Top 18 for 2018-British Airways

TOP 18 FOR 2018 - BRITISH AIRWAYS

What are the top 18 travel hotspots for 2018? According to British Airways, they include Nashville, Muscat, Oakland, Croatia, Seoul and Tallinn.

In a press statement announcing the predicted hotspots, BA said that “highly anticipated sporting events, and TV programmes all influence the top travel predictions. “

The latest season of Game of Thrones has put Croatia firmly on the map, and a number of far-flung destinations rank among the top picks, including Barbados and Muscat.” What’s implicit but left unsaid is that BA has of course chosen these destinations with an eye on boosting seat sales to them.

For example, the Seychelles made the list, after the airline announced two weekly flights between LHR and Seychelles International Airport as of March 24, 2018.

Nevertheless, the fact is that just like with its ‘17 for 2017’, and ‘16 for 2016’ announcements, BA got good PR mileage out of ‘18 for 2018.’

A number of websites and media outlets ended up covering something that, initially at least, cost the airline nothing.

To bring the ‘Top 18 for 2018’ list to life, BA worked with listing and entertainment magazine Time Out on 8-9 December. A “Pop Up” cargo container appeared in London’s Covent Garden area, complete with British Airways branding.

Passers-by who stopped to look at the container, then had the chance to speak to ‘Cornelius’ from British Airways, who gave them a series of questions and challenges for a chance to win flights. For example, they had to open hatches in the container and tell ‘Cornelius’ what was inside.

British Airways previously collaborated with Time Out earlier in the year, when a “pop up” Caribbean themed supper-club appeared for one day in London.

In fact, London was awash with airline pop-ups in 2017. Last month we talked about Air Canada’s Poutine Pop-up. Other airlines that have created pop-ups include Norwegian, easyJet, Air New Zealand and SWISS - to name just a few.

Why? Are Londoners specifically receptive to pop-ups? We’d suggest an alternative explanation - London is the HQ of a lot of international ad agencies.

As we mentioned last month when covering the Air Canada Poutine, “reach for the pop-up” is one way in which agencies can upsell additional projects and services to clients. Pop-ups look creative and innovative.

The result is normally a nice video showing delighted passers-by interacting with it and winning prizes. But - how many people actually see it and is it a good return on the investment it takes to create it?

KEY TAKE-AWAY

We’re not against pop-ups as such, some are very creative and effective.

For example, our October campaign of the month was the Lufthansa Interactive Travel Kiosks, where shop owners from around the world were virtually beamed into a booth that was set up around German cities, to ‘sell’ their wares to shoppers in real time.

It worked because it had the kind of wow factor that got it seen by many more people than the few thousand who would have passed by it - or the few hundred (at most) who will have interacted with it.

However pop-ups aren’t cheap, and it is important for anyone pitched a pop-up idea by a creative agency to look at both the idea (is it different than what’s been done before) as well as the exploitation plan (will anyone see or hear about this other than the people who physically walk past it).