Virgin Media Edit
Client
Virgin Media
Industry
Telco
Category
CRM programme, email, social
If you want the clearest picture of how I work as a Content Director, this is it: a programme I’ve owned end to end, grown year on year and led an editorial team to deliver against fast-moving, high-stakes briefs.
Virgin Media Edit (formerly Virgin TV Edit) is a long-running weekly email and website CRM programme that drives NPS for millions of Virgin Media O2 customers in one of the most competitive markets there is. Its success rests on personalisation at scale, built around real customer passions and pain points. Historic success, though, is no guarantee of future success.
I joined the account in 2018, first as Content Editor and then as Content Director, responsible for the entire publishing output: content planning, writing, commissioning and editing, project management, pitching, scriptwriting, video production and social strategy.
My role is to lead on account innovation and content strategy that delivers tangible results, presented to the client weekly and monthly, while managing and developing an editorial team to concept and deliver world-class content against challenging briefs, and maximising budget to drive revenue.
I’m also the collaborative link between creatives, clients and stakeholders across multiple concurrent projects.
What makes it work is the marriage of data and editorial craft. We use viewing habits, package tiers and demographics to take a genuinely analytic approach to storytelling, with every output informed by real-time data, whether that’s email engagement or our SEO footprint.
But that data is underpinned by real editorial expertise. This isn’t copywriting; it’s editorial, and that’s what elevates the content above SEO fodder. By operating like a genuine entertainment newsroom, whether that’s partnering with Marvel to showcase a game launch, interviewing stars backstage at the BAFTAs or bringing TV and film previews to life with exclusive interviews, we build the brand credibility that drives clicks and fuels social conversation.
It’s why a programme that’s run for years is still a growth programme. It sits right at the heart of the brand’s customer engagement, as the home of sponsorships, customer education, channel-partner relationships and more, featuring weekly email and website content alongside social assets, featured graphics, solus emails and website banners.
Some of what that leadership has delivered:
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An 80% year-on-year increase in SEO traffic after I pivoted editorial strategy overnight in response to Covid-19, with a later seasonal push adding a further 92% in that period alone
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Industry-leading email open and action rates, and record website traffic, following a full strategy and design overhaul focused on driving NPS
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Growth into new channels (social, film, DOOH and a second email programme for O2), increasing both the scope and the revenue of the account
What it shows: sustained content leadership – building and developing a team, owning a multi-million-pound, multi-channel account and using data and editorial judgement to keep a mature programme growing.
