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Virgin Australia AFL Finals Campaign Celebrates Colour-Led Player/Fan Diversity And Passion
This is just one of many campaigns featured and analysed by Activative in its sponsorship monitoring service Activative Source. For more information, please visit www.activative.
Mid September saw Virgin Australia begin to activate its Australian Football League (AFL) rights with a new ‘Together We Fly’ campaign that aims to uses fan passion and team colours to showcase diversity and unity.
Fronted by three AFL stars, the initiative is led by a 60-second hero commercial that highlights the spirit of the league and the brand and with the objective of uniting all Australians by the colours of their team.
The three AFL players starring in the spot – Cyril Rioli from Hawthorn, Aliir Aliir from Sydney, and Lin Jong from the Western Bulldogs – appear alongside supporters from all eight AFL Finals sides.
The creative intersperses shots of players and fans of various ethnicities, genders and ages offering ‘to camera’ statements of support and ends with the tagline ‘When colours unite, together we fly’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPQMOhLONc
The campaign, which is running throughout the Toyota AFL Finals Series, spans not only television, but also digital and social channels.
https://twitter.com/VirginAustralia/status/776671890236583936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Another aspect of the initiative sees the Virgin Australia Melbourne Lounge host a photo-based ‘portrait exhibition’ showcasing the players and fans who feature in the campaign.
‘We are passionate about celebrating and showcasing what’s possible when diversity is embraced, and there is no better time to do this than AFL Finals, when people from different walks of life come together under the colours of their team,’ outlines Virgin Australia general manager of marketing Arno Lenior.
‘We are encouraging people to focus on what’s important – the possibilities that exist when you break down barriers. At Virgin Australia, we believe that diversity creates more innovative, responsive and customer-led organisations.’
‘We are proud that the AFL’s Official Airline Partner, Virgin Australia, has chosen the most exciting time of the year to tell a powerful story about the game and its fans,’ adds the AFL’s general ,manager of commercial operations Darren Birch.
Comment
Virgin Australia, the official airline of the AFL, flies all 18 AFL teams (including the standard travelling party of 60 players, staff and officials) on more than 330 match-related journeys (covering 470,000km) and its rights package also includes giving tens of thousands of extra seats to fans.
Virgin Australia first signed up as an AFL sponsor in January 2011 and in 2013 it announced a new five-year AFL agreement – extending its status as official airline until 2018.
The package also includes naming r to the AFL Grand Final Half Time entertainment, the Premiership Party and the Grand Final Week Party, as well as the ‘Any Game, Anywhere’ platform (which provides AFL fans with tailored packages for Virgin Australia airfares, match tickets and accommodation).
‘It is a great honour to be the official airline of Australia’s most popular sport, especially during such an exciting period of growth and expansion for the game,’ said Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti when the partnership was extended.
‘The AFL players are some of the most frequent flyers in the country and it is therefore a huge vote of confidence in Virgin Australia that they were keen to extend our partnership.’
Links
Virgin Australia YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/virginaustralia
Virgin Australia Web:
