It’s the time of year when many of us are in planning mode for summer holidays because airline and holiday companies are holding big sales. I’ve scoured the internet for deals to good locations and on a recent glance at my Facebook news feed, I spotted a shared post about the chance to win a holiday. Lo and behold, it was a British Airways competition that offered a chance to win tickets to a chosen destination, such as Orlando or Barbados, every day for a week. Usually these competitions offer one pair of tickets and a highly unlikely chance of winning, but British Airways was giving hundreds of tickets away each day through two entry routes.
I could enter online via Facebook, where one person could win two tickets each day by answering a question about the chosen destination. It was an easy mechanic, and I completed the task in two minutes.
The other option was to go to London Victoria Station, where there was a winner every 15 minutes.
At the station, there was a high-tech stand and a queue, which resembled waiting to check in at a flight desk. I entered all my details and printed my own ‘boarding pass.’
Then I was directed to a flight-simulator game where I had to guide a plane on its route to land. A relatively simple format, but it required a steady hand to gain high points and stay on top of that leader board for 15 minutes. Sadly, I only came in fourth.
The experiential side of the activation leveraged a huge prize pool and was backed by the social media amplification, showing that British Airways is staying relevant to a British audience. It worked. Along with fellow Londoners, some people had travelled from outside of London for the chance to win. It was fun, and prizing generosity of this scale from a company is rarely heard of.
After taking part in the activation, I browsed the British Airways site for holidays. Previous expectations of expensive tickets on an airline site like British Airways were pleasantly proved wrong by the sale. Running the promotion with the chosen media, the behavioural change was achieved.
Bravo to British Airways for creating a highly engaging promotion. It was smart, original, and added value, fun, and excitement for participants.
Contributed by Nina White, Integer London
