Is British Airways’ period drama safety video winning over UK consumers?
Late July, British Airways launched a new safety video inspired by period drama entertainers like Bridgerton and Downton Abbey, following the success of last year's feature. YouGov Self-serve - our fully self-serviced survey platform – is an ideal tool for testing an early version of an ad or evaluating what consumers think of a campaign. We tested the overall reception of the safety video – which began playing in flights from 1 August onwards – whether the video has influenced consumers to fly with British Airways, whether consumers thought it suits the airline, and how the video made them feel.
The video resonated well with most respondents. Roughly two-thirds of respondents (64%) liked it overall, with a third liking it a lot (35%).
The video also appears to have some influence over people’s consideration of flying with British Airways. Nearly a quarter (25%) tell us they are more likely to consider the airline the next time they plan to take a flight as a result of seeing this safety video.
Despite its unusual approach, which melds together different British pop culture references, an overwhelming majority (79%) found the video somewhat or very easy to follow.
We also asked for people's general opinions on the message British Airways aimed to convey through the video. Most respondents thought the video was about the importance of safety instructions during flights (66%) and entertaining passengers while conveying essential safety information (63%).
In addition, nearly half of the respondents say that the video stands out from others (47%), while more than a third say the video suits British Airways well (37%) and it’s funny (34%).
A quarter of people told us that the video surprised them (25%), and they would watch the spot again (25%) - indicating a promising repeat view rate for the video. Around a fifth (21%) said the British Airways video made them happy.
Only around one in eight Britons say that the video does not reflect what they think about British Airways as a brand (11%), while 9% feel that the video was aimed at other people and not at them.
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Methodology: YouGov polled 1000 UK adults on August 26-27, 2024. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, political affiliation, education level and region. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.
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