Singapore Airlines - New Safety Video

Singapore Airlines - New Safety Video

Almost every issue now features a different safety video from an airline. For example, in August we talked about the British Airways video, where big names from TV and film were enlisted to take part.

This month it’s the turn of Singapore Airlines, which in the words of Australian marketing magazine Mumbrella, may have produced “the most epic in-flight safety video of all time.”

Why does Mumbrella think Singapore Airlines deserves that accolade? Because it showcases different panoramic locations in Singapore. In the video, cabin crew member Elizabeth Quek takes a tour of Boat Quay, Haji Lane, Capitol Theatre and the iconic Gardens by the Bay - to name a few.

Meanwhile tech industry publication Mashable gushes that the Singapore Airlines video is “the most beautiful we’ve seen yet”, predicting that “lots more tourists” will be flocking to the spots in the video once it’s aired more widely . Here at SimpliFlying we’ll take a more nuanced view on it. Is it beautiful? Without a doubt. Is it original? No, a number of other airlines have used stunning imagery of their home country as the backdrop to their safety video.

For example, in May we featured Qantas who produced a follow-up to their 2016 video where “ordinary” Australians (as opposed to celebrities or cabin crew) demonstrated different safety features while iconic locations such as Sydney Harbour were in the background.

Similarly, Lebanese airline MEA has a safety video that sees cabin crew and dancers, in different areas of the country from Pigeon Rock to the Temple of Baalbeck.

Aviation blogger One Mile at a Time takes a similar view, calling the video “classy but unoriginal” - “Singapore Airlines is recycling a concept that many other airlines have used, where the video doesn’t take place on the plane, but rather highlights the local features of a destination.”

Does it matter? Not really, as it meets three main objectives. First of all as a marketing tactic, it has already generated Singapore Airlines a stack of positive press coverage. Secondly, the fact that it has high production values means that people will watch it.

Thirdly, it encourages people to think about SIN as much more than a stopover point. It gets across the idea that the city state has a lot to see and do in its own right and that it is worth breaking up your journey there.

Key Take-Away

Creative” safety videos are now becoming the norm rather than the exception. Indeed, it’s now almost unusual to see a major carrier using an ‘old school’ video that concentrates on the safety features and nothing else. This is why at the recent SimpliFlying Awards, we introduced a safety video category (won by British Airways) for the first time ever.

When making a marketing-led safety video, it is worth considering what you want to convey. Do you want to showcase your hone country, which is what Singapore Airlines, Qantas and MEA did? Do you want to do something quirky and creative, as was the case with Turkish Airlines and their ‘magic on board’ video. Or indeed do you want to do something movies related, which Air New Zealand did last year when it recruited Anna Faris and Rhys Darby. Or - perhaps there is an execution that hasn’t been thought of before!