Look it’s flying and how!

British Airways has captured the eyes of audience with new high tech digital OOH campaign called the ‘Magic of Flying’. The recently launched campaign was developed by employing custom-built technology. The campaign has been executed by the airline’s global creative technology Ogilvy 12th Floor agency whereas the idea was conceived by Ogilvy 12th Floor, a group of companies set up by OgilvyOne to handle BA’s digital and direct marketing.

The campaign showcased a child pointing to the flight as and when a British Airways plane flew above the digital billboard and showed the flight number and destination as well. The campaign sought to remind people how magical flying could be, and approached it from a child’s perspective.

The outdoor sites were the digital billboards at Chiswick and Piccadilly in London. The idea was to actually interact with the aircraft flying overhead with the help of  surveillance technology custom-built by Ogilvy 12th Floor agency and managed by Storm, Clear Channel UK’s new premium digital brand.

The system tracks the aircraft and interrupts the digital display just as it passes over the site, revealing the image of a child pointing at the plane overhead accompanied by its flight number and destination. For example the screen may read: ‘It’s the BA0234 from Los Angeles’. This will then be followed by a message relevant to that flight, in this case ‘Fly the new A380 to Los Angeles. ba.com/lookup’. Other destinations will be accompanied by other information such as the lowest available fare or the temperature in the destination.  The destinations can also be updated immediately depending on the focus routes for the airline.

Abigail Comber, Head of Marketing, British Airways said, “This is a first, not just for British Airways but for UK advertising. We all know from conversations with friends and family that we wonder where the planes are going and dream of an amazing holiday or warm destination. The clever technology allows this advert to engage people there and then and answer that question for them. We hope it will create a real ‘wow’ and people will be reminded how amazing flying is and how accessible the world can be.”