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Most would agree that it’s hard to feel sorry for Qantas. Like a stubborn old aunt, they appear all too comfortable with the reputation they’ve created over the years, and unwilling to change.

With the advent of budget airlines around the world, and the success of Virgin, they refuse to make their ticket prices competitive, or upgrade their cabin crew airplanes. Sure they acquired a couple of A380 jets, but we are well aware of how quickly the shine from these new jewels dulled.

They don’t even strive to generate feelings of warmth and patriotism in their advertising anymore. So how do they make us feel about them?

Unless you are a loyal Qantas die-hard, you may feel indifferent towards them. At worst, dismissive.

You might feel that if they had enough money and clout to overcome PR disasters such as mid-air Rolls-Royce engine explosions, and emergency landings, then they might have been strong enough to deal with the rumblings of a few unions. Perhaps you’re slightly disturbed by their nonsensical association with John Travolta. You could be forgiven for thinking Qantas are a little smug.

However, perhaps there is a disconnect between the shininess of the Qantas brand, and the reality of the company’s financial situation.

If the one they call Alan Joyce had been CEO of a struggling fashion label, and grounded his seamstresses who demanded more money, would we have been more forgiving? Perhaps if he were CEO of a publicly flailing book store chain, we would have been more understanding of all involved parties.

Could it be that Qantas’s brand position as the safest, the most reliable, and the most premium airline in Australia have distracted us from the fact that they are just another business struggling to make a profit in a post GFC world?

Much of the media coverage this issue received encouraged people to view it as a union vs corporate matter, and it worked. Australians were having impassioned conversations across the country, whilst in the blogosphere people were slandering Qantas and even defacing images of their CEO.

I was curious as to why people felt so strongly on the subject, and why so many felt so justified in expressing anger at Alan Joyce’s bold decision to ground the entire Qantas fleet.

Hindsight is 20/20 and perhaps Alan Joyce now wishes the company had waited til the New Year before announcing his $2m pay rise, but I don’t think this was the only reason there was such outrage.

I think that many Australians didn’t feel the heavy handed nature of Alan Joyce’s decision was very becoming of the flying kangaroo we once loved, the brand we thought we knew.

In this current economic climate, whether you are a restaurant owner selling pizzas, or an airline selling plane tickets, it’s not that easy to make a profit at the moment. The aviation industry has long been a notoriously difficult one to be in, even at the best of times.

The reality is that most Australians in fact do not fly Qantas internationally. So therefore, no matter which point of view you support, the unions, or the capitalists, the chances are that you’re probably not supporting Qantas at all one way or the other.

And why should you? You have a right as a consumer to choose the most affordable option available to you. Alan Joyce would probably argue that as a CEO of a privately owned business, he has a right to choose the most affordable option available to him in order to carry out the duty he is charged with; keeping Qantas profitable and the shareholders happy.

Bloggers have redefined traditional editorial and are growing rapidly in readership. Their audiences are targeted, loyal, sometimes large, and blogger opinions are influential. There was a time when people turned to traditional news for opinion. A recent Kleenex study found that blogs, in particular Mummy blogs, are moving strongly into influence, providing a more authentic outlook, untainted by commerciality.

Blogs and reviews play a large part of the decision-making process with 63% of social-networkers reading an average of six online reviews before buying an item. It’s been found that 46% of mothers read blogs regularly, 23% comment on blogs, and 13% of the Australian mums with kids between 0 and 12 years wrote blogs themselves!

It’s becoming common talk in the US that consumers are more influenced by the opinion of a blogger than a celebrity when it comes to learning more about products or making a purchase. Kim Kardashian gets paid $25,000 to tweet 140 characters about a product. With more than seven million followers, her message gets seen – but is it heard? Do her followers trust her tweets are authentic, or a mere financial reward?

In Australia we have the (small) luxury of being an adaptive market, borrowing the bits that work from other markets. The same is true for blogging: but the bit that really works and makes this so exciting for us is that authenticity will prevail over the long-term.

If you work in PR and live in NSW, chances are you have hosted a stunt at Martin Place. How about a survey? Ever crafted a set of questions that you know will provide predictable results…cue media release to news desk!

I know I’ve certainly been there, and following an event hosted by the PRIA called Creative Juices, I’m pretty certain I’m not alone. When speaker Ryan Peal, Director of Imagination at Momentum Worldwide, posed these same questions to a room full of PR practitioners, the response was an overwhelming and undeniable YES.

In the consumer PR environment, driven by an ongoing string of deadlines, constant innovation can be challenging. Therefore, a stunt set in an opportune location in the heart of the city, guaranteeing attention – hard to say no to. Likewise some quirky stats that will most likely get you a spot in the news pages – yes please!

I’m not saying that these sure-fire ways to garner media attention should be dismissed; however I do believe that PR people should reconsider their relevance.

Last week, Executive Planning Director Al Crawford from BBDO offered PNS an insightful summary of what it is he does on a day to day basis. One comment he made in particular about brands really resonated with me. He stated that despite what many people assume, creative thinking should not always be employed to reinvent, re-create and replace. Sometimes the more difficult yet effective challenge is to creatively reinforce the brand’s essence in a different and unique way. This provided a powerful reminder about the significance of the brand’s established value.

In addition to ensuring PR campaigns embrace the heart of the brand, PR tactics should also ensure that they are achieving the set task. Whether it is to encourage sales? Promote public engagement? Heighten brand awareness? Stunts and surveys are not always the most efficient means to an end when considered against a clear business objective. Dressing up a granny in a bright orange bikini and marching her through Town Hall station may certainly turn heads and generate discussion. However if establishing the brand as a credible player in the market is your goal, then is this really the right tactic?

Thus when planning your next PR strategy, always remember the essence of the brand and set a goal for your campaign strategy accordingly. Having these simple underlying guidelines before sparking off a brainstorm will assist substantially in maintaining a purpose to your creativity.

A stunt for the sake of a stunt is pointless.

A mobile phone company made international news last week following its release of a YouTube video as part of its marketing activity. The viral video was created using Royal lookalikes dancing a mock Kate Middleton and Prince William wedding entrance dance.  T-Mobile’s highly creative video project, supported through public relations, has received global media coverage as a result of engaging people through humour.

Similarly, in September last year Nummies, a maternity bra manufacturer, released a video encapsulating the meaning of becoming a Mum. The video was quickly picked up by parenting and mainstream media. Like T-Mobile, the Nummies viral received a strong following, connecting with parents around the world.

We can learn a lot about videos that turn viral. Short movies, such as those filmed for T-Mobile and Nummies, demonstrate the power of connecting with audiences and consumers through their feelings, telling engaging stories in creative ways as enabled by digital media. Companies that make people laugh, cry or feel better about themselves, and brands that stand for something and influence consumers on an emotional level, are in a very powerful place. Consumers want to be involved with these brands because they understand them and connect with them.

Understanding the essence of a brand, and communicating it in a way consumers understand and enjoy, is at the centre of what we do in lifestyle PR. Award-winning public relations campaigns are developed based on an intimate understanding of consumers and the emotions that drive them. Digital media allows brands to connect with consumers and tell stories in more than just the written form. Embracing and harnessing the power of online channels, such as YouTube and social media, differentiates consultancies with story-selling skills from the ones that don’t understand the power of compelling content.

Great public relations consultancies always remember that people love brands when they can buy more than a product – they can buy an attitude, a belief, a thought. I believe that this understanding is the foundation for campaigns that create change and deliver world-class results for clients.