page_title: Virgin Australia
section_title: Marketing and sponsorship
hierarchical_section_title: Virgin Australia / Corporate affairs / Marketing and sponsorship
caption_attribution_description: English: A Virgin Blue Boeing 737-800 was decorated with special decals to promote the Australian DVD release of the film "Avatar" in April 2010. Digital image of the rear fuselage of VH-VUL taken by YSSYguy on 12 May 2010 and uploaded for use in the Virgin Blue article. Image edited using Picasa software.
context_page_description: Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as Virgin Blue, with two aircraft on a single route. It suddenly found itself as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has since grown to directly serve 42 cities in Australia, from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
  The airline's headquarters is based in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland. It was co-founded by British businessman Richard Branson and former CEO Brett Godfrey.
  In 2011, the airline went through a massive transformation—the changing of its brand to Virgin Australia. This included the introduction of a new aircraft livery, new uniforms, and new onboard menu options. New wide-body aircraft were acquired for use to compete with Qantas, and the roll-out of business class across all the Virgin Australia network.
context_section_description: Since its inception, Virgin Blue had sponsored many sporting teams in a bid to promote its brand.
  In February 2007, Virgin Blue signed a two-year sponsorship deal with NRL team the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs were the first rugby league team Virgin Australia sponsored. One of the airline's Boeing 737-800s had slight changes to its livery to commemorate this sponsorship; the Australian flag held by the "Virgin Girl" was replaced by the Rabbitohs' flag. Virgin Australia is also the official sponsor of the National Basketball League (NBL), and the title sponsor of NBL team the Brisbane Bullets.
  In November 2010, the Australian Football League (AFL) decided not to renew its marketing contract with Qantas, instead choosing Virgin Blue for a deal worth A$5–8 million.
  Virgin Blue gained extra revenue (and publicity) by painting two aircraft as "flying billboards". One promoted a brand of men's razor, the other a Queensland Government campaign to attract businesses to the state. Both aircraft have since been withdrawn from the Virgin Blue fleet.
  In 2007 Virgin Blue introduced an advertising campaign with the slogan "Get What You Want", named after the song by Queensland band Operator Please that featured in its TV advertisements. In 2009, Virgin Blue introduced an all new advertising campaign entitled "Now there's an idea". TV Commercials showing comparisons between flying in Australia in 1999 as opposed to 2009 were screened, to the tune a song by The Cat Empire. New billboard advertising was launched, showcasing Virgin Blue's variety of products and on-time performance records.
  In 2011, with the airline's rebranding as Virgin Australia, the airline's slogan was changed to "Now you're flying".
  Virgin Australia became a sponsor of the newest AFL clubs, the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants, in 2011 and 2014 respectively. Virgin Australia also appear as a sponsor on the guernseys of the Carlton Football Club since June 2017 initially due to the loss of a sponsor of the club, but Carlton announced in August 2017 that the partnership will be extended until the end of the 2022 AFL season. In 2016, the airline reached an agreement with V8 Supercars to rename the annual motorsport series to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship starting 1 July.
caption: Virgin Blue Boeing 737 with special scheme to advertise the Australian DVD release of the movie Avatar
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