In 2021, Virgin Australia had just come out of voluntary administration. Consumer confidence was down, internal culture was rattled and the brand was weakened.

Special were tasked to help revive the business and reposition the brand for a launch with impact.

Special helped Virgin Australia create their own space in the category by activating the challenger potential of the brand to shake up the bland and stuffy industry benchmark for ‘premium’ experiences through the new brand platform 'Bring on Wonderful'.

Bring on Wonderful was a whole of organisation idea that replaced the cold and formal industry expectation with oodles of humanity and personality, and in the process created a new, more accessible and memorable version of elevated airline experiences.

Delivering on this promise meant starting at the point that normally gets relegated to the too hard basket - the airline experience itself. Fiscal, regulatory, and logistical hoops meant making a meaningful difference to the flying experience was extremely difficult - no competitor had meaningfully innovated in years. But we took it on regardless.

And it was worth it. The brand was relaunched with the 'Middle Seat Lottery' experience innovation at the heart, a world first initiative where travellers in the middle seat were given the chance to share in $250000 worth of prizes. The combination of the promise and the proof shifted the conversation from administration uncertainty to positive buzz and earned our place back in the hearts of Aussie travellers.