David Beckham's Vodafone commercials having temporarily disappeared from screens, rival operator Virgin Mobile has stepped into the breach by signing up pop star Christina Aguilera for a new campaign.
According to the company, Virgin Mobile founder Sir Richard Branson personally courted Aguilera for the high profile campaign, inviting her to his personal Caribbean island of Necker to seal the deal.
The signing continues Virgin Mobile's tradition of working with US music stars in its push to attract young customers. Previously, rap stars Busta Rhymes and Wyclef Jean have appeared in the "devil makes work for idle thumbs" series of adverts.
The ads, directed by Bryan Buckley, will be filmed on location in Los Angeles and two versions will be produced, one to go out before the watershed and one after. The ads will be broadcast from mid-May, with Virgin today promising that they would be "raunchy".
Like Vodafone, Virgin Mobile has concentrated on signing up recognisable celebrities to act as the face of its brand.
Vodafone has received an avalanche of unexpected publicity over recent weeks as Beckham has been pictured over and over again in the tabloids using his Vodafone Live! mobile to illustrate allegations of "text sex".
Last week, rival O2 also announced a string of music deals, sponsoring a series of concerts and events throughout the year, from Capital's Party in the Park to underground urban music club nights.
From a virtually standing start, Virgin Mobile has gained almost 4 million customers by focusing on pay-as-you-go and younger customers.
Virgin Mobile was set up as a joint venture between Sir Richard's empire and T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, in 1999. Virgin Mobile uses the T-Mobile network to operate its service.
The two fell out in spectacular fashion two years ago. The dispute ended up in the hands of lawyers but, following a change of management at T-Mobile, a deal was reached in January.
The deal handed full control to Virgin Mobile, paving the way for the company to float later this summer, an offering which could value the company at upwards of £1.3bn.
Under the terms of the settlement, if Virgin Mobile is floated within two and a half years, T-Mobile gets 25% of any equity value over £550m, up to a maximum payment of £100m.
Virgin Mobile's recent performance has given its management confidence that the business will get a fair rating in the market. The company acquired more than half a million new customers in the last three months of 2003, making it Virgin Mobile's best ever sales period by far.
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