Airlines are always coming with clever advertisements and generally I find they fall flat. After all airlines generally aren’t fun, exciting, or inspiring. Airlines are essentially busses in the sky and there isn’t anything inherently entertaining about that. Considering the products they offer I imagine it’s difficult to come up with marketing content that people will actually enjoy. Luckily some airlines go the extra mile (no pun intended) and come up with some truly entertaining advertising campaigns.
Air New Zealand’s Marketing Team
In particular, I think Air New Zealand’s marketing is special. Almost everything I’ve seen from Air New Zealand makes me want to travel with them. That’s saying something considering they aren’t a OneWorld partner. The fact that I’m considering giving up nearly 14,000 miles with OneWorld means the airline’s marketing department is doing something right.
I like Air New Zealand’s content because it’s entertaining, but most importantly shows me why I should consider paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to choose them when traveling. For example, until I saw the below video I had no idea Air New Zealand handed out lollys on their flights.
This LollyRunner video is simply great. The humor is there and isn’t forced. It’s just a good piece of marketing that makes me think “maybe I’ll choose Air New Zealand.”
Meet Dave
The first advertisement from Air New Zealand I saw a few months back featured a duck named Dave. In the ad Dave explains why he’s chosen to fly with Air New Zealand instead of migrating himself. The video takes passengers through the economy cabin, premium economy cabin, and ultimately business class. Dave also explains a few of the features offered within the various cabins on Air New Zealand flights. All of this is done with a bit of humor tossed in. The end result is an advertisement I actually enjoy watching.
The above video is from February of 2017, but I still find it entertaining each time I see it. The ad is clever and funny without trying to hard. It also does an excellent job showing you why should chose Air New Zealand the next time you travel to the Southern Hemisphere.
Meet Pete
Air New Zealand followed up Dave’s video by introducing another character, Pete. Pete is a Kiwi (national bird of NZ) who can’t fly on his own since he doesn’t have wings. The video begins a bit more dramatic than Dave’s, but quickly transitions to the same light-hearted humor. I especially enjoyed the part where Pete mentions all the excellent food America has introduced to the world.
While I think Dave’s video does a better job showing off the various cabins offered by Air New Zealand the above video is still good. Either way I’m glad to see Air New Zealand coming up with clever and entertaining ways to show off their award winning airline.
Final Thoughts
I love what Air New Zealand is doing with these advertisements. It’s nice to see an airline bring some life into their promotional material. Even better, they successfully show potential customers each cabin option to help inform consumers. It truly is a fresh marketing campaign and one that I’m obsessed with. I mean after all, take a look at how terrible American’s marketing materials are.
The above video tells me nothing about the cabin experience or what to expect. In fact after spending a few minutes searching American’s youtube channel I couldn’t find any videos highlighting the airline’s hard product.
Perhaps it’s because I’m a Chicago based traveler OneWorld, but I find that Air New Zealand is somewhat underrated. Additionally, I’m biased because of my familiarity with Qantas when trying to plan trips down under. It seems from the above videos and various reviews I’ve read that Air New Zealand offers an excellent product in any cabin. All in all, I think I’m going to have to fly with them when I plan my future trip to Auckland.
Note: I just learned how to embed YouTube videos in my posts. Sorry if I went overboard.
Featured Image Courtesy of Air New Zealand
