British Airways - Things Only a Canadian Would Know

British Airways - Things Only a Canadian Would Know

Though certainly not as famous for it as their neighbors to the south, Canadians love their country and can be quite patriotic – especially when travelling abroad.

British Airways is tapping into this sense of national pride with a new campaign aimed at building brand affinity with young Canadian travelers, by recognizing Canada’s own cultural identity, its sense of humor and wanderlust of its millennial population.

The campaign began with online and outdoor advertising in large Canadian cities to raise awareness of deals for “Canadians only”. These preceded a set of quizzes (a massive trend right now in web content and advertising), circulated mainly though social media and designed to ‘authenticate’ the participant’s status as a real Canadian – thus making them eligible for things like free car rentals, hotels and connecting flights in the UK from BA and partners.

This campaign is clever for several reasons. Canada is often viewed by the rest of the world as an appendix of the United States, but this BA activation really recognizes Canadians in their own right. Folk-style illustrations that define the campaign come from Toronto artist Jeannie Phan and the quizzes themselves are funny, making great use of terms heard only in Canada, like toque (a warm winter hat) and double-double (a coffee with two cream and two sugars).

Caroline Titmuss, VP of marketing for the Americas at BA told Strategy Online:

We thought of how can we could do something that will stand out and perhaps be a little provocative, but still creates an affinity by playing to something that is important to this audience.