Ziggo x Dot Connectors
Senior Brand Producer Campaigns
For over five years, VodafoneZiggo has brought me on board as the Senior Brand Producer Campaigns for its major brand initiatives.
And I typically join at a very early stage—during the strategy phase—even before the lead agency is briefed. Once the strategy is finalized, it’s my responsibility to invite and align all preferred suppliers, bring together the right creative talent, and ensure the project is delivered on time and within budget.
Most importantly, I make sure the work is creatively ambitious and pushed to its fullest potential. These kinds of projects are the cherry on top. Why? Because stakeholders come from all levels of the organization, there are extensive IP rights to manage, and the creative partners involved always bring their A-teams. To me, that’s a great recipe for a thrilling ride.
The majority of my work takes place at the beginning. Interestingly, it’s also the most crucial phase for success. Optimal scheduling, tight internal alignment, and efficient team meetings lay the foundation. During the execution phase, I liaise between all creative partners and the internal brand teams.
Creating assets that are entertaining, cost-effective, and built to last.
Niels's role in Project Management. Budgeting. Scheduling. Project Leadership. Production strategy. Creative Support. Connecting the Dots. Talent Sourcing.
2025 - Wifi Guarantee
#stopthebuffering
The first provider to guarantee WiFi signal. Everywhere. Always.
What if your WiFi gets stuck during a cliffhanger moment? Isn’t that one of the most annoying—and relatable—things that can happen? Let’s eliminate that frustrating buffering icon when watching content!
And so, the visual concept for this Ziggo campaign was born. Ziggo offers a WiFi guarantee, communicated through three simple proof points: Free WiFi boosters when needed, 24/7 live support, A technician, if necessary after all. “All we needed” now to execute this idea, was an iconic feature film being ruined by bad WiFi. So, we produced one. As with all campaigns, I joined the Marketing Team and agency early on, keeping an eye on feasibility in terms of timing and budget.
Once we had a final script, I worked with the team to source the right creative talent, cast, and usage rights.
We ended up filming in a stunning old arena, complete with a crowd in traditional costumes, fierce gladiators, and—of course—someone at home trying to stream this epic scene.
Until... well, you'll have to see for yourself!
“Produce once, use many”.
While preparing for the shoot, we carefully considered our framings for social, cinema, out-of-home, and TV. As a result, nearly all assets were delivered in five aspect ratios.
Sometimes, this isn’t just a matter of simple reframing. Technically, it can be done as a simple crop—but that often means the image isn’t optimized for its intended use. With proper planning and an up-to-date asset list, we chose to shoot certain scenes in multiple framings. This way, we avoided having to make tough compromises later in post-production.
It all comes down to alignment and solid preparation.
The ‘Ziggo Dome’ will be showcasing our Gladiator smashing the buffer icon.
Four sides, 12.000 LED’s making in the biggest Out Of Home advertising screen in the Netherlands.
… But does the ‘buffering concept’ work on radio as well?
Oh yes it does.
“We’re looking for a GIANT gladiator who’s about to finish a fight, but then starts a friendly conversation.”
That kind of request could only mean one thing: we needed to approach the biggest, tallest, and most importantly the friendliest actor in the Netherlands: Olivier Richters, The Dutch Giant.
While starring in popular series like Reacher (Amazon Prime) and feature films (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Olivier made time in his schedule to be part of this campaign, pushing it just a little further.
Follow Olivier and watch the episode on his YouTube channel, where he joins us behind the scenes during the shoot.
Behind the Scenes
2024 - Feel the Love for Football
All the UEFA Football, now only on Ziggo Sport.
Ziggo bought all UEFA Football broadcasting rights for the Netherlands.
The audience was first introduced to the campaign through a broadcast rollout featuring 60”, 40”, and 20” videos—deliberately shared without any activation or pricing information. The sole purpose at this stage was to communicate the message “Feel the love for football” and to announce that UEFA broadcasting rights are now with Ziggo in the Dutch market.
Using the same main cast, we coordinated the production of the 60” film alongside shorter storylines designed for targeted assets that included pricing details and key benefits of being a Ziggo subscriber. This approach ensured that all campaign materials scored high on brand recognition, as they clearly belonged to the same creative ‘family’.
For this campaign, we also secured the rights to the iconic Dutch song “Wat is dan liefde” by André Hazes adding a layer of emotional resonance and cultural relevance.
Three days shoot: Simultaneously Video and Photography •••
76 assets created and counting, from one shoot •••
One shoot for serving .com + Socials + Outdoor + Broadcast channels •••
Negotiated sixteen talent contracts •••
Three days shoot: Simultaneously Video and Photography ••• 76 assets created and counting, from one shoot ••• One shoot for serving .com + Socials + Outdoor + Broadcast channels ••• Negotiated sixteen talent contracts •••
While the asset list was shaped by input from multiple internal squads, external agencies, and partners, we took a structured approach—categorizing all deliverables as either ‘unique’ or ‘fit for purpose’. This led to a tightly coordinated three-day shoot combining both video and photography.
The result was a comprehensive UEFA campaign asset library, filled with high-resolution images and videos that were easily resized, re-timed, and reformatted for a variety of channels. For example, assets were adapted for a 400-meter, 12,000-LED wall at the Ziggo Dome, while another agency repurposed the same materials to create an interactive banner for LINDA. demonstrating the campaign’s versatility and futureproof design.
2020 - Ziggo featuring Max Verstappen
Watch all the F1 races, exclusively on Ziggo Sport.
The best Sports channel, the best F1 driver, but will the circuit be ready in time?
The Dutchies had to wait 35 years for the F1 to return to their famous racetrack at Zandvoort. And while the decision to race there was made pretty late, all Dutchies were keeping an eye on the renovation of the track, wondering the same questions for weeks:
'Will they be ready renovating before the race weekend?'
Which turned out to be a great insight for a campaign.
Ziggo's lead agency came up with a brilliant idea to still hype the F1 launch without having the track fully race-ready in a cross-media campaign. I took the role of lead the project from a content execution side and find the right talents on the job, scoping, budgeting and delivering from A-Z on behalf of Ziggo. Shot at night @ Zandvoort Circuit (As we couldn't slow down the renovation process even more, featuring Max Verstappen pushing an Aston Martin to its limits.
Including the limits of our cameraman. I love my job.
Of course, Max was curious to see just how far he could push the new street-legal Aston Martin we had for the campaign. So, while the crew was on their lunch break, it was playtime for him. And it was fast.
really fast.
"Easy, Max," I said. "This car has zero kilometers on the clock, and I promised to return it to the dealer without a single scratch."
Create some excitement > Step 1
Just days before the campaign launch, we released an anonymous video that appeared to show security camera footage of an intruder entering the racetrack at night with a car. The clip sparked curiosity and quickly caught the attention of several blogs—including Dumpert, one of the largest in the Netherlands.
Create some excitement > Step 2
A few days later, it was revealed that the mystery driver was none other than Max Verstappen. Still, Ziggo kept the video officially unbranded until the full campaign launch, maintaining the intrigue and maximizing impact.
