Like many airlines, TUI’s inflight safety films were often perceived as dull and uninspiring. The client openly acknowledged in their brief to us that their efforts to cater to multiple markets, some with more conservative tastes, had resulted in a dilution of creative vigour.

Dissatisfied with the status quo and eager to elevate their branded content, they tasked us with crafting a film that would captivate attention rather than encourage passengers to bury themselves in their phones.

While ensuring the essential safety information was effectively communicated, our challenge was to create an engaging piece of entertainment that also aligned with TUI’s overarching strategic evolution: transitioning from a renowned European package-holiday provider to a globally respected travel brand.

This film needed to reflect the brand’s commitment to delivering ‘TUI Smile worthy’ experiences and seamlessly integrate with their promise to prioritise customer happiness (and of course safety) above all else.

We harness the attention-grabbing power of the big screen and bring it to the “small” screens on the back of our plane seats, to captivate our audiences, keeping them informed and safe whilst simultaneously shaping the perception of our travel brand.

In “Safety: A Global Film”, each segment was a meticulously crafted tongue-in-cheek homage to a genre made popular in a country TUI fly to.

From an action-packed New York car chase reminiscent of Hollywood blockbusters to teach audiences about proper seat belt usage, to a spy in a French Film Noir reminding us not to smoke, each genre cleverly integrated vital safety instructions with a playful and engaging twist.

With a humorous tone and bold concept, we aimed to enthral viewers from start to finish, ensuring all information was listened to, and all customers could fly safely and with a smile on their faces.

Insight #1: People actively ignore inflight safety films and demonstrations.

Strategic solution: Use the film as an opportunity to create a shared experience, one that unifies our audience in a collective immersion of a surprising inflight safety narrative, filled with new emotions and exciting visuals unfolding on the screens in front of their noses.

Move their viewing of inflight safety from ‘must watch’ to ‘must see’.

Insight #2: Strangers captive together on a plane

Strategic solution: Films have the ability to evoke powerful emotions in audiences. Whether it's laughter, tears, fear, or excitement, experiencing these emotions together in a communal setting (a plane in our case, rather than a cinema) can create a strong bond among viewers. The collective reactions of laughter, gasps, or applause further reinforce the sense of unity among the audience.

Move our audience from ‘captive together’ to ‘captivated together’.

TUI’s airline safety film is a 4 minute extravaganza that playfully juxtaposes world film genres with essential safety information.

We watch as our hero travels from genre to genre, experiencing all the tropes of each, from taking part in high octane car chases of Hollywood blockbusters, to uncovering new discoveries in an adventure flick, all led by the voice of her trusted compadre – or should we say flight attendant - who delivers the safety instructions that guide her.

Whether it’s a nod to noir or a playful homage to Bollywood musicals, every scene is crafted with meticulous attention to detail to ensure we honour the genre, create maximum enjoyment and most importantly capture full attention.

At the time of writing, we have only just launched our new inflight safety film onboard our TUI planes.

In pre-testing, however, we have far exceeded expectations and created a ‘full attention’ worthy spectacle of creativity, with over 80% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing that our film positively impacted measures including their engagement, attention, information retention and brand perception.

Our clients agree:

“TUI will become a safer airline as everyone is now going to be paying attention…As a result of this film, the cabin crew will feel proud of working for our brand.”

Daan van Lieshout Purser, Cabin SEP Consultant (TUI Fly Netherlands and Belgium)

“This film is creative craft at its best, we are delighted with the end result and fully believe that our planes will be filled with people captivated by our inflight safety film”

Toby Horry, Global Marketing Director.