Qantas Frequent Dreamer

[Mattg]

Qantas launched a new campaign this month that it's calling "Qantas Frequent Dreamer". The idea is that even though we can't travel now, we can still dream of where we'll go once the restrictions are lifted... and earn points now to make this happen in the future.

It's a clever campaign from Qantas at a time when they need people earning points via program partners in order to generate revenue (i.e. by selling the points to said partners). And people aren't going to go out of their way to earn points if they don't think they'll have a value in the future (case in point - who's actively earning Velocity points right now?!) so reminding people of the things you might be able to use them for in future is a sound idea.

But I can't help thinking that Qantas has always marketed its loyalty program as a way to get that dream trip in the future, and this has ultimately left many disappointed when they couldn't get award availability or were confronted with carrier charges in the thousands of $ when trying to make a redemption...

Earn Now, Fly Later - Qantas Frequent Dreamer Program

Earn Qantas Points now and fly to your dream destination later. Earn points with Qantas Wine, Qantas Insurance, Qantas Points earning credit card and more.

www.qantas.com

What do you make of this campaign?

 

[Steveinparadise]

Tell ‘im he’s dreamin’.....

 

[flyingfan]

First impressions were it was a bit of time-wasting fluff.

Maybe QF wants us to start dreaming about a super holiday, steering us towards 'screw it if we can't get award seats, let's pay cash for F all the way' once restrictions are lifted. Encouraging us to really splurge while frustration at not being able to travel builds.

 

[serfty]

I must have been around too long .... they only thing I am dreaming of was QFF back in the 90's when there was no $+++ and awards were much 'cheaper' (up to 11,000Km around Oz in J for 37,500 points ...).

 

[eminere]

But I can't help thinking that Qantas has always marketed its loyalty program as a way to get that dream trip in the future, and this has ultimately left many disappointed when they couldn't get award availability or were confronted with carrier charges in the thousands of $ when trying to make a redemption...

This.

I'm fairly rusted on and so thought this campaign was quite meaningless and just unneccessary marketing fluff. Skimmed through the EDM and didn't click through.

 

[ozmouse]

I have now realised most of my personal inbox is saturated with travel related email. during normal times , true dream material i use to escape for the 2 minutes it take to scan..... since lockdown, i have been editing my subscriptions... so much cough.

but there were 2 emails that i really took umbrage with in the past 6 weeks.....

bupa private insurance "is looking after my health" or some such cr@p.

and qantas dreaming..... bl@@dy h*ll. first time i have been qf platinum in my life. anniversay 01may.

what a waste of their money and my time....

d(ejected)

 

[Anna]

the only thing I am dreaming of was QFF back in the 90's when there was no $+++ and awards were much 'cheaper'

Yes. In 2000 or so, I did F return to EZE for 100,000 points - on QF metal too. Those were the days!

 

[Aus ATC]

I didn't spend much time looking at this email - other than to conclude it was reinforcing their existing program. Dream of a flight (with points) and it might happen.

Of course the odds are greater with the insight of the members of this forum.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

As up to now, certain states have border crossing no gos.
And no one can say for how long.
Dreaming indeed.
Will go mad with this dreaming, without that sensation of the plane leaving the ground, on take off, ...
...you know, that sensation when the plane wheels leave the ground.
Am now watching too much youtube videos of planes taking off!
Grounded, not a nice feeling, this.

 

[RichardMEL]

All a bit silly fluff really. Totally Aspirational Marketing of the highest order to my way of thinking. If there was something new here that wasn't just pushing all the ways you can earn points already then I must have been overly fluffed and missed it. I read the email and "meh" was my response.

Not going to the pool room.

 

[sxc]

I wonder if anyone in QF marketing is currently resurrecting the “still call Australia home” campaign. There are many lyrics in there that are very relevant to the current situation. Tie in the music with footage of empty Rome, empty New York, frontline workers, QF staff on rescue missions and reuniting families and you’ve got the next brand campaign.

 

[jastel]

90% of my points come from my Business spend...which is 80% less than it used to be...still dreamin...

 

[eminere]

Will go mad with this dreaming, without that sensation of the plane leaving the ground, on take off, ...
...you know, that sensation when the plane wheels leave the ground.

I feel you.

Am now watching too much youtube videos of planes taking off!

That has long been one of my favourite type of videos to watch on YT, but now even more than ever.

 

[PineappleSkip]

The campaign didn’t impress me, or anyone else it seems. I hunted through the email for something useful - usually it’s a new way to earn or spend points - and ... zip. The messaging seemed flat footed too; all suggests QFF and their marketing people are struggling for relevance.

An email campaign is a cheap campaign. The dry up of cash flow has seen the claim that money spent by airlines on paid placements has shrunk to almost nothing. Fair enough too, if I was AJ I would preserve my marketing budget until I had something to sell again, like flying.
Airline Industry Paid Ad Impressions Drop 99% Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The campaign’s QF facebook post hints at the reach and reaction. 168 likes and jeers puts it right down the bottom of their posts for engagement and suggests they were relying on organic (unpaid) reach. Even so, this is truly pathetic for a page with 1.5m followers whose post reactions are typically in the thousands. And, oh dear, every FB marketer‘s horror story in the comments, which are relentlessly negative, and twist the tagline as the punters love to. This comment is typical...

I dream of a time when you refund the thousands of $$$ of mine you have been holding onto for over 8 weeks. I also dream of a day when its possible to actually speak to someone at Qantas.

Yep, a classic marketing #fail, and I expect frequent dreamer to sink into the mire very quickly. They have done copybook damage control in responding to the comments, and that and the dismal reach mitigates the damage, so not even an award of #epicfail from me.

cheers skip

 

[AIRwin]

Any publicity is good publicity?

 

[Anna]

For me the worst QF marketing fail is still @qantasluxury

 

[Spongbob]

QF tested several options with their Insight Crew surveys. Some were very attractive, and some were mostly useless.
I guess QF opted for the latter.