July 6, 2010
Shorts
Cabin fever
Originally published in NZ Marketing March-April 2010, page 4
It’s hard to believe “the future of long-haul flight” was developed in a rather non-descript warehouse beside a rug shop and furniture store on Fanshawe St in Auckland. But Air New Zealand’s Hangar 9, a fairly spartan workshop that leaked, required the services of numerous heaters in winter and was flanked by billboards advertising Jetstar and Pacific Blue is where all the magic of the airline’s recently unveiled interior redesign happened. And, amazingly, it all happened in secret.
Around three years ago, a development team moved out of the airline’s corporate HQ to research, design and test its new innovations for the soon-to-arrive fleet of 737-300s, with a complete cabin redesign that promised to revolutionise the inflight experience (particularly in the section that 75 percent of its customers sit in, economy) and also showcase New Zealand design.
Ed Sims, Air New Zealand’s group general manager, knew the launch had international appeal to major UK and US media outlets with an interest in innovation as well as specialist aviation writers and bloggers. But the problem was convincing them to tell that story without being able to say what the story would be about: the project’s IP was valued in the hundreds of millions and it needed to remain secret before the launch. As a result, many of the news editors were reluctant to send their journalists half-way across the world with no specifics. But, in the end, most major media outlets took the bait—primarily, Sims says, because Air New Zealand has already established a reputation for innovation—and ventured to Auckland to witness the mysterious unveiling in the only scale-model Boeing cabin built outside Boeing’s Seattle headquarters.
As far as international PR value goes, the launch was a massive success. Sims gave 80 interviews on the launch day; 48 stories appeared in the major UK newspapers; 133 news stations in the USA featured the airline, with total impressions across all print, web, broadcast and blogs reaching 450 million; and 3.7 million Kiwis were exposed to the new offerings through radio, TV and print.
Jodi Williams, design manager of the long-haul project, says Hangar 9 was meant to be a temporary testing facility. But it unexpectedly morphed into a marketing tool (it is also set to be used as a permanent 737-300 training facility for cabin crew). It made sense to spruce up the workspace and, with the help of some Team New Zealand crew members, it was turned into an exhibition area for the launch to show the thinking behind the innovations. And the displays, which feature anything from seat prototypes to the designs slated for the toilet walls, will remain there as a tribute to the power of ideas.