SUB CATEGORY :

INTEGRATED LOTUS

COMPANY ENTERING :

CHE PROXIMITY, MELBOURNE

TITLE :

THE BILLION POINT GIVEAWAY

BRAND :

VELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER

ADVERTISER :

VELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER

AGENCY :

CHE PROXIMITY, SYDNEY

MANAGING DIRECTOR :

DAVID HALTER

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

ANT WHITE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

BRIAN JEFFERSON

COPYWRITER :

ASH WILDING

ART DIRECTOR :

DANIEL DAVISON

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :

MIA MATULIC

ACCOUNT MANAGER :

KAT LEAR/ADAM KOTECKI

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE :

CAITLIN ADLER

STRATEGIC PLANNING DIRECTOR :

CAT HOOSAN

STRATEGIC PLANNING MANAGER :

BEA TEEHANKEE

MEDIA PLANNING DIRECTOR :

ELIZABETH GEOR

AGENCY PRODUCER :

JENNY LIVINGSTON/NATALIE HORT/BLAISE PALMER

PERFORMANCE MANAGER :

ELLIOT TINDALE

HEAD OF PERFORMANCE :

JAMES SHAW

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

GOODOIL FILMS, SYDNEY

DIRECTOR :

ABE FORSYTHE

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY :

CRIGHTON BONE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER :

SAM LONG

SENIOR PRODUCER :

LLEW GRIFFITHS

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

VELOCITY, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA’S FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM MAKE MONEY WHEN MEMBERS TRANSFER OTHER REWARD POINTS TO VELOCITY. OUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVE WAS TO GET MORE MEMBERS TRANSFERRING POINTS THAN EVER BEFORE. MEET TIM, THE INTERN WHO ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ SENT AN EMAIL TO 7.5M MEMBERS OFFERING THEM A SLICE OF 1 BILLION (INSTEAD OF 1 MILLION) POINTS IF THEY MOVED THEIR POINTS TO VELOCITY FOR A 15% BONUS. NINE ADDRESSABLE AUDIENCES, BASED ON BRAND HISTORY, CAMPAIGN ENGAGEMENT AND PRE-DETERMINED CAMPAIGN GOALS WERE TARGETED INDIVIDUALLY TO CREATE A SEAMLESS MULTI-CHANNEL EXPERIENCE. OUR DATA-DRIVEN DIGITAL STRATEGY RESULTED IN AN IDEA THAT WOULD SHAKE THE CATEGORY—ESPECIALLY AFTER WAS MAKING HEADLINES ACROSS THE GLOBE IN 2017. MAKE A MISTAKE. HONOUR IT. LET MEMBERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. THE CONSEQUENCES THAT FOLLOWED WERE DOCUMENTED IN A 40-PART MINI-SERIES. DIGITAL MEDIA, INFLUENCERS, PRINT, OOH, EVEN IN-FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS SUPPORTED THE STORYLINE, HELPING US ACHIEVE VELOCITY’S MOST SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER CAMPAIGN EVER.

THE BRIEF :

OUR GOAL WAS SIMPLE - GET MORE MEMBERS, TRANSFERRING MORE POINTS THAN BEFORE FROM OTHER REWARD PROGRAMS TO VELOCITY. PREVIOUSLY, VELOCITY’S BI-ANNUAL 15% BONUS OFFER SAW MODEST TRANSFER INCREASES, DESPITE GREATER EFFORT AND MEDIA INVESTMENT. SO, WE NEEDED A NEW APPROACH THAT WOULD USE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR, CONSUMER DATA AND SMARTER MEDIA TO SHAKE UP A TRADITIONALLY BEIGE CATEGORY. ALL TO BE ACHIEVED ON A MEDIA BUDGET CUT BY -35.3%.

THE STRATEGY :

VELOCITY’S MEMBER-BASE WAS PROFILED INTO NINE ADDRESSABLE COHORTS WHICH WERE USED AS A PROXY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN POPULATION AND INFORMED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TARGETED MEDIA STRATEGY. FOR THE MINI-SERIES, THE MEDIA SMARTS KNEW WHAT YOU HAD SEEN THEN SERVED RELEVANT CONTENT NEXT TIME YOU WENT ONLINE ACROSS PAID SOCIAL AND DIGITAL MEDIA CREATING A SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE. THE STORYLINE WAS SUPPORTED WITH DYNAMIC DISPLAY, HOMEPAGE TAKEOVERS, AND SOCIAL ASSETS AND FED INTO A BESPOKE RETARGETING DATA LAYER. CONSUMERS VISITED A FULLY-RESPONSIVE MICROSITE WITH A PURPOSE-BUILT POINTS CALCULATOR THAT CONTEXTUALISED THE VALUE OF POINTS. AIRPORT PRINT COLLATERAL LEVERAGED THOSE PRIMED TO FLY IN AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS WITH PULL-UP BANNERS, IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINES, LOUNGE SCREENS, AND EVEN THE VIRGIN LOUNGE WIFI PASSWORD. PAST BEHAVIOUR INDICATED 3 EMAILS WOULD CONVERT REGULAR TRANSFEREES. CONSEQUENTLY, PARTNER CHANNELS (VIRGIN AUSTRALIA, FLYBUYS, AND BANK PARTNERS) AND OWNED CHANNELS (EDMS, FACEBOOK, HOMEPAGE BANNERS, SMS) WERE LEVERAGED WITH COHORT-TAILORED CREATIVE.

THE EXECUTION/THE EXECUTION & CRAFT :

AN EMAIL, ADD A TYPO (B INSTEAD OF M) OFFERED MEMBERS A SLICE OF 1 BILLION INSTEAD OF MILLION POINTS. LEADING WITH AN EDM AND SUPPORTED BY OWNED CHANNELS THE ‘MISTAKE’ CAUSED MEDIA DEBATE AROUND IF IT WAS A MILLION OR A BILLION. AFTER 24 HOURS, WE GAINED PUBLIC TRUST BY DECLARING WE’D HONOUR THE MISTAKE. A THREE-PHASE EXECUTION DROVE CONVERSATIONS ACROSS OWNED AND PAID DIGITAL PLATFORMS. AUDIENCES WERE FIRST EXPOSED TO ‘DRAMATISE’ CREATIVE (DESIGNED TO DISRUPT), THEN ‘CONTEXTUAL’ ASSETS (POSITIONING POINTS AS VALUABLE), AND FINALLY ‘COMMERCIALISE’ ACTIVITY (TO GET PEOPLE TO ACT). SIMULTANEOUSLY, WE LAUNCHED THE MONTH-LONG MINI-SERIES AND THE CAMPAIGN POINTS CALCULATOR. THESE INPUTS MADE THE RETARGETING ACTIVITY ACROSS OUR PAID DIGITAL CHANNELS MORE PERSONALISED AND EFFECTIVE. SUPPORTED BY A DIGITAL MEDIA BUY, OOH, PRINT, SMS AND A AIRLINE TAKEOVER THE CAMPAIGN WAS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY.

THE RESULT :

THE CAMPAIGN DELIVERED A 58.4% INCREASE IN REVENUE, ON A MEDIA BUDGET CUT -35.3% (FROM NOV ‘16). EVERY MARKETING DOLLAR SPENT, GENERATED $6.60 RETURN ON MARKETING INVESTMENT (ROMI). MORE PEOPLE, MOVING MORE: 116% INCREASE IN NEW TRANSFEREES, AVERAGE TRANSFER OF NEW-TRANSFEREES WAS 27% HIGHER, CREATING AN 34% OVERALL UPLIFT IN POINTS TRANSFERRED AND OUR BIG MISTAKE - THE BILLION POINT GIVEAWAY MINI-SERIES - WAS VIEWED OVER 7,333,290 TIMES.