“A new advertising grammar is evolving. It’s no longer about product features, but brand ethos and emotional connection.”
— Neeraj Ghaywan, Director
These are the words of the director of the British Airways commercial, Fuelled By Love. The narrative was designed to change BA’s perception from their claim of why they were the best to BA proclaiming its love for India and talking about the positive impact India has on BA as well as on its crew.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, around 12% of tourists arriving in India in December 2015, were British, making United Kingdom the third largest source of foreign tourists, after the United States and Bangladesh. But following multiple unfortunate incidents with tourists, especially with women, by some miscreants, reputation of India was suffering a shipwreck in the eyes of tourists. Understanding the engulfing scenario of negativity, British Airways through its campaign, tried to project the positive side of the country which encompasses love, compassion and kindness. The advertisement, Fuelled By Love was aimed to shows BA’s compassion towards Indians and was a beautiful an attempt to reverse the negative connotations surrounding travel to the Indian subcontinent.
British Airways tapped into a treasure trove of various Indian memories, experiences and stories that the BA crew had experienced over the 94 years it has been flying to India. Real conversations, genuine moments, thoughtful gestures big and small, as well as relationships that were built, were all the ingredients used to communicate the idea – #fuelledbylove.
In a stark contrast from the previous two hit commercials; Go further to get closer and A ticket to visit Mum which were shot in a documentary-style with no staging and real people, ‘Fuelled by love’ was an emotional docu-drama. It did not have real characters like BA’s previous installments but the ‘inspired by a true story’ line in the beginning does the trick this time.
Fuelled by Love describes the story of Helena Flynn, a British Airways flight attendant and an old Indian woman who’s son is settled in London. Prior to the flight from Heathrow to Hyderabad, Helena could be seen nervous about being unfamiliar on her maiden flight to India while the Indian grandmother is seen missing her son. Both form a beautiful bond during the flight, leading to a humble and insistent invitation by the old woman for Helena to visit her home.
What follows is Helena’s memorable day with the old woman and her family and her introduction to Indian culture and hospitality. One simple cannot stop tears when Helena is handed home-cooked food for her return journey, and a well thought through embroidered handkerchief by the old woman. Helena can’t help but fall in love with India. The same message is depicted cleverly in the last line ‘Loving India back since 1924’.
The film broke on all social media and the scale of the campaign can be judged by the fact that participation and response came from each and every corner of India and the globe. It received close to 4 million views, and coverage by leading publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast and BBC. Thereby generating 128 pieces of coverage without any paid media with an estimated PR value of $4 million. Declared the best Ad of the day by AdWeek, it trended on Facebook for 56 hours and is the most successful British Airways campaign ever, globally. It also received the National Film Award.
With the release of the ad, the airline company also announced a three-day offer for its customers from India to London. To add further traction to #FuelledByLove campaign, it was brought alive with real crew stories on social media. The British Airways’ Facebook and Twitter pages have been sharing Indian stories by BA crew.
It’s a differentiated perspective that it gets inside the Indian mindset. Usually films that come out from airlines are almost by default shot and delivered from the eyes of the passenger. But this film is from the crew’s point of view and that changes the regular narrative. The film and its communication work from different angles. For instance, it unravels India to a western audience and corrects a lot of perceptions, such as safety of women travelers in the country, and shows the cultural differences, the strong family values and hospitality extended by Indians towards foreigners. A viewer cannot help but watch the 6.30 minutes of an emotional drama unfolding the real reason behind BA’s love for India since 1924 – the easy friendship bonds we make and the hospitality we extend to guests, as we truly live by the popular Indian saying, “Athithi Devo Bhava”.
This commercial is truly a remarkable piece of content that resonates with culture, specifically in India. The film communicates the brand message that British Airways is trying to resonate within India, and connects to consumers in a genuine and emotional way. The captivating video by BA changes the way people see the brand as it not just evokes emotions in Indians but even among foreigners who were unsure about visiting the country.
Vidushi Rai || PGPMR 16
vidushi.rai@northpointindia.com