ABSTRACT
The aim of this case study is to focus on one part of British Airways’ integrated marketing communications plan for London 2012. It reviews the main advertising campaign, ‘Don’t Fly’, which actively discouraged demand for outbound air travel by British nationals during the period of the Games so that they would stay and support the athletes in Team GB and Paralympics GB instead. The airline had just undergone its first major brand overhaul for a decade and was seeking to appeal to a wider audience especially in the increasingly commoditized short-haul market, where it had been losing market share to low-cost airlines. As a national Olympic sponsor, British Airways took a huge gamble with this bold demarketing campaign. Using traditional and new media platforms for the advertising campaign, BA was able to engage with a wider audience around the concept of boosting the ‘home advantage’, which would help to increase positive sentiment towards the brand.
