British Airways - Travel Book Barcodes

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.