Page 50 - AdNews Magazine May-June 2022

Feature
reflecting contemporary culture through some of our most talented Australians, and paying respects to the pioneering past in a way that looked forward to the future. It was a huge undertaking.
Collaboration was fundamental to pulling off the epic vision we had in mind. Our production part- ners Rabbit and director Kiku Ohe honed and crafted that epic 3 min- ute journey, weaving all those ele- ments together beautifully with DP Jeremy Rouse. The passion and dedication they brought to this project were truly phenomenal.
The Qantas team worked closely with The Monkeys and Rabbit throughout the entire pro- cess, giving us access to their archives, to Longreach, a 747 and hundreds of wonderful and oblig- ing staff. This film wasn’t just for Qantas, it was about them, so we wanted them to feel really proud of what we were creating together.
In launching the film post pan- demic, once we were finally reu- nited, the lyric of ‘someday we’ll all be together once more’ took on new significance, and so we turned it into our final message. The airline has been through a lot over 100 years and coming out the other side of the pandemic to
Qantas is part
of our story as a nation, it’s part
of our collective experience of travel and broadening horizons, from our first trips abroad
to finally travelling again today..
Barbara Humphries
connect Australians with the world again was another triumphant moment in the airline’s story.
People say it brings on emotion/nostalgia. Planned?
Absolutely. Emotion is the number one reason Australians fly with Qantas. Qantas is part of our story as a nation, it’s part of our collective experience of travel and broadening horizons, from our first trips abroad to finally travelling again today.
While the commercial was created to stir up that emotion, the power of ‘I still call Australia home’ itself is what people bring to it – it has so many personal associations over the years for travellers and Qantas staff alike, that’s the real magic of it.
Hearing Elliot Wheeler’s beautiful arrangement of the song as the film came together, I’d be lying if I didn’t say we all got a bit emotional ourselves.
Is it designed for people to rush to the airport and jump a plane? Or is it more branding?
The two go together. Stirring up national pride, connecting us to the spirit of travel and the spirit of Australia, they are all fundamental to why people choose to fly with Qantas.
The last two years have been challenging for all of us and that desire to get back to travel is felt by the Qantas staff too. It was our job in launching this ad to help inspire Australians to get back out there again, to help Qantas move into the next chapter of their story. And that’s what we’re seeing right now. Bookings are now well above pre covid averages which is really wonderful.
How long did it take to make?
Our Sydney and Melbourne team were first briefed in 2018 and the film is finally out in March 2022. So many have been involved in this process from end to end, from Qantas staff, marketing, ground crew and airline team, our agency team spanning planning, business, creative and pro- duction, choirs and musicians, director Kiku and production team, ath- letes, celebrities and ambassadors, Bangarra dance group, state tourism bodies, kids and teachers from Longreach primary school. The credit list is long and numerous.
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