O2 is shining a light on data poverty in a new campaign from VCCP as part of a long-term commitment in the festive season.

According to Ofcom two million UK households are impacted by data poverty and are struggling to afford access to mobile data. This means people are unable to get online and carry out everyday tasks such as booking appointments, doing their homework and staying in touch with their loved ones.

A 60 second film brings to life the experiences of people without mobile data, which is an essential utility for everyday life.

The experiences depicted in the ads are  inspired by real people’s stories. These include a young man working in a kitchen who struggles to complete his studies due to a lack of data, a father and daughter who are unable to stream something to watch while they’re on a coach journey and a woman outside a laundrette struggling to stay in touch with loved ones.

To demonstrate how O2 is supporting people in need via the National Databank, the film shows snowflakes made of SIM cards gently falling from the sky into the hands of those who had been disconnected, showing how they can get online with free O2 data.

The campaign was created by VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear, director Steganie Soho and Smuggler. The Mill created the VFX. The film is set to the song ‘Snowfall’ by Ingrid Michaelson.

The campaign landing page has been designed and built as a zero-rated webpage which is exempt from any data charges so it’s accessible to those experiencing data poverty. Through this webpage, those in need can find their nearest O2 store to access free mobile data.

Simon Valcarcel, Marketing Director at Virgin Media O2, explained: “With around two million households now experiencing data poverty, we wanted to use our platform this festive season to share the realities of not having data in an honest and relatable way, while raising awareness of the support available via the National Databank. Through this campaign, we hope to encourage people across the country to spread the word that those in need can get free O2 mobile data from their nearest O2 store.”

David Masterman, Deputy Executive Creative Director at VCCP, added: “It’s easy to take for granted, but data is an essential utility. It’s necessary to book doctor’s appointments, for kids to do homework, so many of our day to day activities - we wanted to bring this to life in this campaign by telling those stories and pointing people in the right direction to get support from O2.”

This is the third time that O2 has spotlighted the National Databank in its Christmas campaign. The ads will run across Cinema, TV, VOD, Online, OOH, Social, Radio and Retail, and will run until the 31st of December. Media planning and buying has been led by MG OMD.