THE EARNBASSADORS

Short List
TitleTHE EARNBASSADORS
BrandVELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER
Product / ServiceFREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM
CategoryD03. Use of Social & Digital Platforms
EntrantCHE PROXIMITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation CHE PROXIMITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement CHE PROXIMITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
PR CHE PROXIMITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production CHE PROXIMITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 FINCH Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company ARC EDIT Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Ant White CHE Proximity Chief Creative Officer
Brian Jefferson CHE Proximity Group Creative Director
Ashley Wilding CHE Proximity Creative Director
Daniel Davison CHE Proximity Creative Director
Zac Pritchard CHE Proximity Senior Copywriter
Nico Smith CHE Proximity Senior Art Director
Trent Michael CHE Proximity Senior Designer
Vanessa Saporito CHE Proximity Senior Designer
Holly Alexander CHE Proximity Head of Strategic Production
Kyla Bridge CHE Proximity Senior Producer
Katena Valastro CHE Proximity Production Coordinator
David Halter CHE Proximity Chief Strategy Officer
Calvin Cain CHE Proximity Head of Media
Lucy Bowers CHE Proximity Experience Strategist
Hannah Garcia CHE Proximity Experience Strategist
Will McClure CHE Proximity Experience Strategist
James Greaney CHE Proximity Director, Data Science
Renee Hyde CHE Proximity Managing Partner
Sam McGown CHE Proximity Group Account Director
George Robertson CHE Proximity Account Director
Caitlin Adler CHE Proximity Account Executive
Matthew Rose CHE Proximity Technical Director, Product and Comms
Anthony Harca CHE Proximity Digital Products Director
Natalie Hort CHE Proximity Production Manager
King Yong Product and Comms Senior Editor
Rob Galluzzo FINCH Executive Producer/Founder
Corey Esse FINCH Executive Producer
Toby Pike FINCH Director
Marge McInnes FINCH Producer
Peta Einberg FINCH Casting
Dan Freene FINCH DOP
Mike Tosetto Freelancer Motion Design Director
Phil Tibballs Freelancer Lead Motion Designer
Dean Chadwick Velocity Frequent Flyer Chief Marketing Officer
Steve Baird Velocity Frequent Flyer Head of Customer Marketing
Tara Nair-Stuber Velocity Frequent Flyer Leader, Customer Growth
Lyndall Gannon Velocity Frequent Flyer Marketing Specialist
Annabel Brusasco Velocity Frequent Flyer Marketing Specialist
Gemma Myhill Velocity Frequent Flyer Lead Content & Creative
Rino Do Velocity Frequent Flyer Performance Marketing Manager
Belle Landry Velocity Frequent Flyer Digital Product Manager

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

Word of mouth and customer endorsements are 64% more trustworthy than pure brand messages (Nielsen). So Virgin Australia's Frequent Flyer Program, Velocity, decided to shift its promotional strategy from marketing to its 9 million members, to getting those 9 million members to market the program for them. The Earnbassadors was a promotion that leveraged the authenticity and reach of not just one influencer, but Velocity’s entire membership base. Paying them in the one thing they go crazy for: Velocity Points.

Background

Airline reward programs make money when people earn and spend points. And they have constantly got new news and information on how their members can earn and spend points. Which they mercilessly bombard them with. Airline and vacation deals, app launches, shiny new websites, bonus offers, perks, redemption deals, bank deals, deals, deals. Where to earn points, here, here, here, there!! It’s overload. Inboxes are filling up. Paid media was becoming wallpaper. And the result is that customer engagement rates plummet. We needed a way to reach our members in new ways that would allow them to hear about all the ways to earn and spend points. And what’s more, we needed to prove that Velocity Points are easier than ever to earn. In fact, you can pretty much earn them anywhere.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Rather than paying one person with millions of followers lots of money, we converted our marketing budget into points and offered millions of people, with a handful of followers, millions of points. A ‘Call-to-Earns’ video launched the promotion, asking real members (who actually use the program) to create content about points, for points - an epic product demonstration of the power of Velocity points. We put 12-months of briefs online and let members choose what they promoted - our new app, 15% transfer bonus offers, and many more. The more creative, authentic and educational the content, the more points they got, regardless of how many followers. Earnbassadors democratised the entire points category, allowing regular people to earn more points than influencers and those other rich people who earn points on their big expensive credit cards. Which meant more regular people got to fly around the world for free.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We know that a small percentage of our members not only understood the program better than anyone, they also contributed to the majority of our revenue. So, our strategy was two-fold: get these members to tell us how they used the program and then use this content to target the members who could be doing more. Our first step was to define the most valuable actions that members could take to drive short term revenue growth as well as to promote longer term lifetime value to Velocity. These were things like: flying with Virgin Australia, transferring points from a credit card and earning points on their groceries - they became our briefs. Next, we identified our members who needed to do more, and grouped them into segments based on their next best action with the program. All we needed now was the member content to target them with.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We started by inviting the millions of Velocity members to become an #earnbassador. Within minutes, they were sharing program hacks we didn’t know existed. The creativity was immense - we had surfers, skydivers, and puppeteers. Within 48 hours, we had over 150 pieces of content. But most importantly – the content was all simple and easy to understand. Next, we used addressable paid-media to turn the best Earnbassador content into ads targeting our specific segments, making sure they saw the messages they needed to see to encourage them to engage. This content was also reposted across Velocity’s social, website, and owned channels - including the inflight magazine. A popular Sydney Fashion designer (and Velocity member) even designed an Earnbassador merchandise range which we distributed at Virgin Australia Lounges, all aiming to encourage members in the know to share content for points. Now our most dedicated Earnbassadors could wear their loyalty,

List the results (30% of vote)

Leaving your marketing in the hands of consumers is terrifying. Ultimately, the risk was well worth the return. It returned a wealth of creative, educational and revenue-driving content delivering: 5700+ content ads (and growing) +484.5% positive sentiment 7.76M earned cumulative reach 30% increase in retail revenue As part of the promotion, 10,000,000 Velocity Points have been paid to Earnbassadors - achieving exactly what Velocity exists to do - give everyday Australians the chance to travel in return for loyalty. It also revealed real-life feel-good stories. Earnbassador Julie flew her daughter Josie to a New York exhibition showcasing work from individuals with Down Syndrome. Sarah visited her friend recovering from chemotherapy. And many more travelled the world on Velocity Points. The Earnbassadors continue to create content for the brand, saying all the things we need to say in a better, more human way than any brand could.

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