Qantas Launches ‘Feels Like Home’ Campaign

Seven months in the making, Qantas has revealed a new soul-stirring brand campaign called, ’Feels like home’.

The campaign is based on the theme of what the airline has been doing for Australians around the globe for 94 years – ‘bringing people home’.

http://youtu.be/16RhgfA662k

The campaign, produced by Lawrence Creative Strategy, is highly sentimental and shares the stories of five actual Qantas passengers and their journey home to Australia where they’re welcomed by loved ones.

One such story is that of a young woman making an emotional return to Sydney after a year abroad in London.

Qantas London

Group executive brand and market for Qantas, Olivia Wirth said it’s a feeling many Australians can relate to, and one she recalls herself. She said: “I’ve been there too, I know what it’s like, when you’re sitting on the tube thinking ‘I know i’m going to miss London but I want to go home’.”

The homecoming stories are told against the musical backdrop of Randy Newman’s song ‘Feels Like Home’ sung by 20-year-old Australian singer, Martha Marlow.

Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce said: “We often hear that seeing the Qantas red tail at an airport, or stepping on board a Qantas aircraft, makes Australians feel like they’re halfway home already. That’s the spirit we wanted to capture.”

Wirth said ‘now’ is the right time to launch such a campaign. “We’re right in the lead up to Christmas and we’ve had a few challenging years. We’ve put a lot of investment into retail advertising and it’s the right time [for audiences] to start re-engaging with Qantas.”

“It’s important for our employees too, so they feel proud to work for the national carrier,” she added.

Wirth didn’t shy away from admitting the airline has had a ‘tough’ time in recent times and that some sections of the company have “experienced low morale”. In August this year, the airline posted a $2.84 billion loss – the worst in its 94 year history.

“Timing is very important. You need to understand the environment around you,” Wirth said about launching the campaign, which comes two years after it’s last brand campaign, ‘You’re The Reason We Fly’.

Despite Qantas’ recent issues, Wirth insists customer experience levels are at an all-time high and the new brand campaign is “about having a different kind of conversation”.

When asked about how the airline would measure the success of the campaign, Wirth said: “It’s not a short-term investment, it’s a longer term one, and it will ultimately be around the relationship and engagement with the Australian public and our customers.

“From a business perspective, we have a strong brand and that impacts on our yield and the tickets we can sell so obviously there is a business driver [for this campaign], but more importantly it’s about investing in the brand and making sure that it’s continued to be seen as the Australian icon that it is.

“We obviously have targets in which we’ll measure the success but we’re not going to give away our strategy,” Wirth quipped.

Wirth said the iconinc song, ‘I Still Call Australia Home’ will remain as the anthem of the national carrier. Executive creative director and copywriter for the campaign, Neil Lawrence said: “The song has been going for 17 years. Creatively it’s really hard to re-invent.”

The campaign will air for the first time this Sunday 9 November across television, digital, outdoor, cinema and social platforms. A series of ads will be rolled out in the coming months around Australia.

Credits:

Creative Agency: Lawrence Creative Strategy
Executive Creative Director & Copywriter: Neil Lawrence
Creative Directors: Chris Mitchell, Geoff Corbett
Client Service Directors: Tanya Jones, Fleur Marks
Agency Producer: George Saada
Production: Exit Films
Director: Mark Malloy
Producer: Martin Box
DOP: Chayse Irwin
Editors: The Editors: Stewart Reeves, Peter Barton, Dave Lawrence
Post Production: Alt VFX
Colourist: Ben Eagleton
Music: Mark Rivett, Ramesh Sathiah @ Song Zu
Composer: Randy Newman
Vocal Artist: Martha Marlow

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