benchmark report
airline marketing
digital
old school safety
#vxsafetydance
AIR NEW ZEALAND
Air New Zealand is no stranger to producing safety videos – in fact the airline has pioneered the use of safety videos as online marketing campaign – with very successful results. Past Air New Zealand safety video hits include the Hobbitthemed ‘An Unexpected Briefing’ (which has now topped over 11 million views), ‘Fit to Fly’ starring fitness guru Richard Simmons, and more recently ‘The Bear Essentials’ featuring renowned television adventurer Bear Grylls. ANZ’s latest safety video/commercial is called ‘Safety Old School Style ’ and features America’s sweethear t comedienne and ‘Golden Girl’ Betty White plus a cast of golden oldies. Filmed entirely outside of New Zealand, the video, which acts as a pseudo-
NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE
VIRGIN AMERICA
infomercial promoting the activities of the ficitional care home does hint at promoting their Nor th American destination, Los Angeles. “Air New Zealand’s brand is all about liberating from the ordinary and our safety videos have proven a great way to showcase our unique personality to audiences of all ages around the world. In Betty we found the perfect par tner – she is renowned for being a little bit cheeky and with a career spanning 74 years, who better to learn survival tips from than the award-winning show business veteran?” says ANZ Head of Global Brand Development Jodi Williams. The video has already amassed just shy of 2 million views on YouTube in two weeks.
Safety videos commonly go viral when they offer something beyond the norm. Air New Zealand continues to come up with great themed videos, while Delta launches funny ‘holiday safety videos ’ every year, while Virgin’s group of airlines offer ‘cool’ animated safey messages, including Virgin America’s inaugural safety video , launched in 2009. On October 29th, Virgin America launched a brand new video to be shown onboard, which has a unique twist. The full safety message has been put to a song and the instructions are danced through the 5-minute soundtrack. Filmed by director Jon Chu (who also shot Justin Bieber’s ‘Never Say Never’ concer t f ilm), it stars a varied cast that includes American Idol contestants and Olympic champions.
The tongue-in-cheek video features 14 different dance styles and took 26 hours to f ilm on set, using a total of 36 dancers. To help promote the video through social media channels, the airline is auditioning for future safety videos from it’s followers, by asking potential stars to send in a 15-second instagram video of their moves using the tag #VXsafetydance . In the f irst 24 hours after the upload on YouTube, the safety video has generated nearly 500,000 views.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TRADITIONAL
