I am excerpting on this blog roughly 10% of my next book, The New Technology Elite due out in February (and available for pre-order on Amazon – see badge on left) . Chapters 6 through 17 cover 12 attributes of what I call the elite. Each also has a case study. Here is the excerpts from case study, Virgin America for Chapter 6 which focused on Design Elegance. Note: the text is going through the publisher’s edits and subject to change.
“With SaaS and cloud computing we are seeing IT move to an on-demand model. Virgin America has similarly brought on-demand to the airline industry.”
Brett Billick, Director of Customer Loyalty Programs at Virgin America, is explaining some of the philosophy of the airline—including the subtle one of calling customers “guests.”
Billick expands on the On-demand theme, “On most airlines, the food and drink trolley comes along when it suits the flight crew. On Virgin America, you order your meal whenever you want during the flight and as often as you like.
“Upgrades—most other airlines have cut-off times, even days before your flight. On Virgin America if you feel like upgrading while on the flight you can via the airline’s state-of-the-art entertainment system, Red™.”
“You want to work on the flight? The airline has wi-fi onboard every one of our planes. There’s no guessing whether a particular flight has wi-fi or not and there’s a standard power outlet near every seat.
“You want to be entertained? We have the largest entertainment library in the U.S. skies—not just one movie shown when you may want to nap.
“You want to nap? We have one-of-a-kind moodlighting, which transitions through 12 shades that adapt to outside light that is incredibly soothing and not only helps to relax guests, but gently wakes them on a red-eye flight.
“You want to shop? Most airlines have a paper SkyMall catalog and you hopefully remember to call when you land. We offer on-demand digital shopping via the Red platform at every seat.
“You curious where you are? No need to pass on a request to the captain or wait for him to announce the plane is passing over the Grand Canyon. We have Interactive, terrain view Google Maps on every seat.
“You want to use your Elevate program frequent flyer points? We have no blackout dates. If there’s a seat, you can book it any time.”
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Billick continues, “Technology has allowed us to leverage social tools effectively. In fact, we reward guests for virtual check-in via Foursquare and Facebook Places. We leverage our social media channels given that we have a number of very passionate and loyal advocates online. As the only airline based in Silicon Valley, our flyers tend to live online as well—and it’s a great way for us to drive awareness. We were also the first airline to offer fleet-wide wi-fi and plugs near every seat—so we have a real-time link to our guests via social media channels. We’ve also launched some interesting partnerships with some of our neighbors like Twitter, Google and Loopt—and our partnership with Groupon—the first-ever Groupon for air fare—was very successful. Social media can be a real authentic link to our guests—it can help us drive awareness and trial as a young airline, identify positive and negative issues as they unfold and increasingly we see that it can drive sales when done in a compelling way.”
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Slim-line Recaro Aircraft Seating with a full-size headrest provides unusually comfortable airline ergonomics. Some of the nice features: 32-inch general seat pitch, 5-inch average seat recline, hidden under-floor electronics boxes providing all seats an unobstructed foot well; a seat structure with greater knee clearance than traditional seats at the same pitch; luxurious black leather, soft upholstery and high-gloss white plastics; headrests with adjustable wings as well as height and tilt adjustment; enhanced lumbar support, and contoured seat-pan structures unlike the metal bars that can be felt through traditional airline seats.
And that is seating in coach class! First Class seating offers 13 inches of electronically controlled recline with extended leg and footrests and other nice touches you typically only see on international flights. In another nice touch, cabin lavatory locations (behind the aft doors) mean that no seated passenger is adjacent to a restroom.
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Tibco’s Loyalty Lab technology powers the Elevate program. Guests see dynamic pricing for various trip combinations in Elevate points as they would if they were paying for the fare. Loyalty Lab has made adding affinity partners much easier. Virgin America has over 200 partners that allow guests to earn points. These include credit card, hotel and rental car companies, and other airlines. (Loyalty Lab is attuned to creative loyalty promotions—in one it helped Zynga award Farmville currency for General Mills spinach purchases).
Loyalty Lab also provides Virgin analytics such as guest flight and award patterns, demographic and psychographic data, and partner activity.
“We’ve been very pleased with our partnership with Tibco’s Loyalty Lab and the flexibility it has provided our Elevate program. It’s extremely important for our guests to utilize Elevate redemptions as seamlessly as booking a regular flight—and Tibco Loyalty Lab’s powerful technology has made it simple,” says Billick
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Travel and Leisure magazine has named it “Best domestic airline” four years in a row—2008 to 2011. The real satisfaction comes from delighted customers like Karen Auby, senior manager of public relations at Plantronics, Inc. “I flew Virgin America for the first time in 2008 and have been a loyal customer since—I actually drive 20 minutes out of my way to SFO so I can take Virgin. There are so many surprisingly cool things: on-demand food and drinks, comfy leather seats and good content on the personal screens.”
Auby continues “What keeps me loyal is the staff. Virgin has the coolest flight staff. They never fail to make a 5+ hour flight entertaining. I can tell they love their job. Nothing is worse than grumpy flight attendants.”
Steve Naventi, at The Outcast Agency, which represents several high-tech firms like salesforce.com and Facebook, says, ““Virgin America makes flying feel enjoyable and special for me—like it once did—but with a modern approach. I actually look forward to going to the airport when I’m flying Virgin. The only complaints I’ve ever had is when I find that their flights won’t match my schedule or they don’t fly where I’m going! “
Photo Credit:Virgin America
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