Virgin Media

Company: Liberty Global Plc

Brand value: US$3,473 million

Change since 2019: -24%

Headquarter city: Hook, Hampshire

Industry: Telecom Providers

Year formed: 2007

Virgin Media provides phone, broadband and television services – but the brand’s 2020 campaign features none of these services. Instead, it looks at how resilient British people are getting through the COVID-19 lockdown, with a special focus on healthcare workers. The “Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Connected” campaign was quickly put together as the virus spread, and followed a rebranding exercise in late 2019 that puts greater emphasis on long-term brand building with the aim of becoming the most recommended brand among staff and customers. It may not be at the heart of the brand’s communications, but Virgin has continued to invest in improving customers’ connection speeds. Virgin Media switched on gigabit broadband for more than a million homes early this year, and there are plans to roll out this service nationally.

In May, Virgin Media and mobile network O2 announced plans for a £31 billion merger, to be completed next year provided it meets regulatory approval. The parties say the deal would unlock £10 billion of investment in the UK over five years.