Helping O2 Regain Relevance by Engaging the Gaming Community

The Context

In recent years, O2 has seen a shift in how its customers engage with its offerings, particularly with its flagship loyalty app, O2 Priority. Initially, the app was hugely successful, offering exclusive access to live music gigs and events. By 2018, the O2 Priority app, once highly successful for offering exclusive music events, had started to lose its relevance with its core audience as customers’ interests evolved, and the app became flooded with everyday discounts rather than exclusive, high-value offerings. The core audience, particularly younger customers, was increasingly disconnected from the app, and O2 needed to modernise its approach to remain relevant in an ever-changing market.

Simultaneously, gaming was experiencing a cultural explosion. From Olympic-sized stadiums to living rooms, gaming was no longer just a niche hobby—it was becoming a mainstream passion, especially among tech-savvy young audiences. As gaming’s global market surpassed even music and movies in terms of revenue, it became clear that O2 had an opportunity to tap into this growing community, especially given their existing focus on 5G and superfast networks.

The Challenge

O2’s established music-centered platform no longer resonated with the younger demographic. The challenge was twofold:

Revitalising O2 Priority: Making it relevant again for the modern consumer by introducing new, high-value experiences that are connected to customers’ passions.
Reaching the Gaming Audience: Positioning O2 as a brand that understands and supports the gaming community, while seamlessly integrating 5G and advanced tech offerings.

My Role

As the lead strategist of the value proposition work, I identified the opportunity to align O2 with the gaming community, one of the fastest-growing passion points. I proposed a bottom-up strategy to ensure authenticity and credibility, emphasising that O2’s brand needed to evolve with its audience and support their interests in a meaningful way. My role involved researching trends and identifying key insights from the gaming industry, and developing a high-level gaming strategy that complemented O2’s music strategy.

The Solution

To reconnect with younger customers with a passion for gaming and to revitalise O2 Priority, I proposed a bottom-up grassroots strategy that would help O2 align with gaming and gain credibility in this space. From gaming bundle products to influencer programmes and gaming events, to sponsorships and O2-owned events.

How the communications team brought the strategy to life

O2 Arena in Fortnite: During the pandemic, VCCP led the concept development for O2’s first in-game activation in Fortnite. This activation involved placing the iconic O2 Arena inside Fortnite, where players could explore the virtual venue and participate in mini-games, all in the lead-up to a virtual gig by the band Easy Life. The experience was designed to engage users in a fully immersive, music-meets-gaming environment, offering exclusive content like a new track unlocked by exploring different areas within the game.
Partnership with Belong Gaming Arenas: Recognising the importance of real-world gaming experiences, VCCP guided O2 into a partnership with Belong Gaming Arenas to host tournaments for both new and lapsed customers. The team created the “Level Up Showdown”, which featured top gaming influencers and was streamed on O2 Priority and Twitch. This activation was designed to engage the community both digitally and physically, driving app engagement and bringing gaming fans back into O2’s fold.
Gaming Space at O2 Arena: Lastly, a new experiential gaming space was created at the O2 Arena, powered by Virgin Media’s superfast broadband. This allowed visitors to experience high-performance gaming in a physical location, reinforcing O2’s position as the go-to provider for the best network experience, both at home and in public spaces.