The 60-second television commercials feature some 90 Cathay employees from various departments - including catering and inflight services, engineering and flight operations - in the TVC created by its agency McCann-Erickson.
The TVC follows the airline's two-year-long 'Progressive' campaign and is supported by print and outdoor.
"The 'Progressive' campaign focused on the airline's hardware, such as the new business class cabin, in-flight entertainment and the upgraded fleet of planes, said Vince Viola, McCann Asia-Pacific senior vice-president and multinational accounts director. "Straight from the heart' balances out the story because it is about the people and the high level service that Cathay is known for."
The testimonial-style ads feature staff talking about what makes the company one of the best airlines in the world. "The quotes used are virtually word-for-word from the staff and they really come straight from the hearts."
One of the cornerstones of the campaign was a strengthening of an internal effort to ensure that quality service is delivered to travellers. This took the form of a People and Services campaign, which included posters, presentations and training videos.
The 'Straight from the Heart' campaign, which is supported by print and outdoor executions, is running globally but the emphasis is on Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region. The main target markets consist of London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sydney, Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei, in addition to Hong Kong.
Cathay will run the campaign indefinitely. Said Viola: "Next year will be the sustaining phase. And as we launch new products, these will be underpinned with stories about high-quality service. This will be the key both in the advertising and within the minds of the airline's staff to continued success."
