Virgin: The Definition of Versioning.
Update 20/04/22.
Virgin Atlantic is at it again, this time celebrating diversity across their cast of employees and customers.
In the first piece of creative, delivered by new partners, Lucky Generals, viewers are invited to ‘see the world differently'.
Speaking to The Drum, Vice President of Brand and Marketing, Annabelle Cordelli, says “It’s more important than ever that we reimagine the world and lead the way with fresh ideas. Virgin Atlantic is uniquely placed to do this because of the rich individuality of our people and our customers: the unique people who march to their own drumbeat, fly their own path, see things from a different angle.”
The power of this campaign speaks to how our lives have changed during the pandemic as we emerge with new habits, identity markers, and new work-from-home attributes. Whilst we are encouraged to consider where we go and who we travel with once again, the message from Virgin Atlantic is clear - come as you are, you’re welcome here.
It’s another example of Virgin’s commitment to evolving with, instead of selling to, its audience. And we love it.
If there’s one brand that embodies the definition of versioning, it’s Virgin.
What started as a mail-order record store venture back in the 1970s has evolved into a multi-faceted, wildly-successful conglomerate known to everyone and their dog.
Not bad for a long-haired, music-loving teenager straight out of secondary school, right?
It’s not just about vision, which Richard Branson has in spades, it’s about over-indexing on execution where the learning is done and then applied, on repeat. For someone like Branson, change is an exciting prospect - and he has used it as a catalyst for reinvention, creativity, and to launch his brand into territories, often very literally. Today the Virgin Group is made up of 29+ companies, executing with excellence, warmth, and good humor, in everything from books, money, experience days, sports, fitness, to the space race - bravely going where no one has gone before. Well, almost no one.
And that vision - distilled down through the brand over its 50-something years - still cuts through the noise like a Virgin Voyages cruise ship carving through the waves. Even today. Virgin’s ability to pivot, evolve, and version themselves it’s quite simply remarkable. As is made crystal clear by this month’s #BrandIcon, Virgin Atlantic; whose in-house content team gives every major agency player a run for their money.
When Branson first started Virgin Atlantic back in the 1980s, they simply didn’t have the budget to compete with the major airlines. Putting in a call to the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi wasn’t an option. Instead, he leaned on the advice of his mentor at the time, Freddie Laker.
“Use yourself. Make a fool of yourself. Otherwise, you won’t survive,”
And that's exactly what they did. “I took on his advice and put myself front and center of the brand – giving Virgin a personality that British Airways didn’t have”, Branson says in his Virgin blog. A lesson that has continued to resonate with their in-house marketing engine since Virgin Atlantic’s inception.
Okay, granted, there’s been some agency assistance along the way, but at the core has been ‘Atlantic’s in-house team - now headed up by Alexander Sparasci - leading the charge, banging the Virgin Group’s creative drum, designing, writing, and delivering content across multiple, changing platforms and formats, year in, year out.
From the famous 'BA Don’t Give a Shiatsu' campaign and countless ads featuring Branson in costume, to those featuring Hollywood royalty such as Helen Mirren. We can guarantee that at least one of Virgin Atlantic’s ads has made you smile. And, as in the case of last year’s take on ASMR, at least made you long for a holiday.
And that’s not forgetting the in-flight magazine content being absorbed by globetrotters all around the world, or the consistent stream of enviable content rolling out across their social channels on a daily basis.
It’s immaculate content, and on a scale that every marketing team can aspire to.
In the beginning, Virgin Atlantic had to do it themselves. Since, they’ve relished - flourished, even - in assuming the responsibility. And in doing so, sent a message to brands around the world; there is power and personality in being your own brand guardians.
From records to rocket ships, versioning is at the blood-red heart of the Virgin brand. And when you’ve already conquered music, games, holidays, airlines… Why not add a kick-ass, quick-witted, multi-channel content team to the mix, too?
Alex Sparasci calls it, “the coolest airline” - we’re inclined to agree.
Virgin Atlantic | #BrandIcon | February 2022.
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