Hasta La Motion!

Qantas is running the third series in the Feels Like Home brand campaign, promoting the the build-up to the Perth-London service being launched in March 2018. Two commercials tell the real stories of people living in Australia and the UK, brought together for emotional reunions by Qantas. The Charlton family in Perth are reunited with their grandmother in the UK. Imogen travels to London for a reunion with her boyfriend Michael. The Qantas Feels Like Home campaign features the 787-9 Dreamliner, the new aircraft that will serve the new Kangaroo route between Perth and London, connecting Australia and the UK with a direct flight.

The Feels Like Home Stories

The Charlton family; Anna, Michael, and their girls live in Perth, while Anna’s mum Jackie lives in Bristol, UK, where Anna was born. Anna and Michael met in Europe while WA native Michael was travelling, and the couple moved permanently to Australia, where they had their two children. Jackie has a very close relationship with the family despite the distance, with plenty of video chats, phone calls and parcels but misses her daughter and grandchildren. Michael surprises Anna with flights home for the family to see her mum in the UK.

Imogen and Michael met at University in their hometown of Brisbane. When Michael moved to London for work in 2016, Imogen remained in Australia to complete her studies for a further 12 months. Michael surprises Imogen with a trip back to Australia after a long time apart. In a lovely turn of events, since completing the shoot Imogen has moved to London, where the couple now live and work.

Behind the Campaign

Qantas’ Group Executive for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Olivia Wirth, said the build-up to the Perth-London service was the perfect opportunity to evolve the Qantas Feels Like Home campaign.

“The Kangaroo Route to the UK has had special meaning for Australian travellers since Qantas first flew to London the 1940s. With this new series of Feels Like Home, we wanted to capture the memories and emotions that Australians associate with the Kangaroo Route, but also look ahead to a new era with our non-stop Perth-London flights. We think it does a beautiful job of exploring the significance of linking Australians directly to the UK for the first time, focusing on real people and experiences. Qantas invests heavily in promoting Australia as a tourist destination and the campaign, which is also running in the UK, also shows some of the fantastic places travelers can visit in Western Australia in a single hop.”

Qantas worked with creative agency The Monkeys to develop the series. Justin Drape, The Monkeys’ co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, said the new campaign built on the homecoming stories that features in the first two Qantas Feels Like Home Again series.

“The late Neil Lawrence, Mark Molloy and the Qantas team started this campaign with beautiful emotional stories that have resonated with all Australians who travel. With the Charlton family and Imogen’s and Michael’s story, we wanted to continue this type of storytelling while also showing what it means to be able to fly directly between Australia and London.

Qantas Feels Like Home Credits

The Qantas Feels Like Home campaign was developed at The Monkeys, Sydney, by chief creative officer Justin Drape, copywriter Chelsea Parks, copywriter Hugh Gurney, senior creative Scott Dettrick, digital producer Sabrina Riedel, designers Melissa Watson, Eva Godeny and Lauren Elliot, managing partner Matt Michael, executive planning director Fabio Buresti, content director Humphrey Taylor and Samantha Heckendorf, content manager Tim Leathart, head of production Thea Carone, production managers Jacquie Riley and Samantha Lombardo, and integrated producer Sally Lankshear.

Filming was shot by director Glendyn Ivin at Exit Films with producer Karen Sproul, director of photography Germain McMicking, production managers Jacquie Riley and Samantha Lombardo, 2nd unit director of photography Sam Chiplin, production designer Pete Baxter, and casting agent Kirsty McGregor at McGregor Casting.

Editors were Jack Hutchings and Rohan Zerna at The Butchery. Post production was done at Alt.VFX.

Music, “Feels Like Home”, was originally composed by Randy Newman, and performed here by Martha Marlow (vocals and guitar), at Song Zu, with music directors Ramesh Sathiah & Mark Rivett, strings arranger Jonathan Swartz, sound designer Simon Kane, executive producer Katrina Aquilia,

Photography was by Paul Blackmore and Richard Wadey (UK).

Media was handled at OMD by business director Dorothee Gomez, account director James Graff, account director Eimear Hughes, trading director Anastasia Nicholas, and account executive Christian Bendelack.