Virgin campaign paints Shanghai red for UK flights

Publicis, Publicis Dialog, MEC and ICLP collaborated on the one-week initial burst, which included lighting a section of the JW Marriott hotel in Virgin's colours; a daily free newspaper distributed with the Oriental Morning Post, hotel rooms and on the streets; a 'Spot the Virgin Mini' competition in which consumers had to take a photo for the chance to win a flight to London; an SMS competition; promotional airfares; and print and outdoor. "We wanted to make it so that no one could miss it, so that if you were in Shanghai, in some way you would be touched by this campaign," said David King, MD of Publicis Dialog, China. The print work is a continuation on the theme of an earlier push for Virgin's six-times weekly flights developed by Publicis a few months ago. It features the number seven with a horizontal line through the number, which when viewed upside-down, depicts the number seven as a Chinese character. "We did it because it works so well, in that whichever way you're going, you can do it seven days a week," said King. Virgin boss Richard Branson was on hand for the campaign launch and handed out the free paper to consumers.