ABOUT

THE BRIEF

Virgin Media O2 wanted to shine a light on the issue of Data Poverty in their latest campaign with the support of Mad River. Data poverty is the lack of affordable, reliable access to digital connectivity, limiting opportunities for education, employment, and social inclusion. The campaign, sought to raise awareness of the issue and offer a practical solution by providing free WiFi to customers in their O2 stores throughout the campaign period, ensuring that more people could stay connected during the festive season.

Mad River were tasked with creating the full concept through to final delivery of a short term art installation that helped to raise awareness of the campaign. It needed to be in a renowned London location, be thought provoking and compete with the ‘noise’ of a fairy light filled festive season.

THE SOLUTION

Our solution was designed to keep the message simple and symbolic. Our ‘canvas’ being the iconic London skyline on the Southbank. We created an entirely bespoke 10x3m sculpture featuring 100 handmade illuminated house-shaped lanterns, symbolizing UK households. Seven percent of these houses were illuminated in blue, representing the 1.9 million households living in data poverty, the rest where fully illuminated in white light. The centerpiece was a bold neon message: "1.9 MILLION UK HOUSEHOLDS LIVE IN DATA POVERTY," reinforcing the campaign’s message. The installation came alive at night and stood proudly on the edge of the Southbank for 3 nights, with over 100,000 people experiencing it firsthand while passing by.