Tour Virgin America Cabins With New Google Maps Tool

In collaboration with Google Maps, Virgin America has launched an interactive campaign that allows passengers to explore the interiors of its award-winning cabins before they even board.

For those who’ve always wanted to try before they fly, Virgin America’s new initiative might just fit the bill. The airline has teamed up with Google Street View to launch its “Seat View” campaign, which allows travelers to take an interactive tour of the Airbus A320s used to serve its 22 North American destinations.

Combining content from actual Google Street View tours with Out of Home (OOH) advertising techniques and online digital support, the campaign lets travelers explore the airline’s famously mood-lit Main, Main Cabin Select and First Class cabins as well as its Red entertainment system before they book.

While potential passengers can tour the cabin of their choice via the Virgin America website, they can also go to Google Maps, key in “Virgin America” and select their departure airport from the red location pins shown on the screen.

Additionally, this campaign, which has been developed by the carrier’s creative agency Eleven Inc., also includes digital banners, OOH billboards and even interactive bus shelters.

Virgin America Vice President of Brand and Communications Abby Lunardini commented on the new campaign in a statement:

Thanks to our friends at Google, travelers can now check us out in an entirely new way. Many airlines show products in their ad campaigns that may in reality only be available on a small portion of their fleet. For travelers who may be new to Virgin America, the Google Street View experience brings our product difference to life in an authentic way. There is no bait and switch. Flyers can tour the actual product they’ll fly on when they book us from any of our cities – just like they experience the rest of their world via Google Maps.

Speaking of the collaboration between the airline and the search engine, Deanna Yick, Street View Program Manager at Google Maps, said, “People have increasingly come to rely on Google Maps and Google Street View to explore their world…We hope launching this Street View imagery will help better inform travelers of what they can expect, and to see Virgin-America’s award-winning cabins.”

[Screengrab via Google Maps]