To declare the airline’s passion we couldn’t simply say they sponsor the All Blacks. We needed something spectacular to champion the boys and their fans.

So we turned our ‘boys in black’ into ‘Men In Black’ - recreating the theme song from the Hollywood blockbuster and turning it into an onboard safety film, MIB - Safety Defenders.

We cast a squad of All Blacks as secret agents, alongside cameos from living rugby legends from around the world – a symbolic manifestation of the Rugby World Cup.

The tribute had us penning a world-first: a safety rap, performed by All Black Israel Dagg and local musician Stan Walker.

A Sony Pictures partnership gave us access to familiar faces, CGI files and movie props from the original film franchise. This authentic flavour helped create memorable content to cut through the noise and deliver a brand film people would enjoy watching.

In an unexpected theatrical twist we filmed our ‘boys in black’ singing and dancing to the theme song from ‘Men In Black’.

Mandatory safety regulations created copious scripting challenges; complying with legal had us pen 50 versions before approval!

From idea to launch, the safety video had to be completed in 15 weeks; safety video turnaround normally takes 40!

We only had access to the All Blacks for 2 days – giving us a tiny window to get it right.

Taking an onboard safety film to the world

· Targeted audiences in six continents (native & paid posts)

· Custom assets (all digital channels & onboard)

· Leveraged partnerships to expand reach (All Blacks, Sony Pictures, Adidas Rugby NZ, Tourism New Zealand)

· Native placements (relevant digital publications)

The internet loved the film as much as Air NZ love the All Blacks!

The safety video dominated the airwaves in the lead up to the RWC2015, increasing Air New Zealand’s sponsorship awareness to 77%, that’s 10% higher than last years industry average.

Influenced brand love globally:

•11.5m views– 65% above target

•34.6b media impressions– 17300% above 200m target

•36.1m social media impressions– 180% above 20m target

•+21 earned editorial placements through Giant Media, achieving the +15 target

•Video picked up globally by CNN, Time, Washington Post, Mashable and BBC

Influenced brand love in NZ:

•1.8m social engagements - 183% above target

•100k social shares – 220% above target

•The video featured on mainstream sites including NZ Herald, TVNZ and 3News as well as discussed on over half of prominent radio stations

•It was New Zealand’s most watched ad of 2015 and 3rd most watched YouTube video overall