Qatar Airways launched a marketing campaign on 4 February 2015, supporting its three-year partnership with football team FC Barcelona.The campaign, which follows the ‘Land of Barcelona’ campaign in August 2013, includes a film and print legs.
The commercial opens with the five players entering an airport to board a flight. As the flight takes off and Iniesta settles down with a glass of juice, a voice over says, “Qatar Airways are proud to welcome FC Barcelona and wish you a wonderful holiday’.The film features Neymar and Pique having a fun time at a sunny beach destination (Maldives), before the action shifts to a ranch in Dallas with horses kicking the ball around – Suarez plays cowboy.
The film moves to a French roadside cafe (Paris) where clowns join Iniesta and Pique with their antics. The final destination is in Asia (Seoul), where Messi and Neymar take on a group of martial arts practitioners, albeit with the help of a football. As an attacker breaks into an adjoining meditation room inadvertently, one sees Suarez seated calmly, ready to sip on tea in traditional Asian attire.It ends with the five returning home together and the message that Qatar Airways now flies to over 140 destinations.
The spot will be aired in English, Arabic and Catalan.
Client: Qatar Airways
Agency: 180 Amsterdam
President & chief creative officer: Al Moseley
Creative directors: Martin Terhart, Martin Beswick
Art director: Ed Ryder
Copywriter: Luke Stone
Producer: Susan Cook
MD/Account director: Stephen Corlett
Account manager: Jim O’Regan
Planner: Ben Armistead
Project manager: Jo Borton/Eleanor Fitzgerald
Business affairs director: Sarah Gough
Production company: Stink
Director: Agustin Alberdi
DOP: Dan Bronks
Producer: Annie Hart
Executive producer: Blake Powell
Local production company: Twenty-Four Seven
Editorial/Offline edit: The Circus London
Editor: Alex Hagon
Assistant editor: Adam Buckmaster
Online: MPC Amsterdam
VFX supervisor: Jonathan Box
Colorist: George K
Producer: Gwenn Hardouin
Music: I Get Around – Beach Boys
Composer: Brian Wilson/Mike Love
Sound design: Wave Amsterdam and Adelphoi London
Final mix: Alex Nichols-Lee
Exposure: Film, Print
Languages: English, Arabic, Catalan
I like this ad a lot because it’s a well known fact amongst soccer fans worldwide that Qatar Airways is a sponsor, but this shows a more functional aspect of the brand association amongst the team. It’s no doubt that Neymar, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, and Gerard Pique are all stars on the pitch, but seeing them engage in a worldly variety of occurrences may appeal to the common consumer because it shows a side of the celebrity that we don’t often get to witness. It also reveals a more human and reachable persona amongst all of the star athletes because people really only get a chance to see them on a world stage while they’re competing against other athletes of similar capability and ambition. FC Barcelona is one of the most recognizable names within the world of soccer, and this ad by Qatar Airways perfectly utilizes the teams star players to highlight their ability to give the “average” world traveler an extraordinary experience.