EXCLUSIVE – To support its premium strategy, the airline presents its new campaign as well as a reinvented long-haul business seat. Le Figaro discovered the two in preview.
« France is in the air “: the signature carried by Air France for 7 years was known to all. We will now have to get used to reading » Soar in style « . The first advertising speech since 2015 for the company. And what better setting than the Eiffel Tower, emblem of France if ever there was one, to send this message? A year after the film of safety instructions on board highlighting the most iconic tourist sites in France and which ended on the second floor of the Iron Lady, this opus created by the agency Aura by Omnicom evokes this time the story of an ascent.
That of a sparkling and determined woman, embodying the airline. Dressed in a red dress with an infinite train, she lightly climbs the metal monument. Should there be a message there? « The rise of this young woman represents our promise to make elegance fly ever higher “, explains to Figaro Fabien Pelous, director of customer experience at Air France. « We have gone through a very difficult period in air transport. This elegance is really attached to our brand and I think it’s important to have this pride and this desire to make Air France the most elegant company in the world. »
The stamp of Juliette Armanet on Michel Legrand
Behind the camera, American director Brian Beletic. This short film specialist has shot numerous commercials as well as music videos, notably for the Black Eyed Peas. And for the music, place in the universe of Michel Legrand with a cover of Mills of my heart re-orchestrated for Air France by composer Julien Jaouen. This « screen music composer »as he defines himself, has imagined a version of the song that is both soft and powerful, which accurately embodies the french touch. For that, a voice was needed. And who else but Juliette Armanet? In 2018, during the opening ceremony of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the French artist performed this song composed by Michel Legrand for the film The Thomas Crown Affairand which was awarded the Oscar for best song in 1969.
The scenario was ready: an iconic tower, Oscar-winning music, rhythmic scenes symbolizing in turn the different strengths of the company… Air France’s desire to position itself internationally as a premium brand. This spot full of poetry will be broadcast on television, in cinemas and on the web tomorrow in five strategic Air France markets: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Italy and Germany. In France, its distribution will be 100% digital.
A new business travel standard
And it is again from the Eiffel Tower that Air France unveiled this Tuesday, May 10 its new long-haul Business seat to discover on board the Boeing 777-300 from this fall. For an ever higher level of comfort, the company has revisited its iconic curved seat to offer a new version. This takes up the concept of the 3 “Fs”: Full Flatit comes in a real flat bed of almost 2 meters; Full Accesseach has direct access to the aisle and Full Privacyfor optimal privacy.
The real novelty? A sliding door now allows you to fully privatize your own space, thus preserving the rest of the cabin. » I think it’s important and it’s really part of Air France’s values not to oppose intimacy and convivialityargues Fabien Pelous. For trips for two, and when you are seated in the middle seats, you can very easily lower the central partition to promote interaction with your travel partner. « .
Inside the seat, made by the French aeronautics giant Safran: wool, brushed aluminium, full-grain leather… Air France has favored noble, soft and natural materials for its manufacture. Good news, the technology has evolved and the wheelchair will have a large 4K high definition anti-reflective screen (17.3 inches) equipped with noise-canceling headphones, a new Bluetooth connection allowing you to use your own headphones and multiple USB C and USB A sockets. A detail that can already be found on the A220, each seat is embroidered with the red accent, the symbol of the brand.
We want to be a premium company, offering the best level of comfort, gastronomy and services.
Fabien Pelous, Director of Air France Customer Experience
On the floor, a navy blue carpet with herringbone effect, a nod to Haussmann parquet floors. » We have really redesigned the cabin harmony of all our planes and we are going to create this homogeneity throughout the fleet with this fairly identifying and symbolic blue of Air France.
But that’s not all: the director of customer experience also announces a change of the entire cabin. » For example on the Premium Economy, we will put the same seats as what we have on the A350 (built with the equipment manufacturer Recaro in Europe, editor’s note), on which our customers say they have the best level of comfort compared to the shell seats that we had historically. These chairs offer a 124-degree recline. We are not on the bed seat of the Business cabin, but the 124 degrees is what we offered a few years ago in Business. We want to be a premium company, offering the best level of comfort, gastronomy and services. « . It seems to have gone well. The sense of French hospitality that makes the teams unique has already been rewarded in 2022: Air France was voted best company of the year for customer relations, for the seventh time in a row.
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