Integrated marketing Campaigns of British Airways

1. Name: Karan Rathod
Roll No.: 2014A29
British Airways
Introduction:
British Airways (BA) is the flagship carrier airline of the United Kingdom and its largest
airline based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations. It is the
second largest airline of UK when measured by number of passengers.
Headquarters: Waterside, Harmondsworth, England
Hubs: London Heathrow Airport
Gatwick Airport
History
British Airways was officially founded on March 31st 1974 following the merger of BEA
(British European Airlines) and BOAC (British Overseas Airline Corporation). However
the British Airways Board had been established in 1971 under the Civil Aviation Act
(1971) to control BEA and BOAC plus Cardiff based Cambrian Airlines and Northeast
Airlines from Newcastle upon Tyne. All four companies were dissolved on March 31st
1974 and BA was formed.

2. Building the brand
Brand Name:
Since British Airways was a merger of four airline corporations namely British Overseas
Airways Corporation, British European Airways, and two regional airlines Cambrian
Airlines and Northeast Airlines, there was a need to name the airlines that represented
this merger as a whole on the world map. The name “British Airways” is an apt name
that resonated with the attributes of British: class, sophistication, royal, innovative and
revolutionary. Therefore, British Airways has been established as an airline which
serves its customers with one of the finest quality of products.
Tagline:
BA was positioned as ‘The world’s favorite airline’ for many years. But over the years,
the company faced crew problems in the form of strikes and the fallout due to terror
attacks, people started losing faith in the brand and there was a decline in the number
of passengers. British Airways realized it, changed its structure and is now associated
with the tagline “To fly, to serve”

3. Logo/Design:
British Airways has been successful in keeping the logo same with minute changes over
the time. The logo has used the red and blue band in its logo over the years. Earlier it
also used a crown in the logo to show depict royalty. The colours red and blue has
always been there in the logo/design throughout either in the way “British Airways “is
written or the band. Red and blue colours are used in the national flag of UK which
relates BA as UK’s national airline. The band has been in its logo for so long, that
people now recognize it just by seeing the band. They have also not much changed the
font.

4. Brand ambassadors
Like other airlines, British Airways too has been reluctant in appointing brand
ambassadors. Since British Airways was always associated with luxury travel, not many
celebrities could have matched the brand identity. Most often British Airways would dis
its PR activities by publishing photographs of royal family either attending British
Airways meeting or flying in it.
A twist in the tale……..
In a move to promote its global activities, BA appointed golfer Justin Rose as their new
brand ambassasdor. The three-year deal will involve personal appearance from Rose,
supporting the brand's global marketing activities, as well as supporting the airline's
charity partnership with Comic Relief, Flying Start. After being appointed as the brand
ambassador, Justin made the following statement:"I'm delighted to be working with
British Airways. Golf takes me all over the world and as an athlete it's really important to
arrive feeling refreshed and ready to compete."
Something unique in INDIA…..
British Airways has completed 81 years in India but has never appointed any celebrity
brand ambassador.
Better late than never…..
British Airways identified that the number of students travelling abroad to pursue higher
studies is inceasing year on year. So rather than appointing any celebrity to endorse,
they carried out campus ambassador programmes and have appointed student brand
ambassadors. These selected students behave as advocates of British Airways in India
and promote the fact that British Airways is the most economical airline to travel for
students going to Europe and North America. Eg. Aditya Zutshi of IIT Kharagpur was
appointed the student brand ambassador.

5. Putting the Customer first
British Airway believes in putting the customer at the heart of their business. Their
commitment to their customers is integral to their promise, To Fly. To Serve.
For any customer about to embark on a journey, what happens on the ground prior to
departure almost invariably sets the tone for the flight. This can be the first personal touch
point whether it’s a smooth check-in, directions to the right gate, assistance for disabled
customers, it all makes the difference in creating a lasting impression of their journey with
BA.
BA Introduced new aircraft to the fleet, including the superjumbo A380, and 787
Dreamliner– the most technological advanced aircraft in the world
Different people…different preferences
Apart from ontime performance, Inflight services invariably decides the success of any
airlines.Inflight services include meals, entertainment and other facilities like wifi. BA has
3 different passenger classes First, Business, Economy and premium economy serving
each class of people.
BA introduced iPads to their senior cabin crew allowing them to tap into customer
preference, extending in-flight entertainment until landing, and trialling digital bag tags.

6. Frequent Flyer Program – Loyalty Program
To loyalize your customers is the most important thing for any brand. British Airways,
too does this by providing excellent inflight service and offering its loyalty program. BA
associates its loyalty program with the line - More privileges. More recognition.
The loyalty program has four tiers – Blue, Bronze Ruby, Silver Sapphire and Gold
Emerald in increasing order. Each tier has its added benefits. These benefits include
extra baggage allowance, access to lounges, priority boarding, priority check-in,etc.
Integration with mobile app
The British Airways mobile email campaign promoting the airline’s mobile application
garnered a 50 percent open rate and 70,000 click-throughs, which resulted in
approximately 250,000 downloads of the app.
BA wanted to promote its Executive Club mobile application to its loyalty club. The new
application allows club members to manage their account and reservations, check-in,
and access real-time flight information via their mobile device, with versions developed
for BlackBerry, iPhone and Android devices.

7. Advertising campaigns by British Airways
“Magic of Flying”
#lookup
The campaign helped British Airways highlight the breadth of its destinations. Digital
billboards in key London locations featured creative that encouraged passers by to look
up and spot the aircraft flying overhead. A message on the board pointed out the flight's
city of origination. The message they wanted to send acroos was : ‘They really do know
when it’s a British Airways plane and that really is its actual flight number and the
destination it's arriving from’.
The charming execution, which featured adorable children on the digital boards pointing
at overhead planes, masked a technologically complex backend. It involved mounting
an antennae on the roof of a building near each board. The antennae picked up data
from the transponders of British Airways aircrafts within 200 kilometers and fed that
information into to an application that identified the flights. The application then sent the
information to a server that served the messages about the plane's destination or
origination. A "trigger zone" acted as a trip wire to determine when a plane should
instigate a message and cloud altitude data determined if the plane could actually be
seen.

8. “Visit Mum”
#visitmum
British Airways created this campaign for Indians living abroad. The motive was
reconnect with your mom and this gap will be bridged by British Airways - Home is
where your mum is, go for a visit.
The ad…..
The story of an Indian mom sharing how she cooked for her son when he was a kid,
before he left for the US at the age of seventeen is heartwarming. To see her cook his
favourite dish to be sent on a BA flight to the US simply swelled up emotions. And
finally, seeing the surprise on her face when her son appears is magical.
Success…
The campaign garnered over 75,000 views on YouTube in the first couple of days after
being posted. And the immediate reaction from Indians around the world on Twitter and
Facebook seemed to indicate that the message got home.

9. On Facebook
On twitter
Thanks @British_Airways, You’ve made me all teary eyed! Amazing advertising & yes
I’d love to #VisitMum soon!
- Sundara Pandian (@n1ranjan)
Oye @British_Airways, your #VisitMum ad made my mom & dad swell up too. This has
to be one of your all time classic campaigns.
- Vishal Mehra (@vishal1mehra)
Don’t watch this ad if you’re wearing mascara or don’t have a box of
tissues. http://t.co/d54GmD6mJT #BAs brilliant copy of #VisitMum
A Yusuf (@aboutabeer)

10. The Welcome of Home
This ad campaign was targeted for expatriates away from home since a long time. BA
ran this campaign in Australia. In the video they showed how much two children, who
had migrated to Australia missed their grandparents. The tagline of the video was -
‘Australia has everything … except you’. The same campaign with a different video was
ran in India as well. A girl living in the US wants to connect with her grandmother.
“British Airways doesn’t just fly people, we connect them with the people that matter
most. We understand the value and importance of a warm welcome, it’s a wonderful
part of the Indian culture and we strive to give our customers a little taste of that warm
welcome of home from the moment they step on board.”, said Victoria Long, Americas
marketing manager, British Airways.
Parallel to the viral video, BA promoted the feeling of going back home. Quote from the
official campaign website:
The Welcome of Home is a powerful thing. Whether you live across the street or 10,000
miles away, it’s comforting to know that when you go home, you’ll be greeted with open
arms and a smile. At British Airways we know how important this is, which is why we
work hard to make sure you feel welcomed and at home, before you’ve even arrived.

11. Picture your Holiday
'Picture Your Holiday' is an innovative visual mood board which allows people to
imagine their perfect holiday and then lets British Airways find it for them. Visitors to the
site are presented with an animated concertina of hundreds of holiday ideas and
inspiration, such as photos of idyllic beaches, cityscapes, and sporting activities.
Users are then invited to drag and drop their favourite images to create a bespoke
mood board representing what their ideal holiday would contain. Based on this data, the
platform then generates suggested destinations and allows the user to share them with
friends and family through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and email.
This campaign on digital platform was promoted as the best way to plan your trip. A
special website was created which is still active. Users had to select 5 images from a
set of pictures and the site then suggested the places the user should visit.

12. Don’t Fly
Framestore worked with BBH to deliver an integrated Olympics campaign for BA,
comprising an iconic TV ad, a timely viral teaser and a customizable application that
creates personalized edits of the TV spot. Centering on a Boeing 777-200 being piloted
through the streets of London, the campaign followed the plane on a road trip from
Heathrow for the Olympic stadium, taking in the best of London’s sites on its way.
The campaign used the strapline, 'Don’t Fly. Support Team GB and Paralympics GB'.
BA increased its flight frequency to bring home ex-pat Brits for the Games. Outbound
passengers were offered booklets with details on athletes and a guide to the best
sporting bars abroad.

14. Print ads of British Airways
British Airways used print media to convey the message that travelling in British Airways
is one of the most comfortable experiences. This commonality is seen in all their print
ads.

15. Inferences/Suggestions
1. British Airways has been successful in implementing commonality in the form
of inflight interiors in all its flight variants.
2. The ad campaigns although different for different geographies have same
message at the core.
3. Though British Airways constantly gathers attention through its ad campaigns,
but it doesn’t come up with discounts/promotions regularly in all the countries.
4. Appoint a brand ambassador in every country so that people can identify the
airline with the celebrity.
5. Internal employee strikes project a bad impression about the organization as
employees are the face of the organization.
6. Regular contests in different countries to increase visibility and customer
engagement, which currently is missing.
References:
www.adage.com
http://www.campaignbrief.com/asia/2013/07/british-airways-launches-pictu.html
www.afaqs.com
www.youtube.com
www.britishairways.com