcorder with a camera-top LED light and used a Roland R44 and mini Sennheiser boom mic for voiceover audio.
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I designed my still-image posts with Adobe Photoshop and edited the Instagram reels in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Software used during this project
