New VS TV ad - 2 Jan 09

I would love VS to be more SQ. My only complaint with the latter is service is a little anonymous. Still the on board satay more than makes up.

[Neil]

We are getting off the point here. The ad, in the main does what 'VS' wants it to do, potentially attract new customers, which they and the rest of the airline industry needs to do. Ok we might all have done the ad in a different way, but it is from a marketing point of view, a good ad.

[RichardMannion]

In todays current climate, the primary driver to attract new customers is price.

Would a promo of 25 seats at £250 on every flight for the next 25 weeks been a better way of potentially attracting new customers? Once you have them at the site....

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
In todays current climate, the primary driver to attract new customers is price.

Would a promo of 25 seats at £250 on every flight for the next 25 weeks been a better way of potentially attracting new customers? Once you have them at the site....


But you have to get them to the site first, and then when they get there and find that there are no seats left at £250 and the next fare bucket is priced at £450, you have some potential new customers who are a bit p*ssed off.

[HighFlyer]

Does the new advert attract new customers though? We dont really know yet, do we? Some audiences may be attracted to VS based on the way the crew are portrayed, doesnt necessarily mean those people will pay up and buy tickets. Its got us talking at any rate i guess.

You might also have some passengers that are a bit p*ssed off when they see that not all of the crew are such darling dollies [:D].

Thanks,
Sarah

[Nottingham Nick]

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
Would a promo of 25 seats at £250 on every flight for the next 25 weeks been a better way of potentially attracting new customers?


Cracking idea.

That was my point all along. Whilst I don't like the ad, my main gripe is the whole idea of a TV ad campaign. The money VS are using to have the ad made, plus the money they have to pay for slots to show it must be astronomical.

IMHO that money could have been spent in any number of other ways that would have given VS a better return in the long term.

SRB is a master of getting free publicity in the printed media. Why not have a number of 25 year photo ops, coupled with some promotions for existing and new customers. Much cheaper and much wider customer exposure.

Nick

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by HighFlyer
You might also have some passengers that are a bit p*ssed off when they see that not all of the crew are such darling dollies [:D].


Lol[:D]

But, they will only be p*ssed off if they take the advert to say that all VS CC are dolly birds. I personally don't, I think it says VS stand out from the crowd and are something cool that you want to know more about, but everyone I am sure reads it differently.

[HighFlyer]

Yeah, I definitely read the advert as saying that the crew are attractive. It was like a mock of the 'Catch me if you can' movie scene, and those Red heels? [:D]

I'm with Nick on thinking that a TV ad campaign wasnt the brightest way to spend their money.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Darren Wheeler]

A bit of nostalgia is fine (Cellnet launched mobiles in 1985 [ii]) but the ad does absolutely nothing for me. What good is glamour when coupled with a total lack of of service skills?

VS is no longer innovative in the air and is in fact sliding backwards these days. OK, UCS still has the edge over CW seating but only just. PE is ahead of WT+ but can be so much more and Y, well, Y is Y anywhere. One of the biggest innovations was done away with last year. The bar is a useful distraction provided paying pax can actually get to it. V-Port, reading TR's, has gone from a quality product to an unreliable gimmick that needs serious attention.

On the ground, the CH is still the star. It's fair to say we all love it and long may it continue.

I would rather the ad money was spent on a back-to-basics customer service skills course for all cabin crew with a pass/fail at the end and 'mystery shopper' reviews of CC.

TBH this advert just brings home the reality for me following the 2 flight debacle I had with Virgin last December both on the ground, in the air and then with customer services.

Glamour is one thing, but service is a major part.

I'm another one who has voted with my wallet and have 'switched' to BA.

Unless Virgin improve re. the issues that need addressing, they won't get my money again. [V]

[Darren Wheeler]

quote:Originally posted by HighFlyer
Yeah, and those Red heels? [:D]

Thanks,
Sarah


Made me think of a certain hair colourant ad.

You know what they say about red shoes... [:I]

Would VS have had the trading standards onto them if they'd included anything about good service in the AD?

I can see what Virgin are trying to do in showing how they've changed air travel, but I don't think this was the best way of using Virgin's very limited budget for TV advertising.

Taking the ad at face value, it's just very superficial and unsophisticated. It says nothing about many other aspects of Virgin as a brand, or the product. It is really quite a surprise in 2009 to see the message 'Don't our crews look gorgeous!' which may make some female passengers feel excluded, something that no other airline would do today.

Compare the Virgin ad to this BA concept ad which both conveys a message about the airline as a whole and certain aspects of its product:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKJTx1Xe ... re=related

It's confident. That's the message I get from it. And I think currently that's a good message. (compare that to FlyBe's desperate free-redundancy insurance which to me, sends out all kinds of weird messages)

quote:Originally posted by Sealink
It's confident. That's the message I get from it. And I think currently that's a good message. (compare that to FlyBe's desperate free-redundancy insurance which to me, sends out all kinds of weird messages)


Am with you on this. Whilst many of this are well educated in all things Virgin, there are many millions out there that aren't.

The Ad has done one thing: Got people talking. In this day and age, it may be remembered more over other airlines when people are making their decisions for an upcoming flight. Given the rather level pegging of fares between BA and VS, this will be an important thing.

The ad is cheeky, reminds of how much things have changed in 25 years, glamourous, and says that, we've been around for 25 years... I like it [:)]

quote:Originally posted by Leo1977
I can see what Virgin are trying to do in showing how they've changed air travel, but I don't think this was the best way of using Virgin's very limited budget for TV advertising.

Taking the ad at face value, it's just very superficial and unsophisticated. It says nothing about many other aspects of Virgin as a brand, or the product. It is really quite a surprise in 2009 to see the message 'Don't our crews look gorgeous!' which may make some female passengers feel excluded, something that no other airline would do today.

Compare the Virgin ad to this BA concept ad which both conveys a message about the airline as a whole and certain aspects of its product:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKJTx1Xe ... re=related


I think that the current BA ad for T5 is one of the best airline ads for a long long time.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2XGN3CGPI

[Bazz]

Saw it on Fox News yesterday, first time I had seen a screening although I had followed Nick's link previously. I would suggest that Ad has worked coz it has certainly got us talking about VS! Personally I liked it as it encapsulates how revolutionary Virgin Atlantic was when launched 25 years ago, bright, dynamic, young, a new fresh approach to air travel.

Wolves, I think you are pretty close chronologically with the Motorola phone, it may have been '86, the earlier one, the beige one, may have been launched in '84 but they probably couldn't find one.

I love the ad for what it is, a bit of flash, glamour and look it me I did something different.

Now, will it work is a different matter. Consider these common marketing held sayings:

- every customer retained is worth three that you don't have to attract
- acquiring new customers usually cost 2-4 times as much as retaining existing ones
- superior service and customer relationship management provide your best defence against customer defection

So, my reading, VS are more keen at navel gazing and attracting new customers than retaining frequent fliers. Besides, for this money they good have run a long lasting, widespread, viral and other Web campaign reaching target audiences in the demographics VS appears to be keen on.

Hmmm. Debate?

A little surprised that everyone is so negative about Virgin at present across the forum. I have flown in all classes over the last 6 weeks on 6 flights and I was thinking how good it was - even in economy. Some of it wasn't great i.e. check in at Gatwick and I had a bag problem on a return to Heathrow, but overall it delivered.

The advert is celebrating 25 years of Virgin. 25 years is along time in air travel and business for that matter. Virgin has survived 2 wars, 9-11, $150 oil and various economic downturns not forgetting others trying to squeeze them out i.e. BA.

How many non-national carriers have survived that long (even a number of those have failed) and how many countries have a second long haul carrier that is independent.

Virgin have over the years revolutionised air travel. Seat back TV's, ice creams during films, mid class/premium economy, Kids packs, they have almost killed first class with Upper Class. Even BA doesn't offer 1st on some long haul flights.

I flew the UCS for the first time last year - it was brilliant as well as being an upgrade. I flew a booked UCS a few months later. It wasn't so good - it wasn't the service, but I was used to it. Virgin isn't all about UC - PE is excellent and the new stretch economy seats out of Gatwick are again great thinking.

As you get bigger it does get harder to innovate due to expense and what more can be done in the air now. Some things need to improve, but its not going to happen at present as the economy is a mess thanks to our Governments mis management of it over the last 10 years - businesses have to be careful.

Its a shame if people leave for BA as the service you receive from BA is only happening because BA have to match Virgin. If Virgin ever disappears - give it 5 years and they will be complacent and boring.

I fly BA quite a lot too Ð I like them, but they are not amazing. I think Virgin needs our support at present as it's going to be tough for a while. I would hate to see it disappear for many reasons including this forum.

[Nottingham Nick]

Whilst I don't disagree with anything you say, Virginlondon, this has to be a two way street.

My personal experiences of flying with Virgin are similar to yours, but taken as whole the Virgin experience appears to be very much on the slide. Not all of the people giving negative feed back on here and elsewhere can be wrong.

We all have choices. We can stand by and let it continue, we can change carriers, or we can make some noise, and hope that the right people at Crawley read these posts and do something about them.

There is no magic wand in these economically difficult times, but there are some fairly easy fixes. A good start would be for VS management to read the trip reports here, read the posts by staff or VERBal and try and instigate a system where evidenced negative on-board feedback from crew and passengers is read by someone who has the power to make things change. The money being spent on TV advertising could then be diverted to where it will encourage existing customers to remain loyal.

It isn't all negative by any means, there are still fantastic people working for Virgin but, judging from what I am told privately, (as most are too scared to say anything negative in public) the good staff are feeling more and more let down and under valued.

This is particularly apparent from crew who work out of LGW and MAN. They are heartily sick of apologising for broken IFE, food & drink shortages and other failing equipment. They are sick of being told that the PE seats are nothing like the ones in the brochures. Most of all, they are sick of feeding this information to their line managers and then seeing absolutely nothing done about it.

I remain a big supporter of the Virgin brand, but I have seen a lot of other supporters say that they have had enough and are changing their carrier of choice.

Nick

I found the advert interesting to say the least. Thought it was going to have more to say than it did. I won't get annoyed by seeing it on TV (like we do with some commercials), however I doubt its something you would mention to someone in a conversation (i.e did you see that new Virgin Atlantic commercial).
Virgin beat every other airline (besides AA with a stopover) for my summer holiday this year, so they've won my business again - unlike last summers exciting trip with zoom.

Kev.

I thought the ad worked well, and was very cleverly produced. I liked the use of toned-down colours throughout to emphasize the brightness of the red uniforms and the overall balefulness of the time (although the Miners' strike was a bit on the obvious side).

And impressive attention to detail - a Green Line bus, the old Wimpy logo (with bloke eating a Bender Burger), even the price stickers on the Our Price records... although Rubic Cubes had fairly much had their day by then, as had LED handheld arcade games (It was all ZX Spectrums by then).

But that's nit picking - they're basically saying, 'Look, wasn't air travel awful before we came and shook it up?' And do you know, they're right. It was.

[Scrooge]

Just to let those that wonder know, the DynaTAC 8000X came out in Sept - Oct 1983. Somewhere around I still have one, though mine are '87 and 93 vintage ! mmmm wonder if I can get the thing to work [?]

To be honest, the ad just makes be feel nostalgic for times past, when Virgin seduced me with their glamour. For a time when they were indeed the leaders, the innovators in air travel. When boarding a Virgin plane was an event. When they really had something, lots of things in fact, that no other airline had. But now, reality, the world & all those other airlines have caught up with, or some cases surpassed, Virgin.

I found that after watching the ad, I came away feeling reminiscent of the better times & had an overwhelming sense, that Virgin are no longer out there on their own as there were in the time portrayed by that ad. Saddened in fact, that the glory days are over, their sparkle has faded & really feeling that while they once were a truly unique airline, they are no longer.

While there was a time that sight of those red uniforms stood on an airport concourse, promising something magical, something different they now, I'm afraid, just blend in.

A bit like the airline itself.

To that end, I might as well fly with any airline.

A sad lament to days gone by [:(]

Not the effect, I'm quite sure, that the marketing exec's had in mind.

[Darren Wheeler]

While the ad itself doesn't do much for me, I do like the http://www.virginatlanticstillredhot.com site that goes with it.

It should either be incorporated into the main site or used as a base for a new main site. It even distinguishes between the LHR and LGW/MAN PE cabin. Although that might not be such a good idea at times [;)]