British Airways invites people to #lookup

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Joss Davidge, managing partner here at Because, continues his weekly quest for great marketing ideas.

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This weekly blog is usually published on the Marketing Society website, but this week we are featuring it here!

It would have been hard to avoid the developing chatter about the new British Airways screens that appeared in Chiswick and Piccadilly Circus this week.  The seemingly normal ads feature a child and some text, but the ‘magic’ (and it has been referred to it as that often in press coverage) lay in the fact that the videos actually interact with the planes that are flying overhead.  The digital displays also harvested data from that particular flight, displaying interesting and useful information, like where it was flying from or what the temperature was at the plane’s destination. This campaign is a stroke of creative genius from the BA team.  It is interactive, intriguing and brilliantly simple.  Focusing on a childlike interest in planes that, however many Air Miles you have clocked up, still lies somewhere within us all.  I challenge you to deny that you have not looked up into the sky and wistfully wondered where the streaking plane in the sky is off to; well here British Airways is giving you the answer.

We are very aware at Because of the importance of engaging consumers with brand messages, we are moving further and further away from the days of old static advertising. Brands are, rightfully, aiming to create more meaningful connections with consumers though experiences.  British Airways has done this well through innovation; captivating crowds nearby, generating a burst of consumer conversations off the back of it and interesting the wider press in its clear and simple ‘look up’ message.

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If you’ve missed Joss’s weekly Marketing Society blogs then here are a few to whet your appetite!

Adidas gets Londoners leaping

An overnight experience in a Skoda

The trailblazing Lexus #TraceYourWorld experience

We share them every week on the @Because Twitter feed and on the Ping, a Friday email that picks out a few of the best experiential and brand experience finds of the week.  If you would like to be added to the mailer, please get in touch.


Author bio

GLOBAL BUSINESS DIRECTOR

With nearly 30 years of marketing experience, both client and agency side, I’ve acquired a rare perspective on brands and business: I believe you have to challenge things creatively if you want to grow sales. Consumer technology is reshaping our world, and it’s only the great brands that stay on the crest.