Background
British Airways' Executive Club, the airline's loyalty programme for frequent flyers, launched a new mobile application as part of its efforts to focus on alternative customer engagement channels. The app allows members to manage their account and bookings through their mobile phones, as well as providing real-time flight information.
Aim
British Airways wanted to promote the launch of the Executive Club app using a marketing strategy that allowed them to contact the Club members in a highly targeted fashion.
Execution
Partnering with digital marketing firm e-Dialog, British Airways analysed e-mail data, identifying that an increasing number of emails were being opened on mobile devices. e-Dialog recommended that British Airways optimise the e-mail campaign for mobile devices, by matching the e-mail announcing the app to the device it was viewed on, and linking through to the appropriate application for that device - termed 'mobile optimisation'.
Using a special database query, e-Dialog identified which customers had opened a British Airways e-mail on a mobile device and which type (i.e iPhone, Android, BlackBerry). The company then advised that targeting each member individually would generate the best results for application downloads, thus British Airway created four different e-mail templates tailored to iPhones, Android phones, BlackBerrys and desktop PCs.
Each targeted e-mail also linked through to the version of the application appropriate to the device used. For example, iPhone users were directed to the Apple App store for the download.
Results
The campaign exceeded the KPIs that British Airways had outlined as objectives, with open rates well in excess of 10 per cent. Open rates for the emails targeted to mobile devices surpassed those for desktops, and were in excess of 50 per cent for the iPhone and Android.
The content was targeted and designed to render appropriately on each of the different devices, as evidenced by a click through rate of 25 per cent for those who accessed the email on their iPhone, and in excess of 30 per cent for BlackBerry users.
"The overall results of the campaign have radically exceeded our expectations. Making it easier for our customers to access the content that is relevant to them is a key part of the new app, and this campaign has allowed us to contact our members in the best way for each and every one," remarked Chris Davies, head of digital innovation for British Airways.
