2024 Gold Media Strategy

Agency: Uncommon Experience Studio and Manning Gottlieb OMD

Client: British Airways

Entry Title: Big Little Welcomes

Executive Summary

Christmas. In advertising, it’s a time for “sharing” which is basically code for: shopping and spending. But British Airways saw an opportunity to do something thoughtful.

Strategy

British Airways reunites thousands of families every Christmas. But by the time they’ve got off the plane, through passport control, and baggage pick up, the BA brand is hardly top of mind when they finally hug their nearest and dearest. The team wanted to create an experience that would better connect the brand to heartfelt reunions, in a way that didn’t feel like the hand of central marketing.

Talking to passengers about the airport journey, most saw it as an unmemorable and unwelcome blur - from getting off a long flight, the focus is on getting out and seeing their friends and family. The trick was to find a way to elevate and celebrate this part of the journey, and in doing so share in that warm glow of the reunions facilitated.

Creativity

Enter the idea of our Big Little Welcomes, a way to add extra sparkle to reunions using an unexpected medium: advertising sites.

The solution came with an unexpected benefit: to remove all the heavily commercial sales advertising from Heathrow for 10 days, and replace it with lovely, personal greetings. A call out to BA customers, through emails to the base and social media, invited them to share a message with anyone they knew travelling home.

An intuitive mobile experience set up the airport experience. Customers could uploaded a hand-written welcome. It was married with passenger data, flight data and geographic data to make sure their loved one saw it. For some, this experience happened on the journey through Heathrow airport. For others, in the arrivals hall, and for more still, on their journey home, or even at their house.

Results

Messages were dynamically served every two hours for ten days, via DCO using flight numbers and live API data, ensuring 98% of messages were seen by their intended recipient. Post-campaign analysis showed significant shifts for KPIs. This showed a 20% increase in preference for British Airways.

Prompted consideration was up 9 percentage points. Ad awareness increased from 15% to 23% against a category average of 11.5%. And 75% agreed that British Airways is worth paying more for. The success of the 2023 activation has seen it commissioned to return for 2024.

The Team

British Airways - Kathryn Marriott, Head of Global Campaigns & Content - Sarah Dunbar, Global Brand Communications Manager - Ibukun Oyegbesan, Campaign Manager

Uncommon Experience Studio - Sarah Wild, Account Director - Jacob Colman, Senior Strategist - Emil Asmussen, Creative Director - Jacqueline Hedge, Senior Creative - Gracie Hawes, Senior Creative - Matt Schofield, Senior Designer

Manning Gottlieb O M D - Glenn Burchnall, Executive Director - Amy Elston, Client Business Director - Megan Scott, Account Director

Uncommon Creative Studio - David Pomfret, Managing Partner - Lauren Timm, Business Director - Alistair Owen, Head of Effectiveness - Melody Temple, Producer - Lucy Patterson, Senior Account Manager - Sarah Hernandez-Bedford, Producer - Scarlett Barclay - Film producer - Jemima Bowers, Production Lead