Wednesday, Sir Richard Branson made the announcement that Virgin Mobile will be joining forces with iPhone to offer a $1 “unlimited” data plan… wait, what?!?
Sir Richard Branson (Image: Facebook/Virgin Mobile USA)
In a private event to that took place in San Francisco, Branson took the stage with Virgin Mobile CEO, Dow Draper to promote the Inner Circle Life by Virgin Mobile.
“It’s not often that as a brand, as a company that, you get to reposition yourself, you get to reposition the brand, you get to change your business model and you get to do it in a way that significantly advantages consumers,” said Virgin Mobile CEO, Dow Draper.
In a flashy video displayed across the screen, the plan was broken down. The Inner Circle is the first iPhone-only offering that comes with six months of unlimited talk, text, and data for only $1 when you buy an iPhone. They are also offering a full year option of limited service for $1, but you have to purchase by July 31st.
In addition to that, by joining the Inner Circle you have opportunities to get a free round trip to the UK on Virgin Atlantic, a night at the Virgin Hotel, discounts on Virgin Wine, and includes the donation of the monetary value of 10 meals to Feeding America.
Now hold on, I’m no mathematician but, how in the world will $1 pay for all of this? We’ll eventually, your plan will shift from $1 to $50 but, in my opinion, that’s still a great deal.
So why iPhone?
“I think Virgin and Apple live by values that focus on the customer and their needs,” said Branson. “We love disrupting industries to bring delight and great satisfaction.”
And that they are. If you are interested in finding out more about this plan, click here.
After the announcement that had me ready to run down to the nearest Virgin Mobile Store and switch out my plan, Branson took the stage with New York Times
best-selling Author, Speaker, and Digital Strategist, Luvvie Ajayi; Chief Inventor and CEO of Ring, Jamie Siminoff; lifelong social entrepreneur and Co-founder and CEO of SkystheLimit.org, Bo Ghirardelli; and moderator, award-winning director, photographer, and CEO of CreativeLive, Chase Jarvis. The thread throughout the conversation was all about disruption which, of course, started from the previous announcement.“When I started my blog 14 years ago, it was just considered playing on the internet,” said Ajayi. “I did it for the love of the writing and then the money came and then the credibility came.”
“The fact that I didn’t have to write for the New York Times or Washington Post, I had my own space to do my own writing and that allowed me to control my content. I was able to hit The New York Times
best-selling list the week my book dropped because I had built this audience online that followed my work for such a long time.”There is a lot of conversation around disruption in Silicon Valley as discussed during Wednesday’s gathering, even down to the Virgin Mobile, iPhone partnership. How is your industry being affected by disruption and how are you prepared to tackle those changes? Are you flexible and nimble or stuck in your old ways? Something to ponder.
(Video: Facebook/Virgin Mobile US)