'Alan Joyce has Qantas stuck in stunt mode'

[Melburnian1]

Here is the full text of this 'AFR' 18 November 2019 article - there's also some text referring to photos that I can't reproduce, but have placed --- around:

(I had to look up 'parvenu' though).

-----------------------

The latest leg of Qantas’ Project Sunrise publicity orgy touched down at Mascot on Friday, its non-stop “research flight” from Heathrow met with the mania (and hyperbole) of a bona fide Apollo mission.

With the outsized marketing tactics its master franchise is globally famous for, parvenu competitor Virgin Australia had launched its new Brisbane-Haneda service on Thursday. Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson threw in his typical spoiler, promising “we’re seriously going to look at” giving Qantas “a run for their money” on the incipient (non-stop) London-Sydney route. Which they're not and never will.

<rest of article redacted>

 

[DC3]

For me this is more an interesting mis-step by Joe Aston .... Aston was Joe Hockey's press secretary for a time ...

Jackpot. Now it all makes sense.

 

[RooFlyer]

I would imagine they already have negotiated the aircraft order and the whole thing is just a waiting game now.

I think such an order would need to be disclosed to the ASX under 'continuous disclosure' rules, so I think unlikely to have occurred.

 

[Danger]

A thoroughly entertaining article.

 

[RooFlyer]

The fuel is the other issue which exponentially decreases once you start going longer than the useful range .

That's obviously not a concern for Qantas, as they aren't attempting any flights with anything near full load. They are tacking the BIG QUESTIONS such as the menu, and stretching exercises and tracking the alertness of crew travelling under completely artificial conditions (as in, hardly any pax to look after).

 

[jakeseven7]

That said, there has to be a reasonable level of confidence this will work now, otherwise this is a lot of effort and PR for nothing.

Trust me and anyone who works in business - this PR is definitely not for nothing. It’s incredibly valuable earned media at a fraction of the cost of paid media.

 

[Quickstatus]

Again, no journalist on the two QF7879 has made a critical report/analysis of the flights preferring to parrot what QF wants then to say. It is informative that all reports thus far are very similar and mostly devoid of any in-depth critical analysis of the issues surrounding ULH operations.

Changing clocks to destination time upon embarkation is not novel . I and many other passengers practice this all the time. I don’t need a professor to tell me that.

 

[Mattg]

An American bloke I met in India was telling me yesterday that Qantas now flies JFK-SYD non-stop and that he was going to book a ticket on it next month.

Just goes to show how far Qantas' PR stunt has reached, I guess... even if the facts seem to have been blurred along the way.

 

[dajop]

Just goes to show how far Qantas' PR stunt has reached, I guess... even if the facts seem to have been blurred along the way.

Actually this is symptomatic of how easily people are manipulated by the media and professional PR folk in general, whether it is fake excitement about “Married at First Sight” or Fox/Trump or Greta/Greens on climate change, there is a lot of manipulation going on.

Ever since being exposed to Rob Sitch etc on Frontline some 25 years ago I always try to question and look behind the “angle” being pushed. It’s not easy to do so, but it’s also scary how easily it is to be manipulated.

 

[Captain Halliday]

An American bloke I met in India was telling me yesterday that Qantas now flies JFK-SYD non-stop and that he was going to book a ticket on it next month.

Just goes to show how far Qantas' PR stunt has reached, I guess... even if the facts seem to have been blurred along the way.

Dissatisfied customers do more harm to a brand than satisfied customers do to enhance it.

So while there might be a PR related bounce for QF, I wonder whether your new friend will be annoyed when he finds he can’t book it? Or worse he books his “direct flight” and finds he’s going via DFW or LAX?

 

[SeaWolf]

Some more news on the Project Sunrise front today.

Qantas rejects Airbus and Boeing offers for non-stop New York jets

Qantas says the plane makers' prices are too high.

www.smh.com.au

 

[RooFlyer]

“Married at First Sight” or Fox/Trump or Greta/Greens on climate change, there is a lot of manipulation going on.

I like your list.

 

[DC3]

Some more news on the Project Sunrise front today.

Qantas rejects Airbus and Boeing offers for non-stop New York jets

Qantas says the plane makers' prices are too high.

www.smh.com.au

.... and over on the Project Sunrise thread as well:

Project Sunrise: A350 or 777X?

Qantas rejects Airbus and Boeing offers for non-stop New York jets Not really surprised by this given how marginal the business case appears to be... How much of the cost of running these routes is based on the cost of the A/C?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[stm1sydney]

Another QF stunt generating media excitement and coverage. They really are stuck in stunt mode.

Qantas offers flights from London to Sydney for £205 RETURN

Qantas have announced the sale of 100 'Golden Tickets' from London to Sydney, with the return flight costing just £205.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Himeno]

Another QF stunt generating media excitement and coverage. They really are stuck in stunt mode.

Qantas offers flights from London to Sydney for £205 RETURN

Qantas have announced the sale of 100 'Golden Tickets' from London to Sydney, with the return flight costing just £205.

www.dailymail.co.uk

"Golden tickets"? Is QF going to put them in random chocolate bars?

 

[pauly7]

Another QF stunt generating media excitement and coverage. They really are stuck in stunt mode.

Qantas offers flights from London to Sydney for £205 RETURN

Qantas have announced the sale of 100 'Golden Tickets' from London to Sydney, with the return flight costing just £205.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It seems that not many people actually understand how Marketing works in 2020.

This isn’t a ‘mode’ and it isn’t ‘stuck’ anywhere. This is just business as usual activation and promotions with a great PR team working the media hard to get bang for their buck without paying for it. It’s honestly as simple as that.

 

[SeaWolf]

"Golden tickets"? Is QF going to put them in random chocolate bars?

When I first saw the ads for this I was certain it was a scam. The wording just mirrors those Facebook sharing scams so closely. Turns out it's legit, or at least, so it would seem.

 

[harvyk]

When I first saw the ads for this I was certain it was a scam. The wording just mirrors those Facebook sharing scams so closely. Turns out it's legit, or at least, so it would seem.

Qantas are pretty terrible at that, I've received a few dodgy looking emails from them, which I've queried with them (since if it was a scam, perhaps they want to stop it from happening) and they came back and confirmed it was legit.

Perhaps the best one was a "Dear Qantas Frequent Flyer, we need you to confirm your details" email. Ironically that was a legit email (I suspect QF forgot to run backups and lost data as it was happening around one of the times they had recently migrated to a new system)

 

[Rangalad]

"Golden tickets"? Is QF going to put them in random chocolate bars?