The Inspiration Behind Air New Zealand’s Better Way to Fly Campaign
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APEX Insight: Air New Zealand has successfully applied what worked best from its Better Way to Fly videos targeting Australian customers, to a new campaign aimed towards the North American market.
Air New Zealand’s Better Way to Fly campaign videos feature Dave the Goose and Pete the Kiwi. Both birds enjoy the best of what the airline has to offer on board, with the videos focusing on passenger experience features including the airline’s unique Skycouch seating, in-flight dining and IFE. The storytelling format also includes destination content, highlighting the beauty of New Zealand.
APEX Media asked Air New Zealand’s general manager of Global Brand & Content Marketing, Jodi Williams, to explain the inspiration for these campaigns and how the popularity of Dave’s adventures led the airline to loan Kiwi Pete some wings.
“The challenge that we faced in the Australian market is that Australians were familiar with Air New Zealand as a preferred airline for travel from Australia to New Zealand however, when it came to our long-haul services to North and South America, only four out of ten Australians realized that we fly beyond New Zealand,” said Williams. “This presented us with an opportunity to unlock our potential in the market and to establish Air New Zealand as a familiar and accepted global airline by the Australian traveller.”
As a migratory bird, Dave the Goose fit this campaign brief. Humor played an important role too, in keeping with Air New Zealand’s tongue-in-cheek campaigns over the years. For greater approachability in the Australian market, Dave was voiced by Australian actor Bryan Brown. “It was important to be able to inject the humour that Air New Zealand is known for, yet integrate rational but persuasive messages,” said Williams.
Dave’s travels proved profitable for the airline, delivering an uplift in both brand measures and bookings. While the Dave campaign was initially dreamt up as part of a global communications strategy, a review of the North American market in particular highlighted a need to feature a mascot which could play a double-role as a national icon. “We felt Pete the Kiwi, a native bird of New Zealand, was perfect for this campaign,” Williams explained. “It’s a strong link to the country.” Pete is voiced by New Zealand actor Sam Neill.
https://youtu.be/8oRJ2wFXZr0
Air New Zealand’s switch to a local bird seems to have gone down very well with audiences. Dave the Goose charmed many, accumulating over 2 million views in a series of videos produced over the past year, but at just one month after his worldwide premiere, Pete has already earned over 1.5 million views on YouTube.