A Little Bit of Virgin Inspiration

Who would run their business like Richard Branson if they could? 
Well you can, all you need is a little bit of Virgin inspiration!

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson passes out beverages aboard a flight from New York to San Francisco.         (Photo: AP Photo/Virgin America, Bob Riha, Jr.)

Yesterday I was rolling along in my car and of course listening to my latest new craze called Periscope. Who has Periscope? Who loves Periscope?  I have become a Periscope fanatic!

Anyhow the scoper started to cover a topic that I don't hear about often enough, marketing your business with pizzazz. That all too forgotten technique of having fun while sharing information with your audience!!!

She was telling a story we all know too well. The flight attendant giving the safety presentation on a domestic flight and how those who were still awake when she started her boring monologue were reading, listening to their phones or talking to the person sitting next to them. We have all seen it a dozen times, the all too boring safety presentation on most plane flights. Boring, Boring Boring... No one listens and no one cares, including the poor flight attendant who has to perform this duty way to many times in her career.

Then the scoper said she was recently aboard a different airline flight and a video played on the small screen in front of her. The safety presentation was this amusing little video with a cast of fun loving characters performing the safety monologue, while at the same time dancing around and entertaining the audience. She realized when she looked around everyone seemed to be paying attention, almost everyone was watching the video and smiling. This she knew was how to market a business and get people to pay attention. Have fun, inform and entertain at the same time.

Image from the Virgin American safety presentation video. Credit: Virgin Airlines.

I knew what airline she was talking about, I have been on it before, and Virgin flights have even bigger marketing pizzazz than just their in-flight safety videos. They have taken the entire flight experience and given it a personal touch by dazzling us with amazing graphics and beautiful visions. From the moment we arrive at the check-in counter until the minute we de-board the plane we are enticed by their smart marketing techniques and graphic filled terminals that inspire fun days traveling to exotic destinations. The purple hued interior of their planes give a soft glow of warmth that envelopes us and their terminals are filled with gorgeous pictorials of people enjoying the world around them. They make us want to travel the world and even if we are sitting in coach we feel like royalty.

It's genius and yet so easy to replicate. It just takes a well thought out plan and a fun loving approach to your business marketing. So next time you are trying to market a new product or you are looking to brand yourself or your business start with this thought.

What would Richard Branson do?

Well I bet he would be cool, hip and have lots of fun in the process.

Cheers