British Airways lands another tearjerker

An interactive campaign, 'Go Further to Get Closer', launched on Valentine's Day narrates the story of how British Airways helped Sumeet Gupta surprise his wife and made it possible for them to get closer.

Surprise and love go hand in hand. This Valentine's Day, British Airways provided an opportunity to couples to get away from daily humdrum and let love shine! A heart-warming online interactive campaign, 'Go Further to Get Closer' launched on Valentine's Day narrates the story of Sumeet Gupta and how British Airways helped him surprise his wife Chetna by giving them an opportunity to escape from daily intrusions and get closer to each other.

'Go Further to Get Closer' demonstrates British Airways' marketing strategy for India that focuses on introducing India-specific initiatives to enable the international premium airline create an emotional and meaningful connection with the younger audience.

The film has been produced by Ogilvy India and is based on the insight that young couples today have made work their top priority in life. This mindset is taking a toll on their personal relationships as they are unable to spend enough quality time with their partners.

This is especially true for young couples, who are surrounded with extended family for most of their young lives. For these couples, international travel provides great opportunities to spend quality time with their respective partners as not only are they away from work, but also from the daily intrusions of family and friends. They tend to discover a new facet of their companion, as they discover a new destination, leading to better bonding.

The film, directed by Vishal Punjabi of The Wedding Filmer, went live on British Airways' official website (ba.com/getcloser) on February 14. The film will be leveraged on British Airways' social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+.

Speaking on the objective behind launching an India-specific digital campaign, Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager, South Asia, British Airways, says, "We have been flying to India for around 85 years and stand out for our innovative techniques to engage with our customers. With the internet base growing at the rate of approximately 28 per cent year-on-year in India, we realise that digital and social media are crucial platforms to engage with the Indian audiences, especially the youth."

As per Fordyce, the essence of 'Go Further to Get Closer' lies in dissipating love and passion in the relationship, a loss affecting personal lives of people. "The work pressure and tech-savvy lifestyle lead to communication gap and the only solution is a getaway to a new destination. Our film focuses on spending quality time with your partner and strengthening the love bond whilst discovering a new place and enjoying your travelling experience with British Airways," he adds.

To help young couples discover each other better, British Airways will also launch the 'How close are you?' quiz on its official Facebook page. As part of this quiz, couples will be encouraged to answer light hearted questions about their partners and tag him/her on their social circles. Three winning couples will bag a special return trip to London and a grand opportunity to rekindle their love and passion!

Speaking about the idea, Sanjeev Jasani, senior vice-president, OgilvyOne Worldwide, New Delhi, says, "British Airways will not just appeal to the minds but also the hearts of Indians. It will appeal to people across categories and tug at heart strings with its simple, slice of life story. The believability quotient is very high and this will make people relate very easily to it and help British Airways emerge as a brand with its finger on the pulse of India."

Over the last two years, British Airways has launched a range of engaging initiatives on offline and online platforms to deepen its bond with the customers in India. As a part of this continued strategy, the premium international airline plans to launch an online interactive campaign targeted at Indian customers around Valentine's Day.

India is one of the most strategic markets for British Airways. In fact, it is the airline's second largest market globally with connections from five key cities in India 48 times a week to over 500 destinations around the world.

In December 2013, British Airways brought Silent Picturehouse in Mumbai- A three day film extravaganza to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema. Launched in London in 2010, British Airways' Silent Picturehouse created a unique cinematic experience, screening three films on three screens, combining the in-flight entertainment experience with the traditional cinema environment.

Viewers were enabled to tune in to their movie of choice from the selected options using wireless headphones; immersing themselves completely in the world of films. This was for the first time that 'Silent Picturehouse' was launched in an international market outside the UK.

As part of the multi-million pound joint marketing campaign to promote the UK globally, the GREAT Big British Invite, British Airways and VisitBritain hosted a four-day grand event in Mumbai this year showcasing British fashion, music, heritage among others in the form of pop-up stores in true British style. The activity generated huge amount of interest among the people of Mumbai.

Besides, British Airways USA launched an online campaign 'Visit Mum' to promote the route between India and North America. The video content received tremendous response in India due to its strong emotional connect.

In September 2013, British Airways launched its latest 'To Fly. To Serve.' campaign globally including in India, to highlight its onboard services and product offerings.