Press Release: Virgin Mobile USA Customers Celebrate One Year of Earning More Than 9 Million Free Minutes with Sugar Mama

Virgin Mobile USA Customers Celebrate One Year of Earning More Than 9 Million Free Minutes with Sugar Mama

Innovative Rewards-Based Mobile Advertising Program Expands Partnerships, Adds New Features and Enjoys Strong Click-Through Rates

WARREN, N.J., July 9 -- Virgin Mobile USA, the leading U.S. wireless youth network, is commemorating the one-year anniversary of Sugar Mama, its innovative mobile marketing program created to let customers earn wireless "airtime in their spare time." An average of over 1,000 new customers has signed on to participate in Sugar Mama each day since its inception, earning over nine million minutes of free airtime. Since the initial launch of Sugar Mama with charter partners Pepsi, Xbox and truth (the American Legacy Foundation's national youth smoking prevention campaign), new partners such as Jive Records [Sony/BMG Entertainment], Levi Strauss Signature, New Balance, Nintendo, Rimmel, Showtime Networks, Sony Pictures [Columbia/Tri-Star], Sony PlayStation, Subway, Sunsilk, and the U.S. Navy have joined the Sugar Mama program.

In developing content that fits the Virgin Mobile community in particular, each Sugar Mama partner is able to test if advertising messages are resonating with potential customers and, more importantly, if these viewers like the experience and the product enough to consider a future purchase. For example, Sunsilk features a blonde vs. brunette "Color Showdown" quiz for its Beyond Brunette and Blonde Bombshell color collections.

"When we launched Sugar Mama, we knew we were adding something pretty unique to the way companies use mobile advertising to interact with consumers," said Howard Handler, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile USA. " With an average click-through rate of 5.5%, Sugar Mama offers our partners a way to directly engage our customer base. Certain outstanding Sugar Mama campaigns have achieved click-through rates which are significantly higher than our average. The most successful campaigns managed click-through rates of up to 21.1%. And our customers continue to tell us how much they appreciate the opportunity to see cool new ads and earn minutes."

Sugar Mama was designed to benefit its customers as well as brands that want to engage with Virgin Mobile's 14-34 audience. Customers opt in to Sugar Mama to receive mobile and Web-based advertising content. As Sugar Mama participants, they are invited to view a variety of creative materials and answer a few questions, providing valuable feedback to the brands. For spending approximately 45 seconds of time, roughly the length of one ad, Sugar Mama participants are rewarded with one free minute of Virgin Mobile USA airtime. Customers have two additional ways to connect with Sugar Mama - by completing surveys online and by responding to branded text messages.

"As we continue to develop new programming, we're always looking for new ways to introduce shows to our core audience as well as to entice new viewers," said George DeBolt, vice president, Media for Showtime Networks. "When we launched SHOWTIME's new series The Tudors, we chose to include Sugar Mama in our media mix because it is an innovative, effective way to give a taste of the series to a really desirable demographic. Not only does Sugar Mama help us drive awareness, it also lets us interact with those who see the spots to get a sense of how they're reacting to them."

"SUBWAY restaurants are all about freshness, and that includes the way we look at marketing to our customers," said Tony Pace, chief marketing officer of the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust. "We like the innovation behind Sugar Mama and it is a natural for reaching the digitally savvy consumer."

"We're excited to continue working with Virgin Mobile and Sugar Mama because we know digital technology permeates every facet of young people's lives. We see just how much they rely on text messaging and cell phones for everyday communications," said Eric Asche, senior vice president of Marketing for the American Legacy Foundation, which directs and funds the truth(R) campaign. A sponsor since the launch of the program, the American Legacy Foundation(R) is currently is running a documentary campaign, called that because of the style in which the ads are shot, with a correspondent and a camera crew investigating "Big Tobacco."

Additional Features

The Sugar Mama platform continues to evolve, with a new added twist that allows devotees to introduce cool content to their friends. After completing an interaction with an ad, customers can select the "Forward to a Friend" option, allowing them to share spots they like, expanding the spots' overall reach. Through Sugar Mama, customers can save their 10 favorite spots as well as access their Virgin Mobile account profile, and check their airtime balance.

The platform hosts additional video features including a customer education cartoon, comically explaining how easy it is to manage one's Virgin Mobile account online (at http://cache.ultramercial.com/start.um?54=481) and interviews with hot bands, like The Shins, from Virgin Mobile's new "Fresh Licks" program."

To get started with Sugar Mama, customers can visit that section of the Virgin Mobile USA website (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/stuff/sugarmama.do) to opt in, fill out a short demographic profile and confirm they are age 13 or older. Virgin Mobile's Sugar Mama is powered by Ultramercial LLC.

About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC

The nation's leading wireless youth network, Virgin Mobile USA provides more than 4.8 million customers with control, flexibility and choice in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing consumers to adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. Virgin Mobile's full slate of smart, stylish and affordable handsets, including the popular Switch_Back and Slice, are available at top retailers in more than 35,000 locations nationwide and online at http:// www.virginmobileusa.com, with Top-Up cards available at more than 130,000 locations.

Virgin Mobile USA's national coverage is powered by the Sprint National Network, and the company, which launched in 2002, is a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Virgin Mobile highest in customer satisfaction among wireless prepaid services, and its own customers report a 94% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile contributes 5% of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation, its pro-social initiative to help homeless teens, through donations to charitable partners or funding of programs that support and raise awareness for young people in need; and provides postage-paid return envelopes in every new package for customers to recycle old phones.

SOURCE: Virgin Mobile USA, LLC