Qatar Airways is attacking airline startup Riyadh Air in its newest ad campaign, essentially accusing the airline of being a copycat. This is sort of subtle, but also not at all. Apparently this is also the first of many ads on this topic.
Qatar Airways calls Riyadh Air copycat airline in new ad
Qatar Airways has today released the first of a series of ads. The first ad is captioned with “they say laughter is contagious, well apparently so are our great ideas,” wishing people a “happy World Laughter Day.”
In the 30-second ad, a man in a purple tie is seen giving a press conference, where he says “we’re revolutionizing the industry, we’re invested in the future of travel, we’re innovating, we’re introducing state of the art technology, we’re doing something new…”
At the same time, one reporter (or something) is heard whispering to another, “but hasn’t Qatar Airways already done this?” Then a voice comes on saying “there’s a reason why we’ve been chosen as the world’s best, again and again.”
The average traveler may not get the reference, but it’s pretty clear what’s going on here. This ad is clearly targeted at Riyadh Air, with the person in the ad intended to represent Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas (formerly the CEO of Etihad).
As you can see, the guy even wears a purple tie, which is Riyadh Air’s signature color (though if he really wanted to look like Tony Douglas, he should’ve worn a more colorful suit!). For that matter, the talking points largely match those of Douglas, regarding Riyadh Air being innovative, state of the art, etc.
Expect a lot more where this came from…
This is the most direct attack that we’ve seen from Qatar Airways against Riyadh Air, but it sounds like it’ll be the first of many.
In the past, we’ve seen more subtle attacks. For example, on the day that Riyadh Air unveiled its new Boeing 787 cabins…
…Qatar Airways posted to social media about how it has the world’s best business class. The timing almost certainly wasn’t a coincidence.
So, why is Qatar Airways threatened by Riyadh Air, perhaps more so than airlines like Emirates? Well, Riyadh’s CEO laid it out pretty clearly several weeks back, when he pointed out that the number one source of premium passengers on Qatar Airways is Saudi passport holders. He called this “haram,” and said that it’s “totally and utterly unacceptable.” So obviously Riyadh Air wants to regain much of that local market share on a national airline.
While Emirates also has a good amount of local Saudi traffic, Dubai is a more popular leisure destination than Doha, and Saudis only make up the third largest passenger group for Emirates, according to Douglas.
What’s my take of this campaign? I mean, as someone who likes to observe a bit of drama, I’m amused by this. Competition is also good for consumers, and I imagine we’ll see quite a competitive response with Qatar Airways pricing out of Saudi Arabia when Riyadh Air actually launches.
Clearly Qatar Airways is taking the approach of marketing how “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Meanwhile Emirates is taking more the approach of “a lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep,” or something.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways seems to be launching a series of new ads, targeting Riyadh Air. In the first ad of the series, someone who is clearly intended to represent Riyadh Air’s CEO is talking about the new state of the art things they’re working on, when a reporter cuts in and mentions that Qatar Airways has done this before. Expect a lot more of this, given just how much Saudi traffic Qatar Airways transports.
What do you make of this Qatar Airways ad?
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