Experiential, Digital Opps: Virgin Atlantic launches experiential activation as digital spend skyrockets (Score 56)

Sales Lead: Virgin Atlantic (VA) teamed up with media and programmatic AOR Lucky Generals on a red taxi that showed off its latest aircraft's unique features.

• The company's new aircraft has things like wireless charging pads, seatback screens, and mood lighting.
  • This is VA's "most fuel-efficient aircraft" to date, meaning that it will appeal to eco-friendly audiences.
• This experiential initiative was focused on NYC but may expand to other areas in the future.
• Lucky Generals also developed an accompanying campaign featured in the video above.
• The company will likely:
  • Expand this experiential initiative to other regions
  • Keep increasing digital spend
• Target demographic: 
  • Gen-Z and millennials

Recent leadership shifts:

• This initiative rolled out (quite literally) shortly after VA named Suchi Nel as its US social media manager in February 2023.

Additional spending insights:

• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: Since the beginning of 2022, VA has spent roughly $864.2k on digital ads, a huge increase from the roughly $300 spent by this point last year.
  • YTD data: The airline has earned around 111.9m digital impressions YTD, 51% via Instagram ads, 37% via Facebook ads, and 12% via YouTube ads.
  • Last year: VA spent approximately $1.9m on this channel in 2022, almost 5x the approximately $349.9k spent in 2021.
• Additional channel insights  
  • The company utilizes OOH, digital, local broadcast, print, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and online video (Youtube Android, Youtube IOS, and Youtube.com) ads.
  • VA sponsors podcasts such as the Joel Osteen Podcast, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Dave Chang Show, Bible in a Year with Jack Graham, and Best of The Steve Harvey Morning Show.
  • It also works with influencers such as RuPaul's Drag Race star Michelle Visage.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: If you haven't yet done so, reach out soon to see if PR, social media management, experiential, multicultural, influencer, and/or digital analytics hires follow VA's February 2022 hire of media AOR OMD.
• Current agency roster:
  • Lucky Generals: Media and programmatic AOR
  • OMD: Media AOR (February 2022)
  • SwellShark: Media and digital AOR
  • FIG: Creative agency partner

Insight Sources: Digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser; DRTV insights by Media Analytics.