Virgin Media has launched a new integrated marketing campaign on the theme of ‘It’s Playtime’.

The idea is to connect the brand with what people like to do rather than what they have to do to make a living.

The campaign visuals feature Toy Story-ish toys in a box that have forgotten how to play.

According to ad agency Publicis: “These aren’t your typical type of action figure toys. These toys represent all of us who’ve become trapped in the everyday grind.

“With the power of Virgin Media, they can break free from boredom and get back to what they love - everything from scrolling through social media to bungee jumping.”

In Association with

The TV commercial was directed by Chris Balmond and produced by Antidote Films.

Virgin Media is planning a marketing splurge behind the campaign on TV, outdoor, radio, digital and social.

Paul Higgins, Vice President of Commercial, Virgin Media, commented “We’re launching our playtime platform at an exciting time for the business as we expand our footprint of services nationwide.

“The campaign is a culmination of over 12 months of research, development and ideation with the Publicis team and we’re delighted to launch it in an integrated through the line campaign.”

Ger Roe, board creative director at Publicis, added: “We know that being connected 24/7 can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a release, so we wanted to turn our phones and TVs back from tools into toys.

“Playtime looks different for everyone and with this campaign we had a lot of fun showing the benefit of being a Virgin Media customer and what that means for the little and big things in your life.”