QANTAS - WHERE TO NOW?

[balance]

I enjoyed reading your reply, Romulus, but I have to disagree. I believe the Qantas ad has missed, and missed badly. Maybe that was the idea? Management can say "look - we tried - but those nasty unions had done too much damage."

I found the Qantas ad frustrating, because it never "engaged" me.

The people in the ad that were looking up, could have been from virtually anywhere. They never really identified themselves as "Australian". Even at the end, you only associate them as Australian because they make up part of a flying kangaroo tail. I found myself saying "Uh-huh. And? Is that all?" There is no engagement. There is no story. Just a confused mish mash of strangers looking up.

It wasn't until the end, that you realise that it was for Qantas. And even then, I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few "y gen" that wouldn't identify the tail as being Qantas.

I found the music "funereal", rather than "aspirational". Don't get me wrong here, I didn't mind Daniel's effort, it was just wrong for the ad.

The idea of putting Australians names on the side of a Qantas aeroplane is a good one IMHO. It gives "ownership" to Aussies. Great idea! Do it bigger - get names in terminals, on trucks, wherever they need to put them so that they can attract people back to admire their name on something Qantas! They need to market it better though, with advertising that is relevant.

The American ad however, told me a story. It engaged me. It made me want to watch. Hell, I NEEDED to watch it. And I knew what they were talking about. I understood. I received the message.

I'm still confused about the message the Qantas ad was trying to convey. Were they trying to tell me that Qantas can be anywhere but still Australian? Were they trying to tell me to look up? Were they trying to tell me to fly Qantas? What?

I would also add that whilst airline employees enjoy advertising which shows themselves and their company, Joe Public does too. Being an airline employee is probably one of the most sought after jobs out there. It does attract attention from all walks of life. Until recently, Qantas was THE employer of choice. Everyone wanted to work at Qantas. Now? Not so much. If the public believes that Qantas is no longer a good employer, then they won't want to fly with Qantas either. Qantas therefore needs to re-establish the idea that it is a wonderful employer, with happy, engaged employees. That will help attract Australians back to their airline.

Qantas' major problem at this time is that whilst Australian's are very patriotic and they want Qantas, they will not pay for it. They will not put their money where their mouth is. And Qantas need to target this, or they will wither and die. And at the moment, this is where it seems our national carrier is heading, especially with advertising like this.

Just my 2c worth.