There are some great examples of brand thinking and brand behaviour at Virgin. First came Virgin Atlantic with the legendary and award winning Upper Class service. Now Virgin Holidays has ‘Rock Star’ service.
Why am I highlighting this?
These are great examples of legendary (talk-about) services that differentiate Virgin from the rest by better understanding and acting on customer needs to create competitive advantage and brand advocacy. These principles can be directly applied to drive the profitable sales growth of your brand.
Over ten years ago, Virgin Atlantic out-smarted all their rivals by leveraging brand thinking. With the launch of Virgin’s Upper Class – ‘business class with first class level service’ – the brand’s sense of purpose was clearly to make your journey from wherever you were travelling from (A ) and to (D), as hassle-free and memorable as possible. I call it joined up brand thinking. Whilst Virgin’s rivals were stuck in the frame of reference of airport to airport (‘B to C’ thinking), Virgin simply flew right over them with an A to B to C to D proposition.
For the same price as a BA Business Class equivalent (airport to airport) ticket, with Virgin, I could be collected from home, driven to the airport, hit the lounge, have the freedom menu (what you want, when you want it) on board, along with an in-flight massage and then be taken to my destination from the airport. That’s a brand approach in action. I became a strong brand advocate for Virgin Upper Class. I had never seen an ad for it. I was simply told about it by another loyal brand advocate. Profitable stuff, this customer brand advocacy piece!
So what’s Rock Star service all about?
It’s about taking away all the irritating niggles that can spoil your holiday. Is this another case of brand thinking in action? Most definitely!
It’s about a more pleasant airport experience with V-Room a lounge service with everything you need to kick back and relax before the flight. There’s a concierge service that makes the journey back much more relaxed and hassle-free. There’s even a check-in from the beach option in some Caribbean destinations and ‘Disconnection’ (from work) and re-connection (to work) advice / ‘therapy’.
Why am I highlighting this?
These are great examples how to create competitive advantage through brand advocacy. Advocacy, that powerful phenomenon that generates profitable sales growth and adds significant value to your business, is our main focus at Brand Success.
Contact us. We’d love to help you create it for your brand.
