Few national airlines engender quite the same sense of public ownership as Australia’s flagship carrier, Qantas. Even though it has become increasingly pri- vately owned in recent years, the airline has encouraged a sense of ownership through its nationalistic advertisements, and its sponsorship of Australian athletes and musicians. Music plays a key role in communicating this patriotism and nostalgia, becoming the conduit for the emotional link between the Qantas brand and the consumer. Qantas is positioned in the marketplace as a premium full service airline and the following analysis demonstrates how music is not only used to encourage an emotional connection and brand loyalty but to differentiate between the Qantas brand and its subsidiary brand Jetstar, which operates in the leisure and value-based market.
Over many years, Qantas has strategically used music in its efforts to position itself as “Australia’s” airline. The Qantas “I Still Call Australia Home” campaign began in 1997, with the last advertisement created in 2009. In addition to early campaigns featuring the Australian singers James Blundell, James Morrison and Kate Ceberano, the campaign is widely recognised for its long association with the Australian Girls’ Choir and National Boys Choir. Each TV advertisement features Peter Allen’s “I still call Australia Home”, which has come to be considered a pseudo-national anthem to most Australians.
The “I Still Call Australia Home” campaign featured:
• Four renewed TV campaigns, strategically released to coincide with key sport- ing events such as the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, Malaysian Com- monwealth Games and Australia’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup (Qantas 2012f).
• A behind the scenes documentary of the making of the TV advertisement screened on commercial TV.
• Each of the TV advertisements consisted of these commonalities:
– Imagery of multi-cultural kids as a symbol of Australia’s future, freedom, youth, and as explorers;
– Depiction of various picturesque locations in Australia and around the world; – The “Spirit of Australia” slogan;
– The flying kangaroo logo;
– The Australian Girls’ Choir and National Boys Choirs singing in the adver- tisement and doing cross-promotional performances in various countries; – The use of an iconic piece of music by Australian singer/song-writer Peter
Allen, “I still call Australia home”.
Peter Allen’s “I still call Australia Home” is now synonymous with Australia
and the Qantas brand (Table 2). The music is undeniably Australian, patriotic,
nostalgic and sentimental and the music has successfully tapped in to the expatriate psyche and a multicultural Australia, linking Australians living at home with those
Table 2 Qantas’ “I Still Call Australia Home campaign” and music connections Role of the music (Keller2003)
Awareness (music assists in getting consumer attention and enhancing brand awareness)
“Instantly recognisable no matter where you hear it QANTAS have an ad campaign that would actually draw people from other rooms to watch adverts as soon as they heard the music so they could fantasise about the latest offering”
Brand attributes/benefits (music support brand elements)
“Certainly a song to raise your spirits and pride in country. Somebody should SERIOUSLY work on making this the National Anthem for Australia”
“I think that the original music says “RIO” instead of “ROME”? Because RIO (so far) is not on the itinerary of QANTAS, the commercial staff decided to change the music”
Benefits Focuses on building the image of Qantas as
Australia’s airline, not on product attributes
Images Logo of the flying kangaroo
Multi-cultural Australian children – freedom, innocence, the future, adventure, youth, race Picturesque global and national landscapes “Thank-you all, I do love this painted aircraft”
Thoughts “Proud to be Australian”
Feelings (music creates positive emotional response)
“I am teary whenever I hear this song(. . .) Go Australia!!! I think this should be our national anthem. I had this on my IPOD as I travelled my former homeland of Vietnam listening to it every time I got homesick. It shouldn’t matter what our ethnic origins are or where we are in the world just to know that we have a home waiting for us when we get back!” “I also love this song. It sends shivers down my
spine. I wish it could be the national anthem” Attitudes (music encourages positive attitudes
towards and consumption of the product)
“I wish this was our national anthem. And that’s why I fly Qantas”
Experiences “I was in the last shot on the second ad at Uluru
and I was part of the “core” group of faces on the third ad, I was flown all over the world but the most memorable shot was definitely standing on top of the Sydney opera house” “I was in the tail of the kangaroo. Ahhhhh
memories(. . .)”
“When I landed in Sydney from USA they played this and it reminded me how much pride we have as a country and how lucky we are”
travelling or living overseas. However, as previously mentioned (Thompson et al.
2006), when a brand is viewed as transgressing or abandoning its emotional
promises, formerly loyal customers can create a significant backlash. More recently, Qantas operations have increasingly moved into Asia, along with associated Australian job cuts and potential wage losses with the company now proclaiming that “We will always be proud that the vast majority of our operations
are based in Australia” (Knight 2011). This shift in operations has exposed the
Qantas brand strategy of being Australian to potential criticism, a sentiment reflected in a parody of the Qantas song on television by the Australian comedy
team the Chasers called “I still call Australia 51 % home” (The Chaser 2007)
(Table3).
4.2.1 “You Are the Reason We Fly”
It is not surprising then that the current Qantas brand campaign, launched in 2012, has shifted emphasis away from the ‘I still call Australia home’ theme song. It also features more social media than previous campaigns:
• Prior to the release of the TV ad, commuters were invited to use a mobile phone app that operated screens in Sydney’s Town Hall stations that interconnected commuter’s mobile devices to having their picture and name featured on the
Table 3 Comparison of lyrics
Lyrics from the Chasers “I Still Call Australia 51 % Home”
Lyrics from Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home”
I have been to cities that never close down from New York to Rio, and old London town, but no matter how far our offshore jobs go. The share price is sure to grow
I’ve been to cities that never close down from New York to Rome and old London town, but no matter how far or how wide I roam I still call Australia home
Good bye Australia we’re moving abroad replacing Neil Perry with a chef from Lahore and the inflight entertainment will be in Mandarin more Kung Fu and less Kath and Kim
I’m always travelling, I love being free, and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea, but my heart lies waiting over the foam. I still call Australia home All the Qantas workers fearful for their jobs,
Please head to the Centrelink line, ‘Cos after the take over you’re over, Only foreign girls can shag Ralph Fiennes
All the sons and daughters spinning’round the world, away from their family and friends, but as the world gets older and colder, it’s good to know where your journey ends And some day this choir will be outsourced too
Qantas will be called the Asian kangaroo And we will thank the cheap labour when our profits have grown
But someday we’ll all be together once more when all of the ships come back to the shore. Then I realise something I’ve always known I’ll still call Australia. . . I still call Australia
I’ll still call Australia. . . I still call Australia I’ll still call Australia 51 % home I still call Australia home
screen. These images were then used in the finale of the TV advertisement where
all the faces form the final image of the flying kangaroo logo (Qantas2012e).
‘Cause-related marketing’ was also used where for each photo uploaded $5 was donated to Mission Australia to the value of $100,000.
• A TV advertisement (Qantas2012d):
– Images of the coastline, cities, suburbia, country, every day people from an aerial perspective. No images of destinations overseas or any product at all. – “You’re the reason we fly” slogan.
• Digital image of Australians making up the logo of the flying kangaroo at the finish of the ad. This was followed by a promotion to find the people in the digital
photo pixilation (Qantas2012e).
• A behind the scenes making of the ad (Qantas2012c)
• “You’re the reason we fly” Olympic ad • A tale of two letters documentary:
– Outlines the changing of their slogan from “Spirit of Australia” to “Spirit of
Australians” (Qantas2012a)
• A chance for ordinary Australians to have their names emblazoned on the sides of two new planes
• Music composed and performed by ARIA award winner Daniel Johns and written specifically for the TV advertisement. A behind the scenes documentary
of Daniel Johns creating the music (Qantas2012b).
The commissioning of award-winning Australian singer and songwriter Daniel Johns to create the music demonstrates how Qantas wants to continue to be seen as sponsoring successful Australians and supporting the arts. Johns views the com- mission as an honour and states “I wanted to make something that sounded international because Qantas is representing Australia. I want it to sound big”
(Qantas2012b).
Replacing “I still call Australia Home”, with the new music titled “Atlas”, is a significant departure from previous advertising campaigns. The new Qantas brand aims “to modernise its appeal to the masses and put customers at the forefront of
their campaign” (Qantas2012a). The concept of putting customers at the forefront
of their campaign was expressive and meaningful. The campaign attempted to exploit an emotional appeal in reconnecting with its customers, rather than opting for a rational and symbolic reason why customers fly. “Clearly the music is critical
in establishing an emotional connection” (Qantas2012c). The selection of Johns,
who is well known in Australia to both Gen X and Y, reflects this shift to modernise its appeal to the masses. The music is simultaneously classic and contemporary and is performed by Australian Chamber musicians with Johns on piano and includes electronic samples. The music is emotive and leaves the viewer in a state of anticipation. There are no words to the song. More importantly, there is no mention of Australia. This reflects the repositioning of the brand to being about Australians and not about Australia the place. “It’s less about the place and much more about
Table 4 Qantas and music connections Role of the music (Keller2003)
Awareness (music assists in getting consumer attention and enhancing brand awareness)
Relies on the fact that Australian singer/ songwriter Daniel John’s (formerly from Silverchair fame and an Australian ARIA award winning song writer) is well known to a certain demographic. There may have been some preliminary interest created by using Daniel Johns
The music is new so there is no brand awareness associated with the music
“It’s great, but it doesn’t have that memorable sentimental feeling that the “Still call Australia home” campaign had. For that reason it won’t stay in people’s minds”
Brand attributes/benefits (music support brand elements)
The music is a fusion of traditional and contemporary. There is no mention of Australia in the song, it is purely instrumental The new music titled “Atlas” is an original
commissioned work by an Australian singer/ songwriter
“Well at least Qantas commissioned Australian people for this instead of their usual behaviour of giving work to overseas people”
Images Flying kangaroo logo
Aerial view of Australians going about everyday activities in suburbia, on the coastline, country and in the city
No pictures of the product. No pictures of places to visit like previous ads
Thoughts “Failure. It is more down-lifting than up-lifting.
Bad for an airline”
“The “anthem” makes no mention of Australia” “I was waiting for him to start singing. Not
impressed. Qantas is supposed to be Australian. Where is Australia in that?” Feelings (music creates positive emotional
response)
“Not at all impressed! I actually felt like bursting into tears as I listened to it, as there is no ‘joie de vivre’ about it at all! Whereas, whenever I heard Peter Alan singing “I Still Call Australia Home’ I would smile, and silently sing along” “Not as exciting or engaging as previous music” “Chilling, eerie”
Attitudes (music encourages positive attitudes towards and consumption of the product)
“Great instrumental, but nowhere is there a mention of Australia! At least with Peter Allen’s song, it was not only called “I still call Australia Home”, but it mentions the “word” Australia, so that everyone around the world who understands the language, knows what the
culture and peoples” (Qantas2012c). The music has not been so well received with many Australians having a hard time leaving “Still call Australia Home” behind and viewing “Atlas” as an Australian anthem. Many comments online reflect the view that Qantas’ may have distanced itself too far from the “Australianness” associated with the music of the previous campaign, and may have in fact have alienated some Australians in the process. Any customer engagement is the result of influencing the public to take part in the current campaign, rather than providing any long-term value towards maintaining its viability as Australia’s national carrier
(Table4).
4.2.2 Jetstar and Powderfinger
As mentioned previously, Jetstar forms an integral part of the Qantas Group’s two- brand strategy, and has an Australian domestic operation and international long haul operations as Australia’s low fare carrier. The airline’s colours of orange, silver and black were chosen for their bold, modern feel and its livery is based on the Southern Cross. The orange star in the logo represents the smallest star of the Cross, Epsilon Crucis, the only five point star in the Southern Cross as it is represented on the Australian flag. From the beginning, Jetstar’s brand positioning, as reflected in more casual staff uniforms and humorous advertisements featuring Australian comedian Magda Szubanski, has sought to differentiate itself from the Qantas Brand. Its recent alliance with Powderfinger, an award winning Australian rock band considered to have defined the soundtrack of a generation is a good example of brand alignment with a musical act. In September and October 2010, Jetstar became the official airline of Powderfinger’s ‘Sunsets’ farewell tour. In what
Table 4 (continued)
Role of the music (Keller2003)
song is about! If you did not see the film clip which was with Daniel John’s effort, you would be none the wiser as to what it is all about. We have had enough “troubles’ with Qantas in recent years, strikes, stopping flights, taking maintenance jobs offshore etc., can we at least “PLEASE” keep the Peter Allen song?”
“Daniel Johns is very talented but this particular piece of music is better suited to the opera house(. . .)there is certainly nothing there to inspire ANYONE to jump up and start planning a holiday”
Experiences “Join the campaign by posting a pic of yourself
that can be used in the ad.”
was pronounced as the biggest brand alignment with a musical act to date, Powderfinger and Jetstar came together to raise funds for their respective charities, each supporting disadvantaged children – The Yalari Foundation and StarKids
(Powderfinger2012). David Koczkar, Chief Commercial Officer of Jetstar stated,
“Powderfinger are a great Australian band, and what better way to celebrate their farewell tour than to have another great Australian, Jetstar, flying them around Australia reaching more than 20,000 fans in more than 20 Jetstar destinations – and
raising money at the same time” (Powderfinger2012: para. 4). A national search
was launched for an aspiring social media guru to travel around Australia as the official tour blogger. Over 50 days, Jetstar’s official tour blogger ‘Followed the Finger’ and produced daily blogs, video diaries, fan photos and twitter updates. The blogger interviewed the band and support acts, interacted with fans and locals and became a member of the tour support team. The band performed ‘spontaneous guerrilla gigs’ on some flights.
Powderfinger is considered a popular Australian band and Rock music is usually perceived as youthful, which assisted legitimising Jetstar as Australian but also in differentiating it from its parent brand, Qantas. Transnational youth marketers state that brand preferences correlate with musical taste (Lindstrom and Seybold 2003, as
cited in Wang2005). The joining of music culture, through the appearance of the
artist, with a product or service in a commercial venture, brings new connotations to both artist and company while naturalising the relationship between the two. Music appeals to the mainstream, especially to youth consumers. The allegiance between Jetstar and Powderfinger serves the purpose of reaching a desired market or demographic. Powderfinger have shared many special moments with their fans “it says a lot about the attraction of the band and what they mean to Australia” (ABC
News2010), they are also seeking to capture some of the emotional connection
between Powderfinger and the Australian public. Components of the advertising campaign include:
• A Powderfinger performance mid-flight. Fans were asked to bid for the ticket with proceeds going to charities, each supporting disadvantaged children; • A competition to become the official tour blogger and communicate life on the
road with Powderfinger’s Sunsets Farewell Tour; • Jetstar plane exterior painted with Powderfinger logo.
The partnership is also an example of the trend towards brand experience, where partnerships between consumers and brands are created through shared experiences. The gig mid-flight is advertised as a once-in-a-lifetime music experi- ence, especially as Powderfinger are retiring and the event was believed to be an Australian first midflight concert. “With so many Australian fans wishing to farewell their much loved music icons, Jetstar and Powderfinger have created the ultimate experience for fans with a chance to be part of a truly unique intimate