Virgin Atlantic - Fly in the Face of the Ordinary

It is very rare that you find a campaign which is original, witty, surprising and above all engaging, and it comes as no surprise that Virgin Atlantic has managed to achieve all of the above through their latest campaign ' Fly in the Face of the Ordinary'.

Based on the premise that the airline crew and staff are nothing short of super heroes in your service what better way to achieve an un-paralleled flying experience?

Touching upon Virgin's USP's the campaign accurately reflects their positioning, perfectly captured in the tagline 'Fly in the Face of the Ordinary', it is again just another reminder why Virgin is one of the world's most successful brands.

Virgin ... can it do no wrong?

There are brand extensions and then are Virgin extensions, who have now applied the brand to a range of water purifiers... sure the name fits but can the Virgin brand be applied to everything from telecommunications, travel (even space), fitness, entertainment and still survive?
Most companies by now would have diversified into a family of brand names each according to a set category but Virgin, and I have sung their praises before, have managed to successfully apply the same brand across a wide variety of products.
While water purifiers may seem a bit random at best, I truly believe that Virgin deserve to be included in the list of best of global brands due to their sheer ability of adapting their brand from just a name to a lifestyle choice and maintaining its image through what may come.

Consistency & Representation

Ok, I'm a fan of the Virgin brand. It's fun, versatile, adaptable and manages to stick to its brand concept...along those lines Virgin is planning to launch a range of 4-star quality hotels, for the high - end traveler, trust them to find an area in which there is scope for potential development..! 

Zippo Fragrance

Speaking of brand consistency, or in-consistency in this case Zippo is planning to extend into fragrances (say what?!). Zippo is known for its lighters, in fact there is an entire brand community based around the Zippo brand, so when they decided to expand into candle lighter's, it was not great but ... ok especially when compared to fragrances. Sure there are not gonna be any brand communities around the candle lighter (yes even if its themed), but fragrances are such a diversion from their core brand, which is about a certain culture & style. But maybe I'm being overly critical. If done correctly maybe the transfer of brand ideals would be successful, as it depends on the characteristics of their target market as well as how they identify with their brand, although if they are not careful, Zippo might just be the next Ed Hardy. 

ING's Charles

Brand representations, as I like to call it, is how people view your brand, which might not be the same thing as what companies intend to portray..so I'm not sure where ING was going with this....ING are a strong financial brand, and in Australia they decided to change their brand ambassador from Billy Connolly (the comedian), to a talking orangutan. Now if you're anything like me, my first question was why would you use a comedian to promote a financial product?? Sure, humor in advertisements is great, but who would take a comedian seriously especially when selling insurance! Sounds like a bad joke to me...so naturally my second question is why use an orangutan instead?..no matter how smart he may appear to be. If played correctly ING have the potential to develop him into brand mascot, which could be quite memorable. 

GAP - Old & New logo

Logos play a very important part of brand representation, as they are the one stop for brands to convey what they stand for to consumers. Recently GAP tried to redesign their logo, and i say try as the end result was quite dismal to say the least. The GAP logo is iconic and classic, it has stood the test of time and is easily recognizable, so why would you want to change it?? Especially since its not part of an overall re-branding campaign but an attempt to encourage customer involvement with the brand, by asking them to comment on the new brand and to go one step further by designing their own logo. Normally I would say increased engagement and participation by customers is brilliant, but the logo is one of the most important ways through which a company can represent itself so why leave it in the hands of people who may not understand what the company is all about? Although to be fair any one who would go through the trouble of designing a logo would have to be highly involved, but it also encourages others with not so favorable views to air what they think as well. 

Chevrolet in an aim to reposition their brand, or in other words to develop a strong position for themselves, are trying to find a niche for themselves in the market. In response, their campaign focuses on images from their old campaign, in an aim to remind people why they used to love Chevy so much...which is cute and nostalgic, but its a technique used more to reassure and support your existing customers rather than position yourself in the market. 

Branding is a tricky topic and its not easy getting it right. 

Brand Extensions

Consistency is not always the name of the game, Virgin being a prime example. Although the Vigrin brand did not make it into the top 100 of Interbrand's list, it does deserve a special mention. It is one of the most well known brands operating within various industries, and while its in-consistency might send other brand enthusiasts reeling, it's one of the few that has been able to successfully pull off brand extensions, which are different from their core. 

Recently Virgin announced the global expansion of their Virgin Hotels which they are developing for the high-end traveler. These 4 star hotels will be targeted for the luxury business traveler and will be currently located in North America. More details about the project can be found in Silverstein's article Branson's next move.

The reason for Virgin's success, while I touched on it before, is got to do with their positioning and overall image, which is not based on functionality, but rather emotions such as fun, excitement, daring etc.. which according to Branson appeal to their chosen consumer segment or as they are termed the 'creative class' who can relate to the values of the company....so in other words who does not like to have fun? therefore allowing Virgin to expand into any segment where this is probable. 

Speaking of brand extensions, RIM have decided to enter into the world of tablet computers with a launch of their very own version, into an already crowded market. Is this a bid by RIM to support its brand by creating product extensions for wider appeal? Most likely the tablet would be purchased by existing Blackberry loyalists, and by hooking their customers on they would be following a similar path to Apple; and their creation of a fan base. This is quite a stretch for them, as most of their other competitors are technological companies who have previous experience in IT, unlike RIM for whom this would be a first, but while it is a stretch, playing devil's advocate one can argue that RIM stands for efficiency and effectiveness combined with innovation of mobile technology which is exactly what they will be achieving through the tablet. More information can be found in the article RIM readies answer to i-Pad (why is everything compared to the i-Pad??? a better differentiation is needed). 

Starbucks on the other hand is committed to protecting their trademark which involves suing other brands who copy their distinctive style, color and design of the logo, even if their small cafés who claim innocence. Although there is more to a brand than just its logo, like for Starbucks, its quality coffee, atmosphere etc. they are compelled to protect their rights. Always a tricky decision...what would you do?

Samsung as part of their promotion of the Galaxy Tab, have launched a YouTube video depicting the features of the product ... makes me wonder why couldn't Amazon do the same for the Kindle rather than changing their distribution strategy? 

On a final note Ford have released an app on the iPad to promote the 2011 Fiesta, which highlights the vehicle's features, connectivity and accessories. This is a rather dismal attempt by Ford, as the potential of social media is astounding, so by using it as as an online catalog is only a drop in the ocean.....when the limit is only your imagination.