I received an email this morning from Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic‘s U.S. based low cost air carrier, about a 24-hour Twitter campaign they’re running to get the word out…. about what? A sale.
According to the company’s press release, “The airline is encouraging flyers across the nation to grab a seat and retweet, to help raise funds for educational causes.” What does the retweeter get? Nothing. But he gets to share the news about Virgin’s fares that start at $39 and their $5 per booking donation to Twitter’s charitable non-profit partners. “Virgin America will donate five dollars for every direct booking made in the “Fly Forward, Give Back” 24-Hour Twitter Fare Sale to education focused nonprofits.”
Twitter people all over the country are retweeting the 140 characters promoting the sale with no incentive to do so other than to get the word out to their followers on a way to save money on air travel. At one point during the day, Virgin America’s website nearly came to a screeching halt due to the amount of traffic from savvy shoppers, proving the point that social media can drive commerce if it’s done the right way.
Virgin gets it. They also “get” what air travelers want in an airline. Their fleet of Airbus A320’s are the hippest in the sky over the US with mood lighting that changes based on the time of day, in-seat entertainment systems that allow fliers to watch tv, movies, even order food from the comfort of their seats, instant messaging with other travelers via the in-seat keyboard and the best first class of any domestic airline.