Rather than attempting to execute a single ‘big idea’ over multiple touchpoints, the vision was to be a ‘trusted travel mate’ to customers, focusing on ramping up moment-of-open personalisation to make customers feel reassured and special.

We embedded customer names into shareable gifs, pulled in instagram shots from local reps in-resort to give customers the inside track on what was going on in their chosen destination and whetting appetites (and increasing up-sell) with pre-filled itineraries based on their preferences.

We also sprinkled the Virgin service magic on the mundane – even our receipt holders sang to customers, something they loved so much they started sharing them on instagram.

Meanwhile, precise signposting at every stage helped customers self-serve. A principle we used in the real world with personalised airport guides to give weary travellers walk-throughs on where to find water for the kids and taxi ranks wherever they landed.

To reflect the battle for headspace, we divided our communications in two. A service journey for ultra-clear, critical information and an engagement journey for celebrating everything customers have to look forward to.

This twin-tracked journey became the ecosystem that would simultaneously drain away anxiety and replace it with excitement. Delivering on the highly personal, Virgin customer experience that customers pay for.

Across 34 different touchpoints we delivered a seamless service experience in a way that only Virgin Holidays could, ensuring each customer was Ready To Travel.

The success of Ready To Travel can be measured in both the reaction from customers and the benefits to the business.

An open rate average of 84% in email proved the need for the programme whilst click through rate highs of 92% proved the worth of the content. Meanwhile, we improved customer satisfaction scores for those on the programme by 5%.

Our maiden voyage was to serve customers flying to Orlando and has generated over 1.6m, delivering an annualised ROI of £16.2:1. And, as we roll out to the rest of our business, we are projecting the total revenue generated by Pre-Departure to be as much as £3.375m.

Just getting customers to feel comfortable self-serving generated £250K in annualised savings. Ready To Travel customers have been spending more in upsell too – an 11% incremental uplift compared to those not on the programme, generating a projected £1.35m annualised incremental revenue.