BBH retains British Airways account; gets added responsibility

British Airways has announced its new marketing agency structure following a pitch that involved its major partners. As per the structure, the airline is adopting a radical new approach developed by the winning agency, BBH.

Incumbent agency e-Dialog, which is responsible for the airline's email marketing, has successfully pitched to continue in that role under the name of its parent company, eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions.

Besides, in order to deliver highly connected communications to British Airways, BBH has put in place a joint venture with Simon Hall and Warren Moore who currently own 7 seconds. This will be fuelled by data and powered by the very latest technology. There will be one aligned team, sitting under one roof with a shared set of commercial objectives.

Commenting on this, Abigail Comber, head, marketing, British Airways, says, "We launched this pitch in order to explore the agency market place and see what was on offer, as we had had some of our larger agency contracts for many years. Being conscious that the agency market place and consumer consumption of advertising has changed, we set out a challenge to put engaging content at the heart of every piece of communication, whatever the channel. The process was rigorous and we were clear with all the agencies that the solution that delivered us great creativity combined with economies of scale would be the winner. We wanted them to be radical."

The decision was taken to conduct the pitch as the market place has changed considerably in recent years and the airline was looking to review its agency model.

Ben Fennell, CEO, BBH London, says, "This win is a watershed moment for BBH. The model we have tabled for British Airways is future-facing, performance-driven and digitally focused. Our partners Hall & Moore bring complementary and different skills, but a completely shared vision for how 'To Fly. To Serve' can power British Airways' business and brand."