2018 Bronze Travel and leisure

Agency: Proximity London

Client: Virgin Holidays

Campaign name: Virgin Holidays Return Home Journey

Campaign overview

The brief

Strategy

It’s easy for travellers to go “cold turkey” following a holiday high. Virgin Holidays resolved to give them personalised dopamine hits at five key moments during the 60-day post-trip rebooking period.

Nostalgia, reward and celebration were employed as emotional triggers to demonstrate Virgin Holidays’ ethos of superior service and to persuade people to re-engage with the brand rather than seeking low-cost, short-haul trips.

The Welcome Home Programme used the “peak end” behavioural economics principle, where changing the end of an experience – in this case to match the level of service provided during a passenger’s initial booking – positively affects perception.

Creativity

Nostalgic, personalised “miss you already” postcards were waiting on people’s doorsteps when they arrived home.

These were followed up with personalised mugs, recipes based on previous destinations and a money-off voucher to boost new bookings.

The blend of nostalgia and planning kept holiday desire high. The excitement was channeled into action using personalised “count-up” emails showing customers how long it had been since their last holiday, and inspiring them with fresh destination suggestions based on their browsing habits.

Results

Finding an overlooked moment unlocked an overwhelming response from Virgin Holidays customers.

There was a 50% open rate of engagement emails, compared to the usual 20%. One in three people revisited the engaging content in their emails against a norm of a 3%.

Overall, the campaign was the main contributor to a 10% increase in loyalty in 2018, equating to a £2.2m in revenue and 30:1 ROI.

Team

Proximity London - Alexandra Dyer, Senior Account Director - Hannah Watters, Strategy Lead - Neil Williamson, Art Director - Alex Buchanan-Dunlop, Creative Copywriter - John Treacy, Executive Creative Director - Elsie Hoskin, Designer - Reechana Taylor, Account Manager

Virgin Holidays - Saul Lopes, Head of CRM and Loyalty - Charlotte Pink, Marketing Executive - Liam Savage, Marketing Executive

Contributors

Movable Ink