By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE Philippine Airlines (PAL) took a huge leap forward and joined the growing trend of carriers producing imaginative and engaging in-flight safety videos.
The pioneering flag carrier posted its new in-flight safety video on its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/flyPAL/) on February 17. As of Monday afternoon, the video has been viewed 1.3 million times, reaped 43,000 “Likes” and shared 24,667 times. The video has already been playing in PAL’s flights.
With the airline’s theme music playing in the background, the video is introduced as “the first-ever safety video proudly from the Heart of the Filipino for the Filipino, and the world”. It then cuts to well-known tourism destinations in the country, with regular folk demonstrating plane safety features and procedures, such as how to lock the passenger seatbelt, how to properly store one’s luggage, or what to do in case of an emergency landing.
PAL Vice President for Marketing Ria Domingo told the BusinessMirror that this is the “first crowd-sourced” in-flight safety video, as the carrier held auditions in each destination to engage local residents to participate in the new video. “We announced the auditions online without really telling them what it was for. Then we chose from among the best of the participants who to include the video,” she added.
The in-flight safety video was warmly received by the carrier’s Facebook followers. Netizen Drew Garcia, commented: “Well done guys! This is really a first in the world!” Another top commenter, Luven B. Fuentes, said: “The concept of this commercial of Philippine Airlines is original showcasing our beautiful tourist attractions and the Filipino people mabuhay! (sic).” One NoiNoi Atayde, for his part, said: “Wow i love it…great Job for promoting safety and country’s tourism (sic).”
In a news statement, PAL COO Jaime J. Bautista said: “Last year Philippine Airlines celebrated its 75th anniversary with a renewed mission and vision of becoming a five-star full-service airline by 2020. As more and more people fall in love with flying, we recognize the responsibility to provide our passengers a level of care that goes beyond the call of duty—especially when it comes to their safety.”
He added that the crowd-sourced concept “makes PAL’s new safety video unique in the airline world. It is engaging because it is two-pronged: It provides the latest safety guidelines and also generates interest to travel to and within the Philippines.”
Filipinos from nine provinces were invited to audition and demonstrate the latest safety guidelines for PAL’s safety video. Those who made the cut and were included in the video were: Kathryn Ann Pilar (Legazpi), Andres Borromeo (Manila), Gazini Ganados (Cebu), Nathan James Goll (Busuanga), Karen Antonio Quong (Tagbilaran), Ethan Gillelli (Caticlan), Angelica Paras and Adrian Villegas (Cagayan de Oro), Andrew Domacina (Tagbilaran), John Paul and Bush Hailee Flores, Aiza Mae Galang (Laoag), Queen Amora and Jesse Serrano (Davao), and Aiza Carmina Frez (Laoag).
“With this new in-flight safety video, together with our well-trained crew and updated safety guidelines and procedures, we want to show the world how the Heart of the Filipino cares like no other. The beauty of the Philippines and the warmth of the nation are the perfect backdrop for the first-ever nationwide crowd-sourced in-flight safety video made by the Filipinos, for the Filipinos and the world,” Bautista stressed.
In a separate interview, PAL Assistant Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications Ceres Joyce de Jesus said the airline “partnered with our digital creative agency McCann Worldgroup Philippines Inc. and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines [Caap], in support of the Department of Tourism [DOT],” in creating the new in-flight safety video.
She explained that the new video “took inspiration from two unique Filipino traits: Being maaruga and maalaga, and the spirit of bayanihan, or community spirit, to show teamwork between the passenger and the crew when it comes to in-flight safety.
“Since these values are uniquely Filipino, who better to star in it than real Filipinos? The beautiful destinations of the Philippines also provided the perfect backdrop and are aligned with the company’s brand equity. These two executional elements aligned with PAL’s brand equity, The Heart of the Filipino—representing the best of the Filipino and the beauty of the Philippines,” she added.
The safety video took two months to produce and features Mt. Mayon, Kawasan Falls in Cebu, Boracay, Pearl Farm, Coron, the Bangui Windmills, Chocolate Hills, Dahilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon, and Rizal Park. We built a mock of our aircraft seat and brought around the Philippines to serve as a backdrop for our audition talents while perfoming the safety guidelines,” she said.
PAL officials said the video will be part of a worldwide safety advocacy campaign starting this month, and aimed at strengthening passenger knowledge on aircraft safety. The said campaign will culminate with an “experiential event in March that will allow people to build a better understanding of the safety guidelines,” de Jesus emphasized.
Ordinarily, an airline’s crew demonstrates the safety procedures before a plane takes off, or in the case of some international carriers, show a video clip of the crew doing the same. But “studies show that about 50 percent of passengers are distracted and do not pay attention to safety videos so we at PAL wanted to ensure that the material will be engaging enough to capture the attention of its passengers,” de Jesus said.
For her part, McCann Associate Managing Director Mitzie Lim-Nacancieno said in a clip on the making of the new in-flight safety video: “The idea we came up with was simple yet powerful. We wanted to show the true beauty that lies in every heart of the Filipino, against the backdrop of some of the most breathtaking places in the Philippines.
“We called for auditions online and invited Filipinos from all over the country, to take part in PAL’s ‘Heart of a Nation’ safety advocacy. We created a video that not only talks about in-flight safety that also serves as a source of pride for Filipinos all over the world.”
McCann was also the winning bidder for the new DOT brand campaign, #WhenWithFilipinos, and produced the recent Valentine online TV commercials for a fastfood chain, which also went viral.
1 comment
It looks like somebody in the Philippine Airlines Corporate Office saw Hawaiian Airlines’ inflight safety video.