A Virgin sponsored time warp…

A year  that didn’t quite live up to Orwell’s predictions, but what a year none the less…

One brand just launched an ad to celebrate 25 years in business. Consumers rarely care about anniversary advertising, it has the self-congratulatory smack of the fat-cats in company HQ slapping themselves on the back for having reached a yet another milestone and awarding themselves another ridiculously large bonus in the process.

Not at Virgin Atlantic it would seem…

Virgin’s Atlantic’s 25th anniversary ad is nothing short of a corker. For anyone that remembers the 80’s*, this ad transports them back there in a flash, no Tardis required…

For a brand that’s on the face of it lost it’s raison d’etre of late, there was a real danger that this ad would leave consumers with nothing more than a feeling of ‘so what, you’re 25?’. However, this ad ticks all the boxes that in my mind, will make it nothing short of a classic in years to come.

Virgin celebrates the year of their birth by seamlessly transporting us back to 1984 and in the process, remind consumers what the brand stands for (then and now);  the way it shook the airline industry to its core, brought serious glamour back to international long-haul travel (whilst taking a stand against the ‘stuffy’ competition), everyone in the 80’s wanted to fly Virgin…

In carefully constructing this walk down memory lane, Virgin have seamlessly re-invigorated the modern day brand, simply by reminding the consumer that travelling Virgin was (and still is) that little bit extra special…

An anniversary ad that definetly doesn’t fall into the ‘so what’ category.

Awards beckon, and consumers (I would hope) will be left with a smile, and maybe dig out their old vinyl for some more 80’s related memories…

*Fingerless gloves optional

p.s. I had a really interesting chat with a creative director in one of London’s finest agencies on this ad after he read my blog.

Our combined view, was that this ad excited us to the point we wish we’d both worked on it. And that it was the first outstanding TV ad either of us had seen in quite some time, harking back to the days of the classic Cinzano Bianco ads. Worth a re-visit if you aren’t familiar.

Joan Collins at her best…