Challenge

VOXI have always strived to be more than just another mobile network – championing self-expression and creativity in their young audience. 

With degree shows cancelled during the pandemic, we knew young artists were struggling to get their work seen. 

We wanted to give up-and-coming creatives the platform they desperately needed.

Insight

VOXI have always wanted to be more than just another mobile network. They champion self-expression and try to give young people everything they need to discover and develop their identities – like Endless Social Media.

Supporting young artists and creativity is part of VOXI's heritage – from commissioning bespoke phone case designs for the brand launch to co-creating the evolving look and feel. 

We knew the creative industry had been hit hard by the pandemic. With degree shows and networking events cancelled, young artists were struggling to get their work seen.

Strategy

To live up to the brand’s ambition to be more than just a service provider, we wanted to give these young artists a platform. 

So we went right to where they were – on Instagram – and launched Eyes On. A social campaign to give up-and-coming illustrators the exposure and mentorship they desperately needed, whether they were VOXI customers or not.

Creative

To ensure our approach was truly inclusive with no barriers to entry, our brief was simple. Create a digital illustration inspired by VOXI's brand promise: Be Endless. 

While getting exposure from us was great, young artists craved recognition from within the industry. We wanted the UK's top illustrators to get their eyes on this next generation of talent. So, we partnered with 4 of the biggest names in illustration to judge the entries: Manjit Thapp, Super Freak, Poppy Crew and Jonny Costello.

The judges promoted the campaign on their own channels to reach the right audience, and shared inspiration posts and tips to help less experienced artists.

We knew the prize needed to be a 'money can't buy' experience – and, in keeping with the ambition of the campaign, career-changing. So we created a host of incredible prizes for the winner: £2,000 in cash; paid commissions with VOXI; 1-1 mentoring sessions with head judge, Manjit Thapp; your artwork sold on Fy!; and a 1-1 masterclass on brand-building from Instagram's Global Product Lead, Jimmy Lee.

The competition look and feel was bold, colourful and illustrative to get real standout on social. We created teaser posts to warm our audience before the launch reveal, and a suite of vibrant assets to maintain momentum while the competition was live: from 'Meet the judges' carousel posts to illustration inspiration.

We featured every entry on our bespoke microsite to get eyes on even more artists, and reposted entries regularly on our social channels. 

Results

Eyes On was a huge success amongst our young artist audience – garnering 4,685 interactions and a wealth of positive responses on social. 

@josh.snodgrass: "Stoked to enter"

@jellypanda.studio: "Wow! So exciting!"

@mo.yaseen18: "Oooh I'm gonna do it!"

We smashed our entry target by 450%.

With no boosted posts, we made 234,262 impressions – which is 4x VOXI’s usual engagement rate. Our Judges' bespoke Eyes On content on their own channels also performed incredibly well, with an engagement rate of 10.4% (far surpassing the benchmark of 3%).

Eyes On had an earned reach of 1,108,760 – gaining coverage in LadBible, Verge Magazine, and Company News HQ.

Our shortlisted artists organically hyped the competition for us on social, asking people to vote for their work. 

Most importantly, young artists felt seen and supported by the network. Eyes On runner up, James Waterhouse, said "It was really nice to be recognised by as big a company as VOXI." 

VOXI helped struggling creatives to invest in and further their careers. Waterhouse said "I put the prize money back into my art practice."

And our winner @tropicalnoodle got all he needed to start earning as a professional illustrator – with mentorship, masterclasses, and his work featured on Fy!'s retail platform.

Eyes On and VOXI clearly made a huge difference to young artists. The response was so positive, it will now become a regular VOXI campaign featuring different industries (fashion, beauty, cooking, music, comedy). 

A mobile network getting eyes on even more young talent, when they need it most.