2015 Bronze Best Use of Film and/or Audio

OgilvyOne UK

British Airways

Visit Soon

The Team

Charlie Wilson - Executive Creative Director Emma de la Fosse - Executive Creative Director
Andy Davis - Creative Director Jason Cascarina - Creative Director Dom Bergantino - Business Partner Jhennia Leipert - Account Director Laurie Perry - Planner Jonathan Nyquistist - Director
Alex Tizzard - Producer Rebecca Terry - Campaign Manager Rebecca Leng - Direct Retailing Manager Samantha Goodenough - UK and Ireland Consumer Marketing Manager Zoe Heywood - UK and Ireland Campaign Manager

Contributors

Rapid Films - Production Compan
Tourism Australia - PR

Campaign overview

In order to fill flights to Australia, the longest route on its network, British Airways needed to identify a target audience with a propensity to undertake the journey – and provide them with the right inspiration to consider flying as soon as possible. By telling a real-life story of a girl in Australia who missed her grandparents in the UK, BA moved more people to finally make the trip.

Strategy

Analysis identified that the audience with the most potential were the over fifties with younger relatives in Australia. This group had both the money and the time to undertake such a journey, but needed the right inspiration. The team wanted the inspiration to come not from BA, but from these prospects’ families in Australia who love the lifestyle, but miss friends and family back in the UK. So instead of BA asking its audience to get on a plane, it got their families on the other side of the world to do the job instead. This added emotional impact made the message land in a far more engaging way than if the brand itself had asked the audience to fly, or merely offered a promotion.

Creativity

A casting brief aimed to find a real family separated by thousands of miles and found a little girl called Esme who loved living in Australia but really missed her grandparents back in the UK. BA invited Esme’s grandparents to a cinema in London, little knowing they were about to see a film of Esme made just for them. Her grandparents’ natural reactions as they realised they were seeing their granddaughter on the big screen, talking directly to them, were captured and became the main content piece. A shareable online postcard let other families upload images of their own lives in Australia and send a direct invitation to their relatives to ‘Visit Soon’. By switching focus from how much you miss them to how much they miss you, and presenting it through a real story, BA created the ‘trigger’ its audience needed to book a flight.

Results

The story of Esme and her grandparents was celebrated and hosted by travel sites and national news, including the Daily Mail, and gained well over a million views. And the campaign succeeded in bringing families together and increasing bookings for BA, with a 47% uplift worth over £220,000.