British Airways normally has quite a lot to say.

As part of its wider ‘ British Original’ platform, the airline must communicate a wide suite of functional and destination messages.

But to drive critical emotional affinity for the brand, we needed the opposite.

Something incredibly simple.

A single question.

How do you capture the emotion of flying?

The truth is, in their pursuit of cheaper, more economical offers, most airlines strip out magic and emotion.

And while destinations are brilliant - we’ve all forgotten that there’s something magical in the simple act of flying.

Of looking out the window, and letting the world change you.

And that’s what we wanted to capture here.

The outdoor imagery captures the wonder on customers’ faces when they look out of an aircraft window and onto the world from 35,000ft. The concept is built on the idea that passengers usually take photographs from their seat out of the aircraft window.

Instead of showing what they capture, the campaign reverses the camera to show customers’ emotions as they look onto their destination, giving a deep insight into their unique stories and original reasons for travel.

No logos. No QR codes. No copy. Just a powerfully simple image capturing the magic of that window view in a new place, the many different faces that board a BA plane — each and every one a British original.

Sometimes the most effective strategy is to say as little as possible.

We could have communicated the perks and benefits of the brand. Prices and destinations.

Just like all the other airlines do.

The truth is, in their pursuit of cheaper, more economical offers, most airlines have forgotten the one core part of travel - emotion.

Destinations are brilliant - but we’ve all forgotten that there’s something magical in the simple act of flying.

Of looking out the window, and letting the world change you.

So we wanted that emotion to speak for itself.

No calls to action. No QR codes. No more branding than necessary. Nothing in the way.

And because British Airways is already so iconic and recognisable, testing showed we had the leeway to crop right into the logo and focus on the person and emotion.

The campaign was photographed by Christopher Anderson who’s known for his emotionally charged and artful images that explore themes of truth and subjectivity.

With Christopher we worked to create a timeless shimmer of optimistic light that turn plane shots into timeless visuals.

The 11 prints will be displayed on 324 sites throughout the UK, including digital and print billboards at Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester and Piccadilly Circus in Central London. These sites were chosen for large scale and high-up placements - so the subjects feel like they’re flying over and looking down on passing consumers.

In key placements like Piccadilly Circus, the visuals move, with the subjects seeming to look down on and even wave to people on the ground.

The broader campaign has reached 26 million adults across the UK - driving the highest ad awareness for British Airways since January 2023, up by 73% vs the same week last year.

The campaign has driven more people to consider booking with BA, driving 34,800 looks on ba.com