Campaign Review: Qantas’ nostalgia and new work from Ingham’s
In Campaign Review, Mumbrella invites industry creatives and strategists to offer their views on recent ad campaigns. This week, Mumbrella asked Spinach's Dom Megna and whiteGREY's Nomfundo Msomi to share their thoughts on the latest campaigns from Qantas and Ingham's.
Brand: Qantas
Campaign: ‘Feels Like Home’
Agency: The Monkeys
The verdict: Classic storyline, told and timed well.
Dom Megna, executive creative director at Spinach gave it a 7.5/10, saying:
It makes sense for Qantas to reset and go back to the basics right now. This is a simple piece told well and timed to perfection around Mother’s Day. While a homecoming is a well-trodden path for airlines, it brings the instant shorthand needed to make a viewer (me) well up in 60 seconds. Unfortunately, I didn’t know this was an actual homecoming til’ I read the press release.
Clearly it was important to both Qantas and the agency that the story was a real one and I’m sure there was much debate whether it should have been declared at the beginning of the spot. I’d argue it should have been. It would have given it a little more weight.
Nomfundo Msomi, head of strategy at whiteGREY Melbourne, gave it a 8/10, saying:
I’ve been living overseas and away from my home and family for twenty years, so I am primed to love this ad.
It also happened to launch right as I was starting to (and I apologise for my wording here) call Australia home after being in Melbourne for a year. Having done a fair bit of flying, I can’t say with honesty that Qantas delivers the best guest experience in the skies, but they seem to know Australia best. This is a unique country, so it’s safe to say there’s truly no place like home.
It’s also a country of people familiar with the weight of arrivals and departures. There’s a flight home, and then there’s returning to Australia on Qantas. This work is a great reflection on generation, the dynamism of Australian life, and the one thing that always seems to be there, no matter what changes on the ground: Qantas.
Brand: Ingham’s
Campaign: ‘Always Good’
Agency: Bohemia
The verdict: Lots of boxes ticked but feels like another manifesto.
Dom gave it a 4/10, saying:
Big brief. Lots of proof points and clearly a major piece for Ingham’s. This kind of manifesto pops up regularly – ticking lots of boxes and in doing so becomes nondescript.
Executionally it’s nicely done, and no doubt Ingham’s are into it, but if you’re going to talk about the good you’re doing in the world it needs to work double hard to draw enough emotion and goodwill out of the viewer to even remember it, let alone act.
Nomfundo gave it a 6/10, saying:
How much chicken can one happy table of diners possibly handle? It’s not easy to do semi-brand repositioning, semi-functional communications and this does just that by showcasing new product packaging and RSPCA Approved Certification in tandem so on that front, the ad does the job.
But the bigger task at hand here is to dispel the myths around poultry farming in order to gain trust. The ad goes some way in achieving its goal by showing happy farmers, adorable chickens (I love chickens) and elated chicken lovers enjoying a meal outside. But perhaps a little grit would be a stronger myth buster? Surely it isn’t all sunshine all the time. Farming also means early hours, tough weather conditions, and hard days.
If good intentions are at the heart of the industry, dispelling the myth should surely ask for a dose of reality, too. After all, we’re all going through it and it might help us see the labour in our plate of wings.
As told to Lauren McNamara. If you’re a senior creative or strategist who would like to take part in a future Campaign Review, please email Lauren at lmcnamara@mumbrella.com.au.
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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