Aims

We helped Virgin Media use social media to encourage customer collaboration and involvement in new product development and idea generation.

Activity

We built and managed The Virgin Media Sofa - a closed online community made up of customers identified as being Virgin Media "superadvocates".

Our community mangagers, as well as Virgin Media staff, regularly engaged with community members to keep them informed about company news and to seek their input about new products and ideas, ensuring that the community remained at the forefront of a collaborative innovation process.

Community members also received regular updates about existing products and services in order to learn more about Virgin Media's offering. The Virgin Media Sofa also hosted a range of polls and surveys where customers could submit new ideas, as well as vote for their favourite suggestions.

Key Results

• The Virgin Media Sofa helped to encourage a two-way conversation between Virgin Media and their most influential customers.
• On average, one new idea was submitted to The Virgin Media Sofa every day.
• The community was made up of superadvocates who had a net promoter score of 9. Engaging on a regular basis, and in a personal way, with an already loyal fan base helped to further develop advocacy for Virgin Media.
• Community advocates gained an in-depth understanding of Virgin Media products, helping them to become educators on behalf of the brand.
• Virgin Media staff made community members felt so valued that they turned into active brand advocates, helping to spread on-message, positive word-of-mouth through their own personal channels, without Virgin Media's instruction.