Virgin Atlantic-What I want for Christmas

VIRGIN ATLANTIC - WHERE I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Crowdfunding is currently going through a boom period. Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are used for everything from charitable causes to companies who want to bring new products to market.

Airlines are now also waking up to the concept. Last year Air Canada launched its ‘Embarq’ programme, the aim of which was to help “cash-strapped” millennials go on a honeymoon, business trip or adventure by collecting small donations from friends, family, and even total strangers – which the participant received as an Air Canada e-gift card.

Virgin Atlantic is now the latest airline to get on the crowdfunding bandwagon, with it’s “Where I want for Christmas” initiative, which encourages Brits to ask friends and family members for contributions towards flights and holidays instead of unwanted Christmas presents.

To take part, you have to create a profile on the Virgin campaign page and then outline where you want to go. After that you ‘invite’ friends and family to contribute cash sums towards your 2018 holiday.

Not everyone will be comfortable with the idea of sending out e-invites asking for holiday money, so Virgin Atlantic has also come up with a more conventional product to sit alongside the crowd-funding initiative.

Virgin Atlantic Gift Cards have been made available to buy in London’s Liberty department store. These can be loaded with anywhere from £50 to £150 and hung on the Christmas tree.

The campaign was developed by advertising agency Adam & Eve, which created a series of humorous 20 second ads and online videos to support the idea.

The videos (one of which has already generated over 1 million views online), show people on Christmas Day unwrapping useless and unwanted presents (e.g. a pair of socks, a cheese grater etc) before being told that this year they can actually get what they really want - a holiday to Las Vegas, Orlando or any other Virgin Atlantic destination.

The thinking behind the campaign is best explained by Virgin Atlantic’s SVP of marketing Claire Cronin: “We’ve conducted extensive research and know that our customers are increasingly valuing experiences over materials things.”

Though that sounds like press release speak (the rest of the quote goes on about Christmas socks), it does link into wider travel trends. As we mentioned in the S7 article, an IPSOS-MORI study found that seven out of ten travellers are looking for “unique experiences.”

KEY TAKE-AWAY

Virgin Atlantic isn’t the first airline to try crowd-funding, Air Canada was there first last year. However in many ways we prefer Virgin’s execution of the idea.

By linking it into unwanted Christmas presents, it is more fun, and the videos manage to bring the whole idea to life. Virgin also hasn’t made the campaign totally dependant on crowd-funding, as it includes the more conventional route of gift cards.

Finally, positioning a Virgin flight and holiday as a life-enhancing experience rather than a product that you buy both makes it more valuable and ties into what people actually want when they go away on holiday.