Latest / Best of Business / Greg Foran: Air New Zealand CEO defends splashing out for the airline's safety video

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Greg Foran: Air New Zealand CEO defends splashing out for the airline's safety video · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks. The'd be
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio Heller Dupe for see Allen so In.
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  Speaker 2: New Zealand's got themselves a new safety video, this time
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  Speaker 2: starring the Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams in the lead role.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: That's a hard time buzzer.
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  Speaker 1: Adams still in front, Steve, Hey, you feeling.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, I'm looking forward to the life jack a bit. Well,
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  Speaker 3: that does sound really important.
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  Speaker 2: Actually, Greg Fouran is the New Zealand's chief executive. Hey, Greg,
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  Speaker 2: hi there, how did you get Steven Adams?
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  Speaker 3: Well, actually he reached out to us.
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  Speaker 4: He's been pretty keen to see whether we could do something.
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  Speaker 4: He likes the in New Zealand. He flies here in
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  Speaker 4: New Zealand and he reached out to us. And as
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  Speaker 4: we've thought about a new safety video, and basketball came
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  Speaker 4: to mind. It's a fast growing sport. Yees, Steve Adams
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  Speaker 4: came to mind, and here we go. We've got a
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  Speaker 4: really sort of quessential iconic Kiwi doing something which we
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  Speaker 4: think is pretty good for the country.
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  Speaker 2: So, I mean, did he know that there was a
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  Speaker 2: safety video that needed doing, or did He just reach
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  Speaker 2: out on the hope that one day, when you do
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  Speaker 2: your next one, he'd be available being chosen.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, he was interested in partnering with us, you know,
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  Speaker 4: in terms of the work he does with kids playing
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  Speaker 4: basketball around the country, and so it was wider than
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  Speaker 4: just a safety video. But as we started to discuss
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  Speaker 4: it through with him, you know, the safety video became
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  Speaker 4: a very good vehicle, and so that's the one we
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  Speaker 4: went to.
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  Speaker 3: And I think it's work to treat.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, in the past, you've had a pretty strong
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  Speaker 2: relationship with the rugby guys. Have you heard from them
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  Speaker 2: about how you cutting their lunch with basketball?
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  Speaker 1: Now?
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  Speaker 4: No, we haven't, but I'm sure at some point we'll
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  Speaker 4: work out who else.
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  Speaker 3: We do something with. But now's a good question.
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  Speaker 2: How much does it cost to make one of these
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  Speaker 2: flash ones instead of just your stock standard you know,
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  Speaker 2: buckle yourself up one.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we don't do stop standard Buckley up ones, do we.
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  Speaker 4: We haven't really done this for years. I think you
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  Speaker 4: go back to the I think it was body painting.
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  Speaker 3: I wasn't in the.
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  Speaker 4: Country, but I hear about it regularly. And of course
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  Speaker 4: we've also done Rico the Raccoon, which seems to have
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  Speaker 4: an interesting history associated with it. Lord of the Rings
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  Speaker 4: rap music. So you know it's part of the brand
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  Speaker 4: to get involved and be quite curious and stretch ourselves.
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  Speaker 4: So we don't do the stock standard ones, and I
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  Speaker 4: don't think we should.
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  Speaker 1: No.
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  Speaker 2: No, Actually, do you know what I actually agree with you.
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  Speaker 2: I'm kind of tired of this debate about whether a
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  Speaker 2: New Zealand needs to do the safety videos that were
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  Speaker 2: the weird ones. You do them, that's your thing. But
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  Speaker 2: the reason I'm asking is because there's been a little
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  Speaker 2: bit of chat today about whether actually it's a wise
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  Speaker 2: thing to do given how much punters are being pinged
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  Speaker 2: for the old flights at the moment.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I can imagine that that comes through, and you
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  Speaker 4: know it's one of the reasons that we keep pushing
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  Speaker 4: on things like the airport, to be honest, to keep
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  Speaker 4: our costs down. They do cost some money. It's obviously
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  Speaker 4: commercially sensitive how much we spend, but it's.
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  Speaker 3: An important part of the brand.
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  Speaker 4: It's a bit like the Mengo Pari on the tail
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  Speaker 4: and the uniform, which you know we're doing a new
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  Speaker 4: one and you'll see that next year. I think you've
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  Speaker 4: got to invest money to make a bit of money,
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  Speaker 4: and I think this is a smart investment. But you know,
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  Speaker 4: one of the things I'm proud of heither is we've
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  Speaker 4: kept it short. And you know, I certainly watch plenty
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  Speaker 4: of customers when I'm sitting on planes, and I know
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  Speaker 4: that they will appreciate the fact that we get through
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  Speaker 4: this one and sort of record time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, if Bob Jones ever comes back, he'll appreciate that.
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  Speaker 2: Cold play. How are you going with these flights because
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  Speaker 2: it sounds like it's a bit of madness out there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Look, there's about another thirty thousand people traveling this week domestically,
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  Speaker 4: which is up about fifteen percent. And so far, so good.
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  Speaker 4: Pretty big day yesterday. The biggest day is actually tomorrow,
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  Speaker 4: So you.
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  Speaker 3: Know, we've put on some extra flight and.
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  Speaker 4: We're very conscious of making sure that they will operate,
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  Speaker 4: make sure we don't cancel anything through the dreaded engineering
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  Speaker 4: or weather or bird strikes or whatever else.
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  Speaker 3: We have to deal with.
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  Speaker 4: So so far, so good, and it's working well.
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  Speaker 2: Greg, Thank you as always, really appreciate your time. That's
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  Speaker 2: Greek for a CEO of in New Zealand.
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