Qatar Airways & FC Barca Latest To Link Sponsorship & In-Flight Safety Video

FC Barcelona shirt sponsor Qatar Airways has jumped on the sponsorship-led in flight safety video bandwagon with a soccer squad video developed in harness with agency 180 Amsterdam.

This flight safety sponsorship campaign, which is also part of the country’s longer-term 2022 World Cup preparation, draws parallels between preparing for a flight and preparing to take to the pitch for a big match.

Blending start player power with humour to maintain passenger attention, it begins by linking clearing the locker room of stray clothing before a game and clearing baggage from the aisles before take-off and then continues along the theme with other parallels such as spectators at a game demonstrating how to fashion a seatbelt and fans reaching for oxygen as Barcelona star Gerard Pique walks into airport arrivals.

Shot around Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium, the film also carries the sponsorship tagline: ‘Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona. A team that unites the world’.

The film is posted on the airline’s YouTube channel,

while a supporting ‘Behind The Scenes’ video is hosted on the airlines website at http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/offers/barcelona-safety-video.page?CID=SMALL408480

The 180 Amsterdam team working on the initiative was led by executive creative directors Dan Treichel and Dave Canning, creative director Adam Noel, creatives Ed Ryder and Luke Stone, producer Bethany Papenbrock and account manager Jim O’Regan.

Comment

This slightly quirky initiative has generated an impressive 9,165,509 YouTube views since it was posted online (and countless more onboard views too).

It follows on from last February’s Qatar Airlines and FC Barcelona ‘FCB Holiday’ ad campaign fronted by Messi, Suarez, Neymar and Pique (also by 180 Amsterdam).

Which also came with a player-led campaign launch event.

As well as other Qatar Airlines and FC Barca initiatives – such as a player-fronted plane livery unveiling event and film to promote the relationship in 2014

Incidentally, Messi himself is also well known as the star of several soccer-led spot for rival carrier Turkish Airlines – such as this 2014 competitive commercial with Didier Drogba.

Qatar is just one of several airlines to have cottoned onto the idea that safety videos can be used as a marketing channel and a sponsorship activation platform.

Indeed, in our opinion the Qatar Airlines/FC Barca video doesn’t quite match up to the best ssports sponsorship safety spots from 2015 – such as Emirates and Benfica’s brilliant on-pitch safety stunt towards the end of last year (see previous case study),

and Air New Zealand and the All Blacks fun and funky ‘Safety Defenders’ Men In Black parody for the 2015 Rugby World Cup (see previous case study).

Links

Qatar Airlines Website:

http://bit.ly/flyqatar

Qatar Airlines Twitter:

http://twitter.com/qatarairways

Qatar Airlines Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/qatarairways

Qatar Airlines Instagram:

http://instagram.com/qatarairways

Qatar Airlines Google+:

http://plus.google.com/+qatarairways

Qatar Airlines Press Release: