• Business 2.0 via CNNMoney.com, Tuesday, February 13, 2007 11:45 AM

When Virgin America said it had $178 million in investment funding to launch U.S. passenger service -- the most ever for a new domestic airline -- ad agencies started readying pitches, with top shops like Goodby Silverstein and Crispin Porter & Bogusky strutting their stuff for Virgin marketing chief, Spence Kramer.

The ideas were first-class, but Kramer recalls, "I just wasn't swayed." A startup carrier that had yet to hire a pilot, Virgin wanted more than slogans and 30-second spots. That's when Anomaly, a 2-year-old startup, came to the table. The shop showed off plans to design the interiors of Virgin's new A320s, create flight attendant uniforms and even handle the content for a pay-per-view entertainment. And Anomaly didn't want just the usual hourly fees, either. "This is an investment where we get a cut of sales," Anomaly founder Carl Johnson told Kramer.

A month later, his firm got the nod. "The pitch was unlike all the rest," Kramer says. "They never even mentioned ads. They were telling us how we could make more money."

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