Meanwhile, according to advertising effectiveness platform System1, the “See the World Differently” campaign may have begun a trend of advancing creative, having received a score of 4.2 out of 5 on its testing metrics. This was then outperformed by British Airways’ “Every Reason You Fly” campaign, which was released in October 2022 and achieved a score of 4.5.
Devising a brand focus on inclusion
While it placed LGBTQ+ inclusion at the forefront for the first time, Virgin Atlantic’s vp of global marketing Annabelle Cordelli said the campaign was no different in terms of how any brand campaign would be developed, with the same fundamentals applied: “You’ve still got to be clear about what you’re trying to do.”
The resulting campaign was a vibrant 1-minute spot featuring a highly diverse group of cabin crew as well as passengers interacting around the airport and a Virgin Atlantic plane, set to Gloria Gaynor’s anthemic “I Am What I Am.”
Cordelli explained that in developing the campaign, once an agreement was reached on what it wanted to convey, she approached the airline’s internal networks to discuss every element, from the words to how the message was expressed.
A specialist consultant was hired to ensure the casting and styling of each character would tell their individual stories and convey the trips they were taking and the experiences they were on. Consumer testing was also key.
“I wanted to make sure that we were really sensitive, really diligent to how that was going to be so that it felt truly joyous, but also purposeful at the same time,” she explained.
While the campaign conveyed a new message for Virgin Atlantic, Cordelli stressed that it still had to feel true to the brand. Moving away from heritage is not likely to deliver a marketer’s objectives otherwise, she believes.
“You’ve got to find your way, depending on your brand and your business, and what your objectives are,” she advised around delivering any campaign message that centers on DEI. “If you have got a right to talk about something in a particular space, then I think you’ve just got to really make sure that you are consulting in the right way, learning in the right way, talking about it once you’ve got strategically something that works.”