Viral video: How British Airways made flight spotting cool again

Every once in a while, hoardings - more often large and invasive, do something so different that they make consumers stand up and take notice. Here, we have one such example.

British Airways has unveiled a new campaign which features digital hoardings that 'interact' with their aircraft flying overhead; as the brand looks to remind customers how magical flying can be from the perspective of children.

The campaign, conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather, has placed hoardings in Chiswick and Piccadilly, London, to track British Airways' aircraft with the help of custom built surveillance technology. The #LookUp campaign is a part of the airline's new 'Magic of Flying' campaign.

Claimed as the world's first-of-its-kind campaign, the new British Airways #LookUp hoardings allow a simple, yet very effective method of conveying their message across.

Whenever a British Airways plane flies over the Heathrow flight path, it triggers the advertising creative revealing the image of a child pointing at it and running after it. The hoardings also show real-time data of the plane, including destination, flight number and a weather feed that reads the cloud height to ensure that the plane is visible.

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Now, BA's experiment isn't really a new idea. An advertisement in London last year let passers-by use their cell phones to drag away a man who was verbally abusing a woman in a video hoarding. Another advertisement in Dubai last year for SkyDive Dubai/Go Fast! showcased a skilled flyer taking off from the ground and soar around the hoarding, to the delight of the spectators.