Virgin Australia’s new brand positioning features a flying toupee called Wiggy that “puts the joy back into flying”.
Research conducted before the campaign’s release revealed that Virgin needed to re-emphasise its personality and customer experience, leading to a brand positioning that pivoted away from centring on its flight attendants.
The major campaign, by DDB Sydney, launched yesterday with the film ‘Up, Up and Toupee’, which sees a gust of wind lift Wiggy off a man’s head and set off on an adventure to the soundtrack of Jo Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ ‘Up Where We Belong’. The hair piece travels past an office building, swoops along a beach by a whale, elevates back into the clouds to fly with geese, and finally lands at the airport, settling back on its owner’s head outside the Virgin Australia terminal.
ADVERTISEMENT
The film, by Revolver/Will O’Rourke’s Gary Freedman and Moving Picture Company, aims to show Virgin as a holiday partner that provides an experience like Wiggy’s: one of ease, effortlessness, and most importantly, fun.
“We know our Virgin personality is so widely loved, and we are so proud to hero this through our new brand campaign,” said Virgin Australia’s general manager of brand and marketing, Michael Nearhos.
“Our focus from a customer experience perspective is always on how our famous service and product make people feel, and it’s really important to us to emphasise this in our new brand positioning.”
Wiggy flies away from suburbia and towards the city, then to the beach, before landing at the airport
DDB Sydney’s chief creative officer, Tara Ford, added that the campaign achieves cut-through because it’s simple.
“In a complicated world, it’s been an absolute pleasure to create something that’s so unique, simple and joyful,” Ford said.
“Fun but with an edge of cheekiness and irreverence – which is perfect for recapturing and igniting the Virgin Australia brand.”
The TV campaign will be supported by digital, print, out of home, and cinema.
Credits
Virgin Australia:
Danielle Keighery – Chief Experience Officer
Michael Nearhos – General Manager Brand & Marketing
Rapthi Thanapalasingam – Head of Consumer & Partner Marketing
Erina Chapman – Brand & Retail Marketing Leader
Alex Davey – Brand Marketing Specialist
DDB:
Ben Welsh – Chief Creative Officer, DDB Australia
Tara Ford – Chief Creative Officer, DDB Sydney
David Jackson – Creative Partner
Jeremy Hogg – Creative Lead
Richard Shaw – Creative Lead
Kate Sheppard – Managing Partner
Claire Hynes – Senior Business Director
Ciara Moloney – Business Manager
Tash Johnson – Lead Senior Producer
Leif Stromnes – Managing Director, Strategy & Innovation
Caroline Ghatt – Planning Partner
Joseph Smeaton – Planning Director
James Davis – Senior Planner
Casey Machen – Project Director
Kelly Barnaby – Project Manager
Cushla Morton – Senior Print Producer
Film:
Production Company – Revolver / Will O’Rourke
Director: Gary Freedman
Managing Director: Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer: Pip Smart
Producer: Alex Kember
Edit Facility: Arc
Editor: Peter Sciberras
Post Production: Moving Picture Company, UK
VFX Post Producer: Philip Whalley
Sound: Song Zu
Sound Engineer: Abigail Sie / Simon Kain
Music Supervision: Level Two Music
Music Supervisor: Karl Richter
Casting: Peta Einberg / Ben Parkinson Casting
Photography:
Production Company – Photoplay
Photographer – Michael Corridore
Executive Producer – Alison Lydiard