MediaMath’s Future Series continued in London on September 12, where guests were treated to a presentation by Stephen Attenborough, the Commercial Director for Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial passenger-carrying spaceline.
The MediaMath Future Series is an international series of interactive events where we invite visionary entrepreneurs to talk about innovation and how that really big idea disrupts an industry and reshapes markets.
Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and aabar Investments PJS , has already accepted more than $70 million in deposits from approximately 580 individuals — a number that represents about 10 percent more than the total number of people who have ever gone to space.
During the fifth event of our Future Series, Mr. Attenborough spoke about the challenges he faces in marketing Virgin Galactic, as well as how he has helped accelerate the company’s branding and marketing using technology.
“As a start-up with an extremely high profile, and which has experienced a continuous thirst from media for news and information, our marketing has largely been driven by PR,” he said. “We frequently use social media to help engage with our future astronauts and to engender a sense of community. Our window to the world is largely via an online presence and we exploit the wonderful visual assets we have from test flights and more to build and maintain both excitement and loyalty.”
Mr. Attenborough also shared with attendees how he approaches the challenge of building a brand that appears to only cater to a very upper echelon demographic, but has successfully been developing into a mainstream brand.
“Our marketing team is fortunate that Virgin’s ‘story’ is the story of a man as much as it is of a company,” he said. “Ultimately, this means the communication of a lifestyle, a philosophy and an attitude that can be expressed in human terms, and translated into a style of product and service delivery.”
He added: “Virgin Galactic is the epitome of everything it means to be Virgin. It is the ultimate Virgin business, not only reinforcing our brand values, but it resonates with the human spirit of endeavor and discovery. It is part of a story, and a story that consumers truly want to be a part of.”
If you missed our event in London, the next stop for the Future Series is San Francisco on October 10 where speaker Dom Sagolla will speak about his experiences co-founding Twitter and how it has shaped his views on marketing, branding and everything in-between.
At the Future Series, you can be part of the conversation. You will meet the minds behind breakthrough technologies and iconic brands. You’ll learn what makes innovators tick and how to put disruptive thinking to work for your business and your marketing strategies.
Join us! (We might just change your future).
For more information and to register, click here.