2012 Silver Best design or art direction

Client British Airways

How did the campaign make a difference? After five years redesigning its First Class product, this British Airways campaign drew the eye to small but important aspects and helped retain one of its most valuable customer segments. 500 books were delivered and in four months 1,294 bookings were made - that’s two to three bookings per each customer.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? There’s huge competition for premium airline passengers, with airlines vying to deliver the greatest, most opulent cabins and experiences. Central to the design philosophy behind British Airways’s new First Class was a return to understated British elegance, not extravagance. British Airways spent five years developing a carefully considered product with a team of experts dedicated to quality, craftsmanship and, above all, attention to detail. New cabin launches are difficult to communicate. It takes several years to update a large fleet, and during the initial stages it’s unlikely that every passenger will experience a new cabin. With this in mind, the communication reveals little product details in the same way a cabin would give up its secrets when you fly. This created a more rewarding experience for a target audience who are intelligent, fly frequently and like to feel they’re in the know.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? 500 personalised books were developed for British Airways's top customers under the proposition ‘Every detail matters’. Production replicated the level of detail found within the cabin environment, with every element as carefully considered as the new product. At first glance the book appears to have no copy, just a collection of photographs. Using the magnifying glass provided in the front cover, the reader is invited to discover the hidden details by reading subtle descriptions woven into the photography. For example, on the spread that shows the new leather seat and armrests, the story of how the designers took inspiration from the manufacture of leather seats in luxury cars replaces a section of stitching in the photography. By inviting readers to discover these details themselves, customers go on a journey – not just through the new cabin, but through the meticulous design process.

Results The objective was awareness, not sales, so there was no response mechanism or call to action to directly attribute results. However, all 500 books were delivered in October 2011, and during the following four months these customers made 1,294 First Class bookings, that’s between two and three bookings each.

Team Charlie Wilson, Emma de la Fosse, Tooky De Vall, Peter Mabbott, Tom Mann, Andrew Boggs, John Thompson