Qantas drops ‘Atlas’ soundtrack created by Daniel Johns
Qantas has dropped the soundtrack created by Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns along with last year’s “You’re the Reason We Fly” campaign.
The musical score ‘Atlas’ was Johns’s first commercial work of this nature, used as a musical soundtrack for Qantas’s brand and Olympic advertising in July last year.
However with the launch of the new “Curiosity” campaign for Qantas Frequent Flyer last week, a spokeswoman for Qantas told Mumbrella the airline has no further plans for the piece.
Johns is one of Australia’s most celebrated artists and has won 21 ARIA Awards. The musical performance used in the “You’re the reason we fly” campaign created by Qantas’ former agency Publicis Mojo Sydney was a collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. It was rolled out under Qantas marketing director Lewis Pullen, whose departure was announced last month.
Corporate affairs chief Olivia Wirth has since taken on responsibility for the airline’s marketing function. Droga5 was appointed the new creative agency for Qantas in June last year, and is behind the new “Curiosity” campaign.
A Qantas spokeswoman told Mumbrella: “The ‘Atlas’ soundtrack was used for the ‘You’re the Reason We Fly’ campaign last year, we have a new campaign in the market and have no plans for any further roll out of last year’s campaign.”
In response to further questions about a possible return of the long running ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, the spokeswoman added: “The I Still Call Australia Home campaign continues to form part of the Qantas brand and marketing activities. The song has been instrumental to the successful long standing Qantas marketing campaign for over 10 years and will continue do so in future. We will continue to use I Still Call Australia Home in ads for special occasions and for live performances.”
This is good news. Great tune initially, but not after a flight too and from London within a week #makeitstop
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‘Incremental’ or ‘instrumental’? Doesn’t take much but I’m confused.
Almost as confused as I am by the whole premise for this story which should maybe read: Qantas launches new campaign. Doesn’t use same music from last, entirely different one.
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This made me want to hijack every QANTAS flight I ever caught just to make it stop.
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My only curiosity from this new ad, is ‘what the hell are they trying to achieve?’
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It was an evocative composition that had so much potential, marred by one of the worst campaign executions I’ve ever seen (which we’ve seen backflip). Let’s just be glad the god awful “You’re the reason we fly” crap didn’t obliviate I Still Call Australia Home as it did for Atlas.
I kinda feel bad for Daniel Johns – sure, it was annoying to hear repeat again and again over the PA on a 747, but it was honestly a good orchestral piece let down by a bad campaign, would have expected it as a single from him or something.
On a lighter note, ‘For every journey’ is a step in the right direction. Compelling TVC, and good use of the I Still Call Australia Home motif (for once!). Great job.
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Has no-one recalled that this “creative” which emanated from the pen of the then CCO, is bu a pastiche of borrowed ideas? What is blatantly obvious however is that the D5 work IS creative, complete with an idea in it, and the 2 should forever be held up side-by-side as examples of how to do it and not do it….setting a form of precedent possibly to be referred to as the case of Davis v Droga…
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@James what they are trying to achieve is a recovery from the damage done by the total crap that went before it.
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I think the David Jones composition is brilliant! He had the guts to follow on from “I still call Australia home,” and he did it brilliantly
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