Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) recently joined forces, pledging to both make a positive difference to our shared future through a set of climate commitments — which includes being net zero by 2025. The brands wanted to communicate this commitment to a young audience of potential future brand loyalists during a key cultural moment, with COP26 providing the perfect point in time. Ahead of the campaign, research conducted by Global Action Plan for VMO2 revealed that while 90% of 16-24-year-olds care about the climate crisis, only a third feel equipped to speak about it — which is where we came in.

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Our Acast Creative team was conscious of three factors: 

1. Podcast branded content would play an important role. The average dwell time for such content is 28 minutes, making it the ideal format to unpack complex messages.
2. The choice of talent would be key to effectively engage the target audience. 
3. There was a great opportunity to go beyond the podcast through this activity.

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Our Chattin’ Shit To Save The Planet campaign saw hosts of the Chattin’ Shit podcast and Allan 'Seapa' Mustafa and Hugo Chegwin, stars of British sitcom People Just Do Nothing, assume the roles of VMO2 brand ambassadors for the month of COP26. 

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Hero content included a bonus edition of the podcast, featuring climate activist Francisca Rockey, which was fittingly recorded in a solar-powered studio and amplified across the Acast podcast network through audio ads and sponsorships of other relevant Gen Z-skewed podcasts.

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The podcast content was supported by talent-led social activity, promoted across VMO2 channels on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snap and LinkedIn. Furthermore, earned media saw interviews secured featuring our hosts talking about the campaign on Sky News, Joe, and Metro.

By positioning our hosts as brand ambassadors, rather than content creators, we were able to effectively engage our target audience across multiple channels.

Through the audio executions we kept listeners engaged for longer, with an average dwell time of 38 minutes for our hero content — outperforming both the Acast branded content benchmark, as well as the Chattin’ Shit podcast’s own average listening time.

Meanwhile, the use of social formats saw 18 posts delivered through talent and podcast channels, as well as promoted assets across VMO2 brand channels. While these were key in helping to engage our target audience, they also enabled us to move the conversation forward through tracking our creators’ appearances on different channels.