Uncommon’s first work for British Airways is distinctively, cleverly, wittily uncommon. You’d hardly expect less from the agency by now. And in the ambitious campaign no two ads are the same.

The campaign is built on a new positioning, A British Original, which is a celebration of British Airways’ people, its customers and the nation, that have helped make British Airways, original. It presents the relatable, funny, heartwarming and downright weird reasons people travel using the question that travellers are frequently asked when they land in a new destination. Through this, the campaign also shows that British Airways recognises each of its customers as individuals.

The campaign is also an original approach both in creative and media, bringing to life reasons for travel in a record-breaking number of executions – more than 500 unique print, digital and outdoor executions and over 32 different short films all running over the course of a month, to be precise.

The ads will continue to adapt according to location, time of day, weather and what’s happening in the news. The copy will also sometimes relate directly to the medium with playful bus wraps and press ads adopting a battenburg approach with adjacent placements that have interacting reasons for why people travel.

MG OMD handled all planning and buying for the campaign, creating a media campaign as original and dynamic as the creative. The campaign will appear across TV, video on demand, cinema, radio, print, display, social and out of home, including high-density sites, Piccadilly Lights and Heathrow.

The TV campaign launches in peak programming across ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, with BA top-and-tailing ad breaks in key primetime shows including The Return of Friday Night Live, Gogglebox and Rob and Romesh vs.

Hamish McVey, head of brands and marketing at British Airways, stated, “We really wanted this campaign to celebrate the originality of our customers and our people. Every time a customer boards a plane, they are doing so for a unique reason, and we know that those journeys are so important. We are working hard on making positive changes across our airline and this brand campaign allows us to showcase our motivation, which is our customers and our people.”

Lucy Jameson, co-founder at Uncommon Creative Studio, added “Both Britain as a nation and British Airways as a brand have a deep history of originality. From scheduling the first commercial service to Little Simz; originality drives us forward. It’s at the core of our pioneering spirit.

“We wanted to celebrate British originality at a time when we’ve never needed to rediscover it more. ‘A British Original’ champions people, not planes. We’ve started by shining a light on all the original reasons we fly — both for customers and British Airways’ people — but this is just the beginning. We hope that, going forward, each and every interaction with the brand feels as original as each and every one of the hundreds of original executions we’ve produced for the launch.”

Glenn Burchnall, executive director, client team at MG OMD said: “We are incredibly excited to be involved in such a unique and original campaign, working in partnership with British Airways and Uncommon to deliver our most dynamic and fully bespoke campaign ever; which sees us take the iconic brand of British Airways into original territories, environments and audiences, bringing the campaign to life through contextually relevant creative and cutting-edge activation.”

The airline’s people are at the heart of this campaign, featuring throughout both the static imagery and the short films. One of these short films focuses on a British Airways’ pilot, fondly rocking his daughter to sleep before heading off to work. The film ends on Anthony’s reason for doing what he does every day, which is “for her”.

Anthony Oliver, British Airways 777 pilot, commented, “Every day I get to play my part behind the controls of a British Airways’ aircraft, taking customers on some of the most important journeys of their lives. I hear so many incredible stories and reasons for customers travelling, so it is heart-warming to be able to celebrate them. I couldn’t be prouder to feature in this campaign alongside one of my two children and show the world my motivation, my little ones.”

The airline’s customers can also expect to see the celebration of originality throughout the customer journey, including menus focusing on British provenance. The airline is also working on a new safety video which will feature British Airways’ people, alongside some of the most well-known and much-loved British talent.