Virgin Australia speeds marketing with Adobe tools overhaul

Virgin Australia has overhauled its in-house Creative Studio workflow using Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly and Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries, shifting routine marketing production to a self-serve model for internal teams.

The airline said the change increased the speed of asset production and reduced pressure on a small central design team responsible for much of the group's retail and tactical communications.

Virgin Australia's Creative Studio consists of four designers led by Creative Studio Lead Zubair Khatry. The airline said rising demand had pushed the existing production model to its limits.

"We saw a 44% increase in creative requests quarter over quarter, sustained across six quarters," said Zubair Khatry, Creative Studio Lead, Virgin Australia.

Workflow shift

Khatry's team introduced a tiered production model. Marketers and other internal teams now create certain categories of content themselves in Adobe Express, using templates built by the Creative Studio.

The airline said it locked brand elements into templates and set guardrails around visual assets. It also curated approved imagery and other design components for wider teams to use.

"Sometimes it's quicker for marketers to create the work themselves in Adobe Express than write a brief," said Khatry.

Virgin Australia said the change improved throughput across the creative pipeline. It reported that final assets now move through the pipeline up to 40% faster and that each designer saves around 10 hours per week.

Brand controls

The Creative Studio used Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries as a central repository for brand assets. The airline also used Adobe Stock collections for imagery and video, according to the case study material.

The airline said the approach reduced bottlenecks and improved consistency across owned channels including web, app, email and social banners. It also reported a 40% increase in overall content volume across those channels following the workflow changes.

Virgin Australia framed the project as a response to workload pressures. Designers previously faced a backlog of more than 25 projects, with up to 15 jobs in a single designer's queue, according to the material.

"The ability to scale without burning out our team changed everything," said Khatry.

Virgin Australia also reported that the new operating model shifted time away from manual production. It said the team now reallocates about 40 hours per month from execution work to strategic projects.

"We can be strategic again," said Khatry.

Wider rollout

Virgin Australia's Creative Studio worked with Adobe during the rollout of Adobe Express across the organisation, according to the material. The team created branded templates and delivered internal training, including live walkthroughs and documentation on when to use self-serve tools and when to involve designers.

"We didn't just hand over templates and walk away," said Khatry.

"We made it intuitive and enjoyable and stayed connected on key approvals to keep quality high," said Khatry.

Virgin Australia said marketing teams across multiple parts of the business adopted the templates and approved imagery. It reported 30% faster turnaround times for those teams when using approved materials.

The material also cited loyalty programme communications as an area where the self-serve approach changed delivery timelines. Virgin Australia said campaigns moved forward independently and ran about two weeks faster than before.

Beyond marketing

The airline said the same approach extended to corporate communications. Virgin Australia's corporate communications team received locked templates and access to Creative Cloud Libraries, which it said reduced reliance on the Creative Studio for collateral related to technology, legal and internal communications.

"These requests used to get pushed aside because we had to prioritise revenue-generating work," said Khatry.

"Small teams can do big things when they're equipped with the right tools and empowered with the time to focus on high-impact, strategic work," said Khatry.

Next steps

Virgin Australia said it is exploring Adobe Firefly, a generative AI product integrated with Adobe Express and other Adobe Creative Cloud applications. The airline linked the work to templating and content production. It also said it is considering a full-scale digital asset management implementation.

"We saw a 44% increase in creative requests quarter over quarter, sustained across six quarters," said Zubair Khatry, Creative Studio Lead, Virgin Australia.