British Airways signed a £40 million ($66 million) deal in 2008 to become a Tier One sponsor and official airline of London 2012 but this will be their first Olympic-themed campaign and it is somewhat of a surprise that they will not be using television as a platform to market it.

"We decided to use press and online to sustain the campaign for a long period of time," said the British Airways head of brands Abigail Comber.

"We will support it with YouTube and virals.

"We have got the budget [for TV advertising] but it is not about that.

"It is about targeting the right place at the right time and there wasn't the flexibility with TV."

The campaign will run in two distinct parts.

The first part of the marketing push, which begins today  with the headline "We can help your talent fly", will run for three months and feature top chef Heston Blumenthal, famous screenwriter and director Richard E Grant and world renowned artist Tracey Emin.

Aspiring chefs, scriptwriters and artists can enter a competition to work with the "celebrity mentors" to design an Olympic menu that will be used on BA planes by writing a script for a short film that will air in-flight as well as be shown in the Olympic Stadium ahead of the Opening Ceremony or work on artwork for a special BA London 2012 aircraft.

The second part of the campaign, which will launch at the end of the month, centres on athletes sponsored by BA including Paralympian Shelly Woods, sailor Ben Ainslie and gymnast Louis Smith, among others.

In keeping with the theme, the advertisements will include the headline "They will fly", and will be placed to coincide with relevant sporting events they compete in.

BA has not revealed how much they intend to spend over the next year although traditionally such high-profile sponsorships are backed with a budget well in access of £10 million ($16 million).

BA will also target events such as the start of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay on May 18 and July 27 which on year to go to the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

"This campaign is standout in terms of its longevity, most campaigns are a lot more tactical, selling products over just a two- or three-month period," Comber said.

"This is our largest-ever sustained campaign stretching over 12 months.

"We are very passionate about helping British talent take off and this campaign allows us to celebrate both the sporting and cultural side of the London 2012 Games."

Aspiring chefs, scriptwriters and artists can apply to participate in the campaign by clicking here.

A teaser of the campaign featuring the celebrity mentors can be viewed by clicking here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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