www.virginatlanticflights.com
When you’re paying the price of a small car for a plane ticket, you need to feel like you’re buying access to an exclusive club—not just transportation. So Virgin Atlantic Upper Class put together an innovative print and online campaign that lets potential customers experience the luxury for themselves. Ads in upscale magazines featured actual plane tickets with web addresses for 15 different microsites, each corresponding to flights from a reader’s home city. A Miami resident, for example, would be sent straight to a customized experience called “The Trance Atlantic.”

It’s a Flash presentation put together by interactive agency The_Groop that captures the particular vibe of the city’s movers and shakers. A cool British flight attendant walks you through the services—everything from fine cuisine to an in-flight massage— in a voiceover while music plays in the background and black-and-white lifestyle photography makes it all come alive.

The edge of each site looks like the tickets from the magazine, and users can choose to buy tickets or experience other flights. “There’s a very particular Virgin vibe,” says Jose Caballer, CEO and creative director at The_Groop. “It reflects Richard Branson to some degree. I read his biography a year ago—it reflects his lifestyle.”
Michelle Taute

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, The_Groop
AGENCY TEAM: Jeff Benjamin, Cheryl Garber, Darren Himebrook
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jose Caballer
PROJECT MANAGER: Sharon Tani
ART DIRECTOR: Sun An
DESIGNER: Aldo Puicon
FLASH DESIGNERS/ANIMATORS: Aureliano Gimon, Brandon Savoy, Tri Nguyen
CLIENT: Virgin Atlantic
CONTACT: www.cpbgroup.com, www.thegroop.net