In accordance to the FTC Guidelines, I am disclosing that I am part of the Virgin Mobile 25, a sponsored program by Virgin Mobile. All editorial content has been created by me and reflects my personal opinions.
Stephanie, Windsor, and I were invited to attend Virgin Mobile 25 Influencer Summit in Washington, D.C. along with two dozen other young bloggers to learn more about Virgin Mobile, brainstorm together, and of course meet Lady Gaga! (pics from that coming soon!!)
I’ll be live blogging from the Summit which is starting in a few minutes and going until about 2 pm!
10:05 AM
The speakers:
- Ron Faris (Virgin Mobile Director of Brand Development & Partnerships)
- Felicia Martin-Hill (Manager, Brand Experiences & Cause Marketing)
- Abbey Braden (Virgin Mobile Live DJ)
- Lady Gaga’s Director of Digital (!!!!)
10:08 AM
The Virgin brand is intact and whitelabels partnerships with other companies
Virgin Atlantic was Singapore Airlines, rebranded as Virgin Atlantic!
Virgin Mobile was Sprint, rebranded as Virgin Mobile!
10:11 AM
“Beyond Talk” lifestyle/philosophy: nowadays cellphones are more about texting, Tweeting, than talking…so Virgin offers unlimited data, whereas you choose your talk plan (“we want you to do everything but talk!”) — super intriguing to me
10:21 AM
We’re getting tickets to Virgin Mobile’s FreeFest later this year (it will be sometime in September)! Â Former performers include: Jimmy Eat World, M.I.A., Ludacris, Weezer…..cool!
10:34 AM
PleaseShutUp.com
That is all.
10:38 AM
Own the space that makes your competitors uncomfortable.
Turn the dial up: push connectivity/checking in to addiction, obsession.
10:43 AM
Next topic: Virgin Mobile LIVE
10:45 AM
Abbey Braden is our speaker. Â She’s the host of Virgin Mobile LIVE.
11:00 AM
OK they’re just talking about various partnerships they’re doing, and what their vision for the Virgin Mobile 25 is.
12:34 PM
After lunch & a brainstorming session, we’re now with Jaunique Sealey, Lady Gaga’s Director of Digital! Â She’s from Atom Digital, which also manages Greyson Chance. Â Now watching a video of what Atom Digital does.
12:50 PM
Lots of great reminders for how to do effective marketing/reaching your audience — authentic, personal connections…know your core and stay with your core, etc.
12:55 PM
Lady Gaga personally handles her Twitter all by herself — there’s literally no other person managing any part of her posting, following people, re-tweeting. Â Nice!
1:00 PM
Idea: turn feedback into events —Â “If #BornThisWay trends, I’ll release the lyrics.”
1:06 PM
Hot question from one of the Virgin Mobile 25 bloggers: Eminem just passed Lady Gaga as the most “Liked” person on Facebook (yesterday). Â How do you respond to that?
Jaunique: We need to engage our fan base more to make them more excited about our brand. Â For us, it’s not a competitive thing, but it makes us dig deep and consider what more that we can offer.
1:11 PM
We’re now breaking off into 2 groups for more brainstorming and feedback, after which the Summit will be over. Â Awesome job, Virgin Mobile!