TheDesignAir –Does Qantas’ latest safety video spell the end of the tourism-based trend?
Last week Qantas launched its latest safety video, replacing the much loved centenary version. Following the virtually commonplace ‘tourism’ based approach to safety videos, the Qantas one doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before. But the full length version at close to 10 minutes doesn’t do much to win over the hearts and minds of consumers.
Even the more condensed version for the 787 sits at a hefty 6 minutes, and that’s just in one language. This makes for a lovely cinematographic piece celebrating the wonders of today’s world well travelled, but it does little to concisely impart the safety features of the 787 and the scripting is perhaps a bit to laissez-faire. For example, non-english language speakers might find the phrase “there’s a red tag, and a mouthpiece for inflation” confusing, as there’s no emphasis to ‘pull’ on the tag to inflate either visually or verbally.
This is on top of the fact Qantas features many destinations far and wide, beyond Qantas’ own network, or even bookable on Qantas’ own website. Imagine seeing a place on the safety video and thinking ‘i’d love to go there next year’ only to find you can’t with the very same airline.
With a sea of movie, dance, geographic and comedy themes littering these safety videos, the once impressive Lord of The Rings safety videos from Air New Zealand have become as repetitive as last week’s TikTok memes. In fact, there’s something to be said about the recent hull loss of JAL a few weeks ago, and the positive news of the immediate evacuation of every life. JAL’s safety video in comparison is clear, concise and just a few minutes long.
We had been a fan of these videos in the past, and certainly striking a balance between creating and losing attention for frequent travellers is hard, but now is most likely the time for the industry to take a fresh look at how to deliver the safety information in a clearer, concise, engaging way that reinforces the critical safety messaging.
But that doesn’t mean we think airlines should do away with cinematic showcases of their destinations either. Boarding ‘nesting time’ is one of the most critical attention phases for passengers on an aircraft. It’s when passengers rifle through the safety card, duty free catalogues and inflight magazines. In fact, Ink – the world’s leading travel media company – states that on average 88% of passengers still pick up an inflight magazine. It’s probably a similar statistic for IFE, and during this boarding process, airlines could be showcasing a fantastic destination video, either showcasing the destination that aircraft is flying to, or select destinations from the network.
Ric Stockfis, Ink’s director strategy and innovation says, “more than ever, we’re working closer with our partners to deliver rich, inspirational destination content that brings their universe to life in technicolour across a variety of digital and print platforms”
It’s more important than ever for airlines to build brand loyalty, impart information and educate passengers on the brand’s product and services, and as such airlines should be embracing custom destination content more than ever, but not intertwined with safety information. These hedonistic travel homages deserve centre stage and should be front and centre on an airline’s IFE and other inspirational touch-points throughout the passenger journey.
As for safety videos, how will these become more compelling? Filming techniques, music and new animation trends can bring as much creativity to the screen without the need to tenuously link the safety features of an aircraft to the savannahs, deserts, jungles and seas of our world.
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