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British Airways Travel Book Barcodes | In Brazil, a British Airways campaign aimed to build awareness about the airline’s destinations in an innovative way by using bar code readers at a bookstore.
Teaming up with Sao Paulo agency AGE Isobar, BA targeted Brazilian shoppers who were “thinking about travelling soon,” by focusing its efforts on the travel section of a major bookstore. There, the airline used the store's barcode readers, which are normally used to check book prices, to show relevant BA information and fares on the barcode's display. For example, if a customer scanned the barcode of a book on Moscow, the scanner would show a message like “Going to Moscow? Fly with British Airways. From US$900. www.ba.com.” The barcode reader ad is fun, interactive, and, most importantly, conveys the brand’s message at a time when the audience is the most receptive to hearing it. British Airways was able to gain a relevant place in their target’s frame of mind for a fraction of what a mass media campaign would have cost. AGE Isobar also posted a video detailing the campaign on its YouTube channel, which so far had brought in more than 17,000 views, as well as generating coverage from advertising media sources.
Virgin Atlantic & Monarch x Blippar | UK-based Blippar is a mobile augmented reality and image recognition app that can be used by consumer brands to add a virtual dimension to their ofine campaigns. For example, British charter airline Monarch in November 2012 distributed foldout maps to 55,000 snow sport enthusiasts. By scanning the maps with the Blippar mobile app, additional information and videos on the ski resorts served by Monarch would then show up on the smartphone. The latest Blippar airline campaign comes from Virgin Atlantic as part of the airline's 'Flying in the face or ordinary' campaign. The airline took to implementing Blippar’s augmented reality technology in an initiative with the UK's The Telegraph newspaper. Readers of the Telegraph tablet edition, upon seeing the Virgin Atlantic advertisement on their iPads, were prompted to scan the ad with their smartphone (or other device) to see flight deals, as well as cabin crew tips and local time and weather information for their destination of choice. Launched in early January, Virgin Atlanic’s Blippar campaign aimed to drive awareness of the airline’s January Sale. The initiative also It marks an attempt by The Telegraph to steal a march on its competitors by using more innovative advertising technology.
8 | Airline Marketing Benchmark Report | February 2013
