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Was Emirates’ viral safety video effective?

Photo: Screengrab from video

“We ask you to put your bags securely at your feet and ensure your electronic devices are put away… so you can concentrate on giving your team the ultimate cheer they deserve.”

The match at the Estadio da Luz kicked off with an unusual spectacle. Emirates flight attendants in their distinct uniforms took to the field, surprising 65,000 Benfica fans when they began to perform a flight safety routine with a humorous twist.

Although Benfica lost 0-3 to Sporting, the marketing move proved to be a big win for Emirates. As of Thursday, the FB video had been shared 57,000 times and clocked 556,000 views on YouTube. Reception of the video has been positive, with an outpouring of support and fanfare on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

It’s not the first airline to use the viral video strategy. Air New Zealand’s popular safety videos featured familiar faces and places from the Lord of the Rings films.

Wayne Arnold, Chairman of the Marketing Society SEA said airlines needed to constantly work on clever marketing to stand out from the competition. “Airlines have always had to up their marketing game to break through, after all most have the same planes, use the same number of seats, serve the same food at the same price,” he said.

Emirates did make use of a unique resource only available to them, the fandom behind Benfica FC.

“What it does well though is leveraging an increased massive sporting footprint, something they have spent a lot of time and money integrating with over the last few decades,” said Arnold.

Meanwhile, Clarence Chew, Head of Marketing for Decathlon S.A. (Singapore), called the video a "perfect juxtaposition" between "boring, mundane" flight safety videos and the "immensely grand and exciting occasion" of a major football match.

"This is what really makes it work, the airline is almost poking fun at its own in-flight routine which gives it a much more human dimension. Added to that are the friendly, smiling and well-dressed air stewardesses who are clearly enjoying the occasion as much as the fans, and you have a very fun, light-hearted half-time entertainment – and priceless positive exposure for the brand," he said.


However, Don Anderson, editor of We Are Social Singapore cautioned that it was too early to say whether Emirates’ viral video was a success. He said, “One ‘viral’ video does not make a conversation. The challenge for Emirates is to leverage the volume of engagements the video has yielded across social media to create something more sustainable and with more depth.

“Otherwise, it’s nothing more than than a one-off content experience, and not that much different than a TV ad.”