Upgrade Face by Virgin Atlantic

Upgrade Face by Virgin Atlantic

In February we covered the “Upgrade your Airline” campaign by Emirates.

The campaign featured a video showing passengers checking in for an unnamed airline and doing crazy things to try and get an upgrade (e.g. attempting hypnosis).

The video then finished with a man checking into Emirates economy and not begging for an upgrade. The message was that he didn’t need to, as he had ‘upgraded’ his airline.

The notion that people will try almost anything to get bumped up from economy was also the central feature of recent Virgin Atlantic marketing.

Or more specifically, this was a promotion for their new credit card, where you earn Flying Club miles as you spend, and can also qualify for perks such as upgrades if you spend over a certain amount.

Virgin Atlantic promoted these credit card features in a two-pronged campaign.

First of all, the airline released a ‘survey said’ style story, which claimed that in order to try and get an upgrade, “one in five people have pretended to have just got married, one in twenty have claimed to be a journalist and some have even attempted to bribe check-in attendants.”

Virgin Atlantic then brought in a camera crew into London’s Heathrow Airport to capture footage of what it called a “social experiment.” This involved the crew filming in slow-motion the surprise and joy on unsuspecting passengers’ faces as they received upgrades. The airline coined a name for this - “upgrade face.”

According to Oliver Byers, SVP of Sales and Customer Loyalty at Virgin Atlantic, “From the weird to the wonderful, our check-in desk attendants have heard it all.

Our loyal customers deserve rewards and what better way to do that than to kick start their journey with an upgrade.

Although we love to hear them, there is no need for extravagant excuses anymore; our credit card holders are likely to experience that ‘Upgrade Face’ feeling sometime soon.

The resulting video clips and story got extensive coverage in the UK media, including the Evening Standard, Express, Mirror and Daily Mail.

Boston Or Brew

At the same time as it launched its ‘Upgrade Face” campaign, Virgin Atlantic launched a promotion in Manchester to celebrate the return of direct flights to Boston.

In particular, 50 people were given the chance to win a flight to Boston for the price of a cup of tea - or £3.95 ($5.32).

However, there was a catch. People wanting one of these tickets had to turn up at the Richmond Tea Rooms in Manchester and if chosen (via a raffle), had to answer questions about Boston from airline quiz masters who were present.

Key Take-Away

The ‘Boston or Brew’ stunt happened on June 1st, and as yet we can’t see any information on Virgin Atlantic’s social media channels about the response or any photos from the day. However, this was an idea that was both fun and easy for people to understand.

With the UK being associated with tea, and Boston being known for the Boston Tea Party (even though it was something that kicked off the US War of Independence!), the link is obvious - and who doesn’t want a ticket to the US for $5?

We also can’t imagine that it cost Virgin Atlantic much to run this tactic aside from the venue hire and 50 tickets that were basically free (as taxes were paid by the airline).

“Upgrade Face” is a catchy name and Virgin Atlantic came up with a humorous and creative mechanic in capturing people’s facial expressions when receiving upgrades. The airline will almost certainly have been pleased with the press coverage that came out of this.

At the same time, we can’t help feel that the Emirates ‘Upgrade Your Airline’ campaign was more effective as it had a better brand message.

The simple reality is that premium class travel is out of reach of most people, and they will be choosing between different economy class products.

If you are not an LCC, and you don’t compete primarily on price, then highlighting the overall passenger experience - in whichever cabin - is better for the brand.

It also arguably helps promote an airline’s business and first class cabins along the lines of “if their economy is that good, just imagine how good first class must be” (and Emirates has plenty of videos made by A-lIsters such as Casey Neistat showing exactly that).

After all, if people are coming up with outlandish ways to try and avoid flying in your economy cabin, what does it say about it?