BA targets TV with online opportunities

British Airways will launch its first TV advertising campaign for two years on Monday, with BA.com as a vital component of the sales drive.

BA announced it was “capitalising on the current low cost of TV advertising” with a campaign devised by ad agency BBH based around the slogan: “Opportunity doesn’t always live on your doorstep”.

It will tie in with a new channel on BA’s site – ba.com/opportunities – which also goes live on Monday. The airline hopes the campaign will appeal to leisure and business travellers.

A spokesperson said a lot of existing features of BA.com would come together in the opportunities channel, including its lowest-price fare-finder tool. Enhanced destination content will include a global-events finder, with information provided by Frommers travel guides – the content provider for holiday and destination guides on BA.com.

The channel will also feature details of BA’s £15-million ticket giveaway, launched in April in partnership with the government’s UK Trade & Investment body. The site will feature testimonials from small and medium-sized companies allocated free flights in order to win overseas business. Some of the 4,000 return tickets are still available, with details of the selection procedure featured on the site.

BA’s digital agency Bigmouthmedia will be driving traffic to the site with natural-search initiatives backed by paid search.