Virgin Airlines can teach us all some important lessons…
Everyday, entrepreneurs around the world scratch their heads and ask themselves, “How can I be different?”
In the world of airlines, higher-ups and marketers have been struggling for years to change the face of their less-than-glamorous industry… but it isn’t easy.
A plane is just a plane, right? You need it to get from point A to point B, and for the most part, all you’re really concerned with is the right price and the right flight schedule…
In his typical “rebel billionaire” style, though, Richard Branson has gone and changed the game again!
The new Virgin America safety video is competing on turf generally unexplored in the airline industry: customer experience.
They’ve already been claiming this territory for some time… with order on demand menus, sleek cabin designs, in-flight wifi, and other amenities, but the new safety video really takes it up a notch…
You see, they’ve managed to take something painfully boring – the in-flight safety instructions – and turn it on its ear! By taking something humdrum and making it, well, cool – they are effectively creating their own market within the airline industry.
Is anyone else competing to be the “cool” airline?
Didn’t think so.
And by shaking things up for their industry, they’ve also established themselves as drastically different from their competitors… and we all know how much people like “different.”
People talk about “different.”
Heck, the video hasn’t even been up a few days and it’s already racing toward two million views!
Even taking a glance at the comments (not always the safest decision) shows the video’s impact…
People are talking about having the urge to travel! They’re talking about booking flights and taking trips… inspired by a safety video…
Crazy, right?
People are hungry for something they aren’t used to, especially when it gives a shiny new face to something so historically stuffy…
Virgin America has taken something boring and transformed it into entertainment… and just as they expected, it’s turning heads.
What dull piece of your industry could you reimagine as fun and fresh? What are your competitors overlooking?
In your corner,
Charlie
