Whippet has worked with Tesco Mobile for 18 years, mostly on point of purchase rollout for the retail marketing team. This project asked for something different: a full rebuild of the reasons to believe creative, with the licence on the existing image set due to expire in March 2026 and no replacement suite planned.
The old suite treated every reason as equal weight, so big hitters like O2 powered coverage and zero fee EU roaming got lost among smaller perks, with no consistent system for how each RTB should look, read or crop across formats. The brief covered 12 RTBs to start, built to work across portrait, landscape, banner and out of home.Finding the hierarchy
We split the RTBs into two tiers: Tier 1 heroes (awards, roaming, coverage, frozen prices, flexible plans, family perks, 5G, online safety) and Tier 2 support (switching, trade-in, the app, Clubcard). Lead with what matters most, then build the case with everything else.
Giving every RTB a human face
We explored a more playful, pun led route early on, but the RTB itself always needed to do the talking. Every headline leads with the functional benefit, paired with a real customer moment underneath: Louise roaming without the fees, Matt staying connected off grid, Kirsty flexing her data.
One system, every format
A single flexible layout system flexing across portrait and landscape, kept deliberately independent of Clubcard and Clubcard Prices (bar Frozen Prices) for future flexibility. It also meant working directly with Tesco Mobile's brand team for the first time, after 18 years mostly spent with retail marketing.
Words that tell first, then make you feel
Every headline leads with a punchy functional claim, followed by a warm human payoff. "No EU roaming fees" becomes "From sandy beaches to cobbled streets, Louise's data costs the same, wherever the family goes." Tone was dialled back on purpose, so the reason to join always lands first.
A visual world pulled from real life
Real, unstaged photography, a hammock in the woods, a mum and daughter in the kitchen, a night bus ride home, paired with a disciplined colour and roundel system (white, blue or image filled, never red, capped at three per page) that keeps every RTB feeling part of one family.
One system built for every format
Each RTB built around a single master image with defined portrait and landscape crop guides, delivered as Portrait Master, Landscape Master and banners at strict technical specs, with Tier 1 also built to hold up out of home.
The suite started life as 12 RTBs. It's now 15, Tesco Mobile came back for three more (awards, EU roaming, child safe SIM) once the first phase was live, solid proof the system was doing its job.
The relationship keeps evolving too. Designs have already been updated for Tesco Mobile's new brand expression launching in July 2026, with a seasonal photography refresh planned for November. This project also marked the first time Whippet worked directly with Tesco Mobile's brand team on above the line creative, a new chapter in an 18 year partnership.
Tesco Mobile RTB
Giving customers reasons to believe
Matt Bellhouse
Retail Marketing Manager
"The Whippet team just gets us. They took the time to understand what actually matters to our customers, then built a system that does the heavy lifting for us across every format. Nothing feels like an afterthought; every RTB has its place and its purpose. The work produced has been top-notch, and feedback so far has been really positive from everyone who's seen the creatives. Working with Whippet always pushes our thinking forward, and this suite is a brilliant example of that."