OpenSkies Readies Web Ad Launch

As OpenSkies prepares for takeoff, an online marketing effort for the new British Airways premium airline is set to launch.

The campaign, developed with digital agency Web Liquid, is expected to go live in the next two weeks. It will target the business travel and premium leisure markets, and utilize social media alongside standard search and display formats.

To promote the airline’s first route connecting New York with Paris, display ads will run on New York-based sites such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.com, while search keywords will include terms such as “business travel to Paris” and “premium flights to New York.”

In addition, ads will target consumers interested in fashion and food, with creatives placed on Vogue and French news site LeParisien. The campaign will go forward once the airline obtains final regulatory approval to launch transatlantic flights. The airline plans to begin flights to Amsterdam in the fall, and to another as-yet-confirmed European destination by the end of the year.

“The [digital] budget for the initial launch is well into six figures, which will enable us to do some interesting things focusing specifically on the New York and Paris markets,” said Matt Cronin, Web Liquid founding partner.

Taking a cue from wetryharder.co.uk, a conversational site the agency created for Avis Rent a Car, the OpenSkies Web site allows users to observe and comment on the progress of the airline itself.

“We recognized an opportunity to engage the community, and really include the public in the building of the airline,” said Cronin. “Historically, brands have been created behind closed doors, but this allows people to actually participate in that process.”

The blog also includes an intriguing time-lapse video of the painting of the first OpenSkies plane, which has received over 15,000 views on YouTube.

OpenSkies appointed Web Liquid to handle its online marketing efforts because of the agency’s proactive nature and knowledge of the premium travel space, according to OpenSkies Managing Director Dale Moss. Web Liquid’s Cronin was an account director at Agency.com’s itraffic where he handled the British Airways account. He co-founded Web Liquid in 2003, and the company now specializes largely in travel and leisure advertising. Previous clients include Hilton Hotels and travel deals site XL.com.