The commonalities between Gilt Groupe and Virgin America are few and far between, however they share the same basic qualities. Exceptional service, affordability and a genuinely good product. It’s rare to see this type of combination in today’s market. Most companies are either cutting costs to be competitive in their market or charging ridiculous amounts to stay afloat. The Virgin Group, led by billionaire mogul Richard Branson, has always been an experimentally successful company. They seem to thrive in almost every niche industry they play in. Gilt Groupe on the other hand has only been around since 2007 and in just three years, is already valued at $500M.
Both companies are currently on a hot streak. Virgin, with their airliner and Gilt Groupe with their high end discount shopping. Each of these companies have successfully revolutionized their industries through pushing their product/service the way they want. For example, in Virgin America’s mission statement they note: “(Virgin America) is on a mission to make flying good again, with brand new planes, attractive fares, topnotch service, and a host of fun, innovative amenities that are reinventing domestic air travel.” As an avid traveler of Virgin America, I can attest that they do each and everything they mention in the aforementioned statement. By staying true to their brand and delivering what they promise, Virgin creates brand evangelists such as myself that will tell their story for them. This type of brand identity and trust is what filters the real from the fake.
Gilt Groupe, although not explicitly stating their mission statement on their site, has proven its success through its immediate success. Hand selecting only the finest quality goods and services online, Gilt makes it affordable for everyone to purchase real quality. They understand that most of these brands featured are out of the price ranges of normal folks, but through their unique value proposition, Gilt is able to capitalize off their own innovation. The Gilt Groupe has definitely revolutionized the high end luxury retail business in almost the same way Virgin Groupe did with the airline industry.
I decided to focus on these two companies because they recently joined forces in part of a social media campaign entitled: “Runway to Runway.” The whole idea behind this is that if you purchase any products or services from Gilt Groupe, you’ll also receive Virgin’s Elevate points (their version of frequent flyer mileage). The genius behind this campaign is that both companies hit a lot of the same demographics. Young to middle aged tech savvy adults. The verdict has yet to come in on just how successful this campaign is, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing the praise soon enough.