Direct Choice: Virgin Flying Club, mailing designed and produced by Start Creative.
James House, Partner at 5one speaks to Marketing about his choice.

"I dread the drain of regular long-haul flying, evenings away from home and jet-lagged weekends, yet I have a strange feeling of warmth when my Virgin Flying Club Silver Card mail arrives.

For me, a key component of a successful loyalty proposition is recognition (although not everyone I know likes to admit it), the feelings of belonging to a club and being rewarded
for my choices.

Last year, having clocked up sufficient miles to Europe and the US, I was upgraded to Gold status in the British Airways Executive Club and received a fairly plain letter and my hard-earned Gold card. Not really a rewarding or engaging communication at a key point in what had been an intimate relationship with BA for two years. A few months later I thought it was time to give Virgin a try.

Not only is the Virgin Upper Class product a class above BA, its frequent flyer programme, The Flying Club, feels so fresh and up-to-date - from the drive-through check-in and Clubhouse lounge to the on-board service and customer communications.

Having reached the Silver tier in the Flying Club, I received this impressive mailing with my card. It displayed a contemporary design and engaging information about the benefits Silver status would bring me.

Yes, I am sure the cost of this new package is at least 10 times that of the BA communication, but put the focus on ROI - it has got me thinking about the benefits of striking Gold.