United: How the safety video got entertaining
Some things are naturally boring: tax forms. Instruction manuals. Airline safety videos.
Oops. Scratch that last one.
United Airlines is rolling out a safety video that may change the way you think about safety videos. Sure, it's about safety. But that's just the beginning. It's also about lifting the carrier's brand image. It's about not-so-subtly marketing the fact that it flies to a bunch of far-flung places. It's about giving the much-criticized airlines an aura of sophistication. And, perhaps most astonishingly, it's about humor.
Like the United flight attendant who steps into a cab and explains to the shocked cab driver how to buckle his seat belt. Like a spy movie-inspired fight taking place on a passing mountain tram even as an attendant inside another tram explains to tourists what do in the event of the loss of cabin pressure. Like the flight attendant who, after explaining the no-smoking rule to passengers, manages to magically blow out the smoke steaming from the top of a mountain volcano like a kid blowing out a birthday cake candle.
The entire airline industry is in the midst of a recovery in a tough economy amid cutthroat competition. But United was the only major U.S airline to lose money in the first quarter, though it recently reported a much-improved second quarter. United has lagged behind in airline customer satisfaction polls since its merger with Continental.
United is not the first airline to swap out a conventional safety video for a primer that is more catchy. Virgin America, Delta and others have done the same. And United hardly expects the safety video to solve its problems. But it can help whittle away at one of them: image. United has concluded that one way to fix its brand is to, well, fix the brand — even where consumers least expect to see it.
"I tend to be really cynical about these things," says Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. "But If there were an Oscar category for the greatest airline safety video, hands down, it's got to be this one."
This is about United attempting to become less an airline and more a familiar friend. The video will be screened on about 1,300 United flights daily. Some passengers will ultimately see it dozens of times. So United — and its ad agency, McGarryBowen — figured, why not do it with a smile?
"We're working on being the world's most friendly airline," explains Mark Krolick, managing director of marketing and product development at United. "That goes into everything we do — including the safety video." He won't say what United spent on the video that was shot in six countries, including Australia and France, but he confirms it cost about twice as much as its last safety video.
For United, it's about using the routine safety video to express brand personality, says Patricia Martin, a pop culture expert and author. "Customers are much more likely to purchase a brand if its personality is similar to theirs," she says. And many travelers — particularly business travelers — embrace humor.
All of this must fall within the boundaries of presenting the safety information that the FAA requires. The FAA reviews and approves all safety videos before they air. United isn't the first to go a tad goofy, but its video is clearly raising the ante.
"This is not United as you've known it," says Haydn Morris, executive creative director at McGarryBowen, the ad agency. "We're redefining 'Fly the friendly skies.' "
Thompson, the pop culture guru, warns that consumers will ultimately tire of watching this safety video. So he suggests that United update it every three months or so. He also suggests that United serialize the video — so that Millennials will binge-watch it.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," he says, "but this makes United look like Apple."
Contributing: Charisse Jones