Virgin Red

Background:

Virgin's objectives were to boost awareness of their rewards program, Virgin Red,  for customers and improve user knowledge through geo-targeted and segmented digital ads, gamification, user rewards, and bike sponsorship. 

Forest was the obvious choice to support and succeed on their objectives by providing a unique and effective way to engage the busy Londoner. The campaign launched in April 2026 with each of their Virgin Red branded fleet served as a moving billboard, carrying their highly recognisable red throughout London’s residential areas, commuter hubs, parks, and business districts.

Similar to other successful campaigns, such as Deliveroo, Forest’s bike sponsorship saw them gain a measurable physical presence while combining this with in-app placements to create numerous touchpoints for our 1.5M+ users.

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THE CAMPAIGN:

In order to maximise Virgin Red’s presence in high footfall areas, like King’s Cross, Waterloo, and London Bridge, they utilised Forest’s unique ability to amplify existing Out of Home spend through strategic fleet deployment and geo-targeted in-app advertising. With a 100% Share of Voice in top priority locations, Forest supported with driving brand awareness and keeping Virgin top of mind in highly competitive areas.

Forest used tried and tested means of engaging our riders with an exciting competition where everyone that rode a Forest bike was automatically entered into a draw to win Virgin points that could be redeemed on anything such as holidays, live shows, gym memberships, or spa days. This helped to gamify our users' everyday commutes and turn them into experiences. Virgin's in-app creatives focused on the competition, and educating users on how Virgin Red can reward customers by using Forest. 

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IMPACT:

Complimenting each other, the digital and physical aspects of the campaign delivered excellent results. Video ads (where users are rewarded with a minute of free riding for watching) in particular saw spikes upwards of 8% CTR, well above industry standards. Native journey ads followed suit delivering millions of impressions and driving measurable traffic to the Virgin Red site.

The physical bikes had quite the journey through the Forest ensuring Virgin’s

branded eye-catching reflective fenders spread awareness across the capital in a unique and sustainable way. Ultimately, Forest helped Virgin achieve its goals, reach a new audience, enhance their current Out of Home strategy all the while driving real world impact.

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TESTIMONIAL:

Forest helped us take our brand directly into Londoners' everyday journeys. Combining branded bikes with targeted in-app activity gave us strong visibility, industry leading engagement and an innovative way to communicate Virgin Red to new audiences. - Virgin Red

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