Our research showed that fewer than 1% of passengers prefer the middle seat on flights. As a brand on a mission to make flying more uplifting, we wanted to make one of the least enjoyable parts of flying, wonderful. 

Airlines constantly talk about elevating the experience of flight, but few actually deliver on it. Our brief was to bring credibility to our mission of making flying a more uplifting experience. In order to achieve this, we needed to do less talking and more doing, with an experience-led brand platform that demonstrated “Wonderful” flying through uplifting action.

Objectives

• - Create mass awareness of the evolutions to our entire experience via the fameworthy onboard experience innovation.

• - Increase positive sentiment about an unavoidable part of our flying experience, considered by many to be one of the worst parts of flying. 

• - Create a unique experience in the category to elevate our product offering. 

The Creative Idea

In 2022, Virgin Australia launched a new brand platform - Bring on Wonderful - with the intent to make flying a more uplifting, wonderful experience. To prove that it was more than words, we ran directly at one of the most universally understood pain points in flight - the middle seat - and tried to make it uplifting. 

The Middle Seat Lottery is a first-of-its-kind innovation aimed at making every seat on our planes wonderful - even the ones in the middle.

It turned every middle seat on every Virgin Australia plane into a lottery ticket, with a chance to win unique prizes. Suddenly the middle seat was not just being jammed between two people, but an exciting game, played on a national level - finally giving people a reason to enjoy it, and changing the perception of the middle seat experience forever. 

The Strategy

Target Audience:

Our focus was on a leisure and business audience that were motivated by more than just a cheap ticket from A-B. Experiences were their true currency, and small touches and improvements made a big impression. However they had become equal parts complacent and disillusioned with the static experience that was flight. So in short - it was clear that up here in the sky - a little change would go a long way.  

Approach:

Our approach extended through the line from cinema and TV through to OOH, pre- and post-flight eDMs, on-board announcements, seatback cards and an automated, customised in-app experience.

The Execution

Implementation:

Airlines are perhaps the most operationally complex environments within which to develop, and then implement, genuine experience change. We worked closely with VA’s digital, app, operations, front line, airport, onboard, legal and regulatory teams for 8 months to co-create a digital, operational, fulfilment and communications system to bring the initiative to life. This enabled rollout across VA’s entire fleet of aircraft. Every middle seat passenger on every domestic flight was engaged in the initiative onboard via audio announcements and seatback comms, with all eligible to enter through an automated, customised experience in-app.

Scale 

Largest scale experience initiative rollout ever undertaken at Virgin Australia. Experience is active, available and communicated on every domestic Virgin Australia flight across their fleet. 

Significant investment in app innovation enabled this mechanic -  which can be reutilised for future in-app experiences. Over $230,000 in prizes available to Middle Seat Lottery winners. 

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