Advertising assessment

Overview

“Virgin Atlantic (VA) had a tough task in following up its acclaimed 2009 “Still red hot” campaign celebrating 25 years of the brand. However, the airline has struck gold (IPA 2012). The primary objectives of the campaign were to show the glamorous inside into the airline iconography and dramatising how it feels to fly with the Virgin Atlantic even in a downturn when the customer confidence is low (Taylor and McNabb 2007).

‘Still Red Hot’ ad as well as ‘Feeling good’ adverts was aired on TV and cinemas. Both ads feature a series of fantastic vignettes which highlight the experience of flying with the airline (IPA 2012). In addition, VA made several print ads aimed at upper class market.

To target particular segments there is need to identify individuals with similar characteristics which determine a marketing strategy (Kotler and Armstrong 2000) (Jobber 2000) (Copley 2002).

Demographic and socioeconomic segmentation reveals that Virgin Atlantic customers are between 25 and 44 years old with high income (Google 2012). It underlines the fact that Virgin Atlantic customers are leisure and comfort seekers. The unique selling point of VA adverts is being an exclusive service provider concentrating on flying experience rather than price of the service (IPA 2012).

The emotional campaign had a challenge to stand out from the price promotion clutter. The adverts had to get the message of Virgin Atlantic being like no other airline on earth.

Still Red Hot

The first advert is full of quirky sense of humor with perfect attention to details based on the atmosphere of those years including style and glamour (IPA 2012). It helps to communicate the essence of the brand in an original way. The ad has a quite straightforward narrative and shows what everyone would expect to see. Everything is concentrated on attitude towards flying experience. The date in the start shows that brand has its history and adds credibility (Percy and Elliott 2005). The nostalgic cues in the advert used to evoke nostalgic thoughts in individuals are proven to get favorable consumer responses (Muehling and Sprott 2004). The guy on the phone is one of key characters as he underlines the Virgin image as a brand. They are not too serious, but they do have a long history what make an influence on their brand personality.

Most of the filming is done around the reactions of people to the girls walking along the airport. The moment, when crew member waves to the little girl who runs behind them, captures the moment that the Virgin Atlantic crew do not take themselves too seriously and that they are to provide the best service (IPA 2012).

Depth of entertainment gave the ad a long life online. What is more, the advert appeared in the premium price programming to make sure that the content is in the best environment and is viewed by the target audience. In addition, advert did get general talk-ability from PR coverage to Google searches through to online buzz (IPA 2012). All the aspects underline that the advert attracted people attentions and received many positive attitudes and feedbacks.

Feeling good

The strongest point of this advert is its ability to maintain the viewers’ attention with the slice of persuasiveness. The “Feeling good” advert is visually appealing and seems even subliminal. Almost all of the shots are focused towards the centre of the screen. The images are changing by using transition what makes it much more difficult to look away (Alstiel and Grow 2005).

 Viewer sees “red stiletto-clad sexy ladies striding triumphantly through a surreal, fantastical landscape.” (Williams 2010) The advert has many moments of showing how sexy the Virgin Atlantic service is. Smartly dressed businessman's poll dancing around the fork with a shrimp on supports the image. Even the general safety procedures are shown in a creative, enjoyable and sexy way. What is more, a beautiful giant woman laying you to sleep suggests that you are going to be truly taking care of.

The song from the James Bond movie automatically makes viewer think about a pleasure, luxury and an adventure at a highest level. To link it with a film even more, advert shows flying female silhouettes and the  glass of martini with a green olive. All this has a subliminal effect and suggests the premium quality and high service standards  (Percy and Elliott 2005), (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy 2004).

The message strategies used in both adverts shows benefits using association. If someone sits and enjoys the piece of advertising, he tends to believe the brand and what the brand is telling. “Still Red Hot For 25 Years” slogan makes even non user feel positive about the brand while “Your Airline's Either Got It, Or It Hasn't” slogan used in the end of the commercial indicates that Virgin Atlantic truly has ‘it’ (Bly 2006).

Print ad

            Virgin Atlantic print ad pictures well dressed lady sitting on the comfy chair in the very stylish room. It demonstrates what kind of comfort deserves and what benefit their client gets. From the first glance it is not obvious who is the target market for this ad but after having a closer look it becomes clear that the ad is aimed at upper-class passengers.    

            The advert has a little informational text box in the bottom saying: “Award- winning Clubhouse at Heathrow. Your airline either got it or it hasn’t”. Indirect comparison with all other airlines stress the fact that VA definitely has got it. What is more, it is not a simple one as it is “award-winning”.

Summary

            The campaign has a high level of impact on Virgin Atlantic performance. The ads were effective in multiple dimensions by showcasing their uniquely engaging service style and bringing a sense of humour.

"Still Red Hot" 25th birthday campaign was listed as one of the top ten marketing moments of 2009 by Campaign Magazine (Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd 2012). It was popular on general word-of-mouth platform. It had over 700,000 searches, over a 100,000 website hits and people searching for Virgin Atlantic brand increased by 500% (IPA 2012a). It was noticed immediate change of fortunes comparing to BA in terms of brand consideration, brand awareness and brand preference. In addition to that, across all advertising channels, Virgin Atlantic get £10.5 return on every £1 spent on advertising and for TV alone it was £14.5 for every £1 spent (IPA 2012a).

References

Alstiel, T. & Grow, J. (2005) Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics From the Outside/In. London, Sage.
Bly, R.W. (2006) The Copywriter's Handbook. US: Owl Books.
Copley, P. (2002) Marketing Communications Management. UK, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Google (2012) Doubleclick Ad Planner. [Online] Available from: https://www.google.com/adplanner/?pli=1#siteSearch?uid=domain%253Avirgin-atlantic.com&geo=GB&lp=false [Accessed 20th October 2012].
IPA (2012) Virgin Atlantic: still red hot even in a downturn. [Online] Available from: http://vimeo.com/34779504 [Accessed 20th October 2012].
IPA (2012a) RKCR/Y&R. [Online] Available from: http://www.ipa.co.uk/Agencies/RKCRY-R [Accessed 20th October 2012].
Jobber, D. (2000) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 3rd edition. UK, McGraw-Hill.
Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2000) Marketing: An Introduction. 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Muehling, D. D. & Sprott, D. E. (2004) The Power of Reflection: An Empirical Examination of Nostalgia Advertising Effects. Journal of Advertising, 33 (3), 25-35.
O’Shaughnessy, J. & O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (2004) Persuasion in Advertising. London, Routledge.
Percy, L. & Elliott, R. (2005) Strategic Advertising Management. Oxford: OUP.
Taylor, K. & McNabb, R. (2007) Business Cycles and the Role of Confidence: Evidence for Europe. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 69 (2), 185-208.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd (2012) Press Releases. [Online] Available from: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/pressoffice/pressreleases/news/ad.jsp [Accessed 20th October 2012].
Williams, E. (2010) Virgin Atlantic: out of this world? Creative Review. [Online] Available from: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/october/virgin-atlantic-traktor [Accessed 20th October 2012].