A British Original (case study)

British Airways launched a groundbreaking multi-channel campaign called A British Original, which celebrates British Airways’ people, its customers, and the nation. The campaign explores the myriad reasons people travel, whether it's to reconnect with loved ones, to take some time out, or to be immersed in a different culture. "A British Original" encompassed over 500 unique print, digital, and outdoor executions and over 32 different short films.

Perfectly timed with the post-pandemic holiday boom, British Airways’ new brand positioning, "A British Original", is intended to be a celebration of the airline’s people, customers and the nation as a whole.

The campaign by Uncommon Creative Studio centred around the common question travellers are asked when they land at a new destination: ‘What is the purpose of your visit?’ Along with the standardised boxes of business or leisure, the campaign offered up a series of more reflective and relatable answers for holidaymakers – whether that’s, ‘because this weather sucks’, ‘to feed the social feed’, or ‘marriage CPR’.

In total, Uncommon created 500 individual print, digital and outdoor executions, along with 32 short films that further emphasised the myriad reasons why Brits are so obsessed with going on holiday.

The 500 outdoor executions were also designed to adapt according to their location, the time of day, the weather and what was happening in the news. Meanwhile, the copy related directly to the medium in which it appeared, such as in playful bus wraps and press ads that adopted a ‘battenberg’ approach, with adjacent placements containing interacting reasons for why we travel.

The executions, which ranged from the amusing to the moving, resulted in thousands of interactions with the campaign, as the brand succeeded in shifting its focus from planes to people.

Awarded by the Outdoor Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions 2023.