Our objective was to win a new business pitch for Virgin Atlantic Airways. We engaged Virgin early in the pitch, showing them our interactive abilities and giving them a window into our agency. We did this with a travel blog/Web site. Virgin followed along as we showed them we’d go to the ends of the earth, literally, by flying a creative team as far as we could on Virgin Atlantic. During the trip, pitch decision makers from Virgin Atlantic watched videos, saw photos and read over 250 blog entries posted detailing the agency learning about Virgin Atlantic.Results: We won the business.

At the initial meeting with Virgin Atlantic, we printed simple business cards with a web address printed on them – www.mckinneygoestotheendsoftheearth.com.During this meeting, Virgin’s first question was, “How are you going to learn about Virgin Atlantic during the pitch?”. At that point we handed them the card and said to check out the site. Within hours, creatives from the agency were aboard a Virgin Atlantic plane beginning their around the world journey on Virgin Atlantic. The trip ended with the creatives flying into New York City just in time to make the meeting with Virgin to present work.

We won the business. The key pitch decision maker, Virgin Atlantic’s Head of Marketing, said, “After that trip, you guys know Virgin Atlantic better than we do.” The website and trip brought the agency and Virgin Atlantic together. We felt like they knew us and we knew them on a personal level. We all felt like friends that had just travelled the world together and cared about the brand equally.