INDUSTRY Viewpoint

The first time I saw one of the ads for this campaign and the Virgin name flashed up on the screen, I did a double take. Was this really the airline of the young, trendy, up and coming executives who leave their upper-class baggage tags on their cases long after travel as testimony to their love for all things Virgin?

Of course, these ads are not about preaching to the converted, instead they endeavour to broaden Virgin’s appeal beyond its natural constituency and into the enemy heartland, reaching the thousands of mainstream business travellers for whom BA is an automatic choice when it comes to flying long haul.

This is an appeal to the head, not the heart, with the advantages of flying Virgin presented logically, each execution featuring an individual benefit, building to a coherent case with the viewer as the jury left to make the final decision. To successfully convey this required passengers who were credible, discerning, articulate and perceived as independent – Terence Stamp and Helen Mirren fit the bill.

Despite the repackaging, some elements of Virgin shine through. I suspect the execution featuring Helen Mirren’s stockinged legs (although allegedly they do not belong to her) made a significant contribution to the recall levels for the overall campaign.

For business travel within Europe, most of which can be reached in under two hours flying time, companies and individuals alike are recognising that the premiums charged for business class are completely unjustifiable. It’s no coincidence that Virgin’s first large-scale foray into Europe is through its recently acquired no frills, low-cost subsidiary, Virgin Express, which will be a world apart from the luxuries of Upper Class.

Long haul is, for obvious reasons, a completely different ball game. Short-haul travel is often compared with a bus trip, but a ten-hour journey in a cramped seat on any bus, in the interests of the company’s bottom line, isn’t a prospect that would appeal to many business travellers.

Virgin can rightly claim to be among the pioneers in developing and enhancing the “on-board product”. At the same time, few innovations remain innovations for long. With in-flight entertainment, comfortable seats and fine wines now de rigueur, the battle has switched to the pre- and post-flight experience, with hotel check-in, limousine transfers, and arrivals lounges with showers providing further pampering (and cost) for the business traveller.

In this context, it is easy to see why Richard Branson is so anxious to crack the advantage which BA derives from intercontinental Heathrow departures and which could be increased immeasurably from any anti-competitive tie-up with American Airlines.