benchmark report
airline marketing
thank you / #flyba2015
digital
epic food TURKISH AIRLINES
BRITISH AIRWAYS
Another user generated content campaign comes from British Airways. The airline has created a seasonal ‘thank-you’ video message in which the airline expresses its gratitude to customers for choosing the flag carrier.
BA is also running a #FLYBA2015 competition in parallel which invites the public to submit images recommending destinations to others for 2015 by uploading their images to Instagram using #FLYBA2015 and tagging @British_Airways.
In December 2012, the Turkish Airlines spot featuring Messi alongside Kobe Bryant hit 20 million YouTube views in just five days (and 108 million views in total). A follow-up spot released last winter featured Messi and Bryant taking dueling selfies also became an online hit with 140 million views on YouTube.
The 70-second video features images sent in by travellers and is distributed across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google + as well as BA’s in-flight enter tainment system.
Adds Abigail Comber, “With so many places to travel to in the world, it’s hard to decide where travellers should go next. We’ve seen from the photos they shared with us in 2014 what a great year it was with beach holidays, city breaks and new adventures. We want to help people decide where they should travel in 2015 by giving them our suggestions as well as those from fellow travellers.“
In the airline’s latest spot, called ‘Epic Food’ – the final spot in the series – we see Messi getting the better of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba. The commercial shows Drogba going to various locations on the planet and trying out the local cuisine. But wherever he goes, he realizes that Messi has been there before him when he notices various pictures of the Argetinian with the chef framed on the wall.
The winning image will be judged by the renowned Italian photographer Massimo Vitali and the grand prize is half-a-million Avios points, which is enough to get to New York eight times in First Class.
The Ivory Coast legend pretends to look disheartened until he gets on to the plane. However he does not know he has in fact been overshadowed by Messi once again as
Abigail Comber, BA’s head of global marketing, said: “Featuring our customers at the hear t of this campaign is just our way of saying a really big thank-you for sharing those experiences with us this year. They have sent in all sor ts of images from oncein-a-lifetime parachute jumps to visits to great global sites like the Taj Mahal.”
DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE
a giant image of Messi’s face is printed on to the side of the plane. The 60-second spot – which currently stands at 60 million views – is supported by a social media initiative calling on viewers to upload their own epic travel photos through the microsite EpicFoodMap.com for a chance to win a trip to the locations featured in the commercial. Drogba and Messia kicked off the competition themselves on November 18th with their favorite foods. The food photos will then be compiled into an interactive map of the “epic food” the world over, reinforcing the brand’s promise ”We fly to more flavours than any other airline.”
7
EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
