Speaking at the TNS Connected Life conference, Air New Zealand’s senior social media manager Cassie Roma advised brands to take the bait if the online community is urging them to have a bit of fun. The moral of this story, says Roma, is that if somebody is begging you to be sassy with them, be sassy.
Browsing: Air New Zealand
Bouquets for Civil Defence, Air New Zealand, V, Land Rover and National Foundation for the Deaf this week.
Air New Zealand lodged itself firmly into the glow of the upcoming Rugby World Cup by launching a new safety video featuring the All Blacks depicted in a Men in Black setting. The five-minute clip shows chief protagonist Richie McCaw and his sidekick Dan Carter walking into the Men in Black building for a meeting with Agent Zed (played by actor Rip Torn), who instructs them to keep Air New Zealand passengers safe. What ensues is a safety rap performed by Stan Walker with some reasonably impressive supporting vocals by Israel Dagg.
Steinlager, Air New Zealand, ANZ, ASB and Cancer Society take centre stage this week.
Air New Zealand has released a new brand campaign, called ‘Where to next?’ with quite a different, more emotive approach from its safety videos, online content and recent TVCs. The airline says this campaign will be around for “several years” and this is merely phase one.
Advertising can be a bit like a mirror, or perhaps more like the Mirror of Erised (cue cheesy reference) from Harry Potter where an idealised version of ourselves is reflected back at us. When targeted well it can be so pervasive that we come to think of advertising scenarios as being normal “Of course I should be wearing those shoes”, “Clearly I need that marble bench top in my kitchen”. Advertisers try to reflect our relationships too, marketing to couples and families. But wouldn’t it be strange to see advertising bypass us, for us to see ads embodying relationships or representations of people that don’t reflect our reality. For the reported 10 to 15 percent of New Zealanders that make up our LGBT community, it has been like this for a long time. But things are changing, the world is slowly but surely progressing, and so is the advertising world along with it. Here are a few examples of advertising that includes this community, and why it would be of interest for advertisers to continue doing so, particularly in light of gay marriage increasingly becoming legalised in more countries.
First there was a snappy saltwater crocodile named Brian and now The Co-operative Bank has unleashed another wild animal through Y&R, Jeff the snake in its latest TVC as part of a running campaign ‘It’s in their nature’ which urges people to make the switch to its service.
A pat on the back for The Co-operative Bank, Air New Zealand and Farmstrong.
Air New Zealand’s most recent safety video was all about surfing. But the wetsuits are being swapped for woolly onesies and, following on from last year’s efforts to lure Australians (mostly) to the now well-covered slopes, the airline and a few of its friends have created a beautiful timelapse video that focuses on the thrill snow lovers get from the change of seasons.
Last year, when Air New Zealand took its safety video franchise to the beaches of the Cook Islands, the move was slammed by some quarters of the online community for perpetuating gender stereotypes by featuring Sports Illustrated swimsuit models in their bikinis. The airline has now returned to the beach for its latest safety video. But this time the clip focuses on athletes—both men and women—who are shown weaving and carving their way along the curling waves of Piha, Raglan, Malibu and the Gold Coast.
A protracted applause for Tower Insurance, Air New Zealand and Westpac this week.
Last week, Colmar Brunton and Wright Communications’ released the first annual Corporate Reputation Index, with Air New Zealand, Z, Fisher & Paykel, Toyota and AA Insurance coming out on top. And those on the list prove that good communication is integral to business success, says Nikki Wright.
Air New Zealand has run the full marketing gamut for its 75th anniversary celebrations, from the Te Papa exhibition (and associated travelling plane nose), quirky inflight experiences, social media giveaways, big discounts and plenty of archival footage put to very good use in its advertising (although, disappointingly, it’s removed its 50 Cent tribute video). Much of that has been quite whimsical, which is in keeping with the brand values. But it’s wrapped all that activity up and tried to hit the audience right in the feels with a 60 second brand ad that shows how the history of the airline is inextricably linked to the history of the nation.
A regal curtsey for ANZ, Fly Buys, The Salvation Army and Air New Zealand this week.
Air New Zealand celebrated its 75th anniversary yesterday by holding various competitions and promotions, including a mid-air game show, a chance for customers to win back their fare and a themed flight across the Tasman. PLUS: a gallery of old Air NZ ads.
Gold stars for Monteith’s, Air New Zealand, Burger Burger and TVNZ this week.
The Air New Zealand lollies are something of an institution in this country and many a Kiwi kid has had the pleasure of delivering them at the end of a flight. Now it’s planning on adding a new rugby-themed flavour to the roster so it played a bit of an early April Fool’s day prank on a few All Blacks in the form of a taste test.
Despite a rocky start and questions over commercial influence on the government, the $10 million strategic marketing partnership between Warner Bros and Tourism New Zealand (with Air New Zealand also along for the ride) seems to have done the business, with The Hobbit trilogy—and the Lord of the Rings movies before it—getting the country into the minds of numerous foreign moviegoers and helping to increase the number of visitors to our shores. But we could always do with a few more, so it’s released the third and final instalment of its ‘Home of Middle-earth’ series.
Air New Zealand (x2), Westpac, Toyota and William Hill all get giant cheques this week.
Air New Zealand has announced it has dropped its long-time Airpoints partner BNZ to team up with Westpac, saying the partnership would result in better earn rates for customers and BNZ saying the relationship was no longer a good fit for the bank. So is the lure of ‘free’ travel enough to make customers switch?
Air New Zealand has launched a new ad campaign to promote its mobile app and, like a combination of the most interesting man in the world and Cadbury’s airport dancer, it aims to show that using the airline’s tech makes flying an absolute breeze.
To highlight the fact they have over 2000 domestic flights each week, Air New Zealand enlisted the help of some local celebrities for their latest spot.
We asked some stalwarts a simple question. Here’s what Mike Tod, chief marketing and customer officer at Air New Zealand, had to say.
Google has released the leaderboard of the ten ads that were the most popular among Kiwi viewers over the course of 2014. And this list, which is determined through an algorithm that factors in paid views, organic views and view rate (how much of a video people chose to watch), provides an interesting glimpse at some of the key viewing trends in the online space over the past year.
Throughout winter, Air New Zealand, Host Sydney and Diaries Downunder created a few entertaining snow-related clips that played on the ‘Meanwhile, in …’ meme. And the airline has continued that idea for Christmas by giving the children of Portobello on the Otago Peninsula a little surprise.
Air New Zealand’s latest Hobbit-themed safety video topped YouTube’s most-watch list for the month of October. The clip, which was only posted 22 October racked up a total of 11.6 million views over the final nine days of the month.
Garden emperors, tomorrow’s basketball stars, Hobbit pilots, and regular Kiwis make an appearance in the latest edition of the weekly TVC rundown.
The three-year epic journey of collaboration that Air New Zealand and The Hobbit series have undertaken is finally being concluded with a blockbuster of a safety video filmed by Taika Waititi that features cameos from Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Dean O’Gorman (Fili the Dwarf), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast) and Sir Peter Jackson. PLUS: how the campaign has impacted visitor arrivals.
Good stuff from New World, MasterCard and Air New Zealand this week.
Air New Zealand is crazy about rugby. And, given the number of Aussies that come to New Zealand for the snow, it’s also quite a big fan of skiing. Now, with the help of Host Sydney and Diaries Downunder, it’s combined the two in spectacular fashion as part of its online video campaign ‘Meanwhile in… New Zealand’.