You may remember this time last year, the Launch Virgin Holidays team were braving the cold and attempting the World Record for the World’s Largest Burlesque Dance?

Well, in December, Virgin Holidays tasked us with the brief to launch their famous sale once again, alongside the opening of their first stand-alone store in High Street Kensington and in true Launch style we wanted to out-do our previous work!

We decided this year to attempt the record for The Longest Swimwear Queue, again in keeping with Virgin’s cheeky reputation, and bold enough to generate some top notch coverage.

Launch fired on all channels and the experiential, digital and media relations teams pulled together to produce some amazing results.

Coverage included Daily Mirror, The Times, The Mail on Sunday, Daily Star, Evening Standard and Metro, along with The Sun Online, Daily Telegraph Online, This is London, FHM Online, Talk Talk and many more.

Recently I’ve found myself watching hundreds of videos by brands from all over the world – this might have something to do my new obsession with Twitter – but it’s got me thinking…

I’ve noticed a pattern emerging which goes against what traditionally experience / events are measured on.  Before the explosion of the digital age, brands focused on how many people they could get to physically engage with their brand experience – the more the better.  Yes there are numerous variables, but the fundamental goal was volume of engagement.  Direct brand experiences for the masses is still a core component to the experiential marketers toolbox, but now we have new exciting shiny social medial tools to play with.

These new online tools allow us to turn the engagement theory on its head.  No longer do we need thousands of willing consumers to interact with a brand for it to be a success. All we need is a few willing participants to have an amazing experience which they’ll want to share.  You then capture this experience and stick it online for people like me to OOO and ahhh over.

BUT…  Is it really that simple?  And do massive consumer engagement experiences have a shelf life?
The answer, surely, is to combine the two, but if you haven’t got the budget to engage large numbers then the second option isn’t a bad one.

Give them a great experience.

Capture it in a compelling way.

Share it.

More to come from the Launch XP and Digital teams soon.

The New Year got off to a flying start for the Virgin Holidays team at Launch Group as we attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Burlesque Dance, in celebration of Virgin Holidays’ famous January sale.

A burlesque troupe made up of brave Virgin Holidays staff and burlesque enthusiasts dressed only in sexy burlesque attire, braved the freezing January temperatures to perform a five minute routine in front of the National Portrait Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square.

The event certainly helped to put a smile on the faces of bargain-hunting shoppers and bemused tourists alike, as well as the waiting photographers, who included PA, The Sun, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Getty, Sky News, Rex, AFP, AP, United by Photography and LNP – none of whom complained!

To date the campaign has generated over 90 pieces of coverage, which includes 4 national pieces in The Sun, Daily Mirror, News of the World and The Financial Times, as well as London Evening Standard and OK!, and online news sites including The Telegraph and Metro.

The total audience reached is in excess of 107,921,885 people, with the AVE currently standing at £81,118 – and the coverage just keeps on rolling!