Air New Zealand continues to break the mould with its marketing and inflight messages, creating a safety briefing starring British adventurer Bear Grylls that ticks multiple boxes: utility, entertainment and promotion.

Not one to follow the tried and tested path, Air New Zealand employed the ruffian charms of Grylls to deliver an inflight briefing to both boost cut through of the inflight message and double as a marketing message.

‘The Bear Essentials of Safety’ is supported by an online campaign, which offers online viewers the chance to win a trip to New Zealand to complete the ‘Great Kiwi Bucket List’. It will be promoted online via the airline’s YouTube channel in an attempt to gain viral viewership.

The video,rolled out across the Air New Zealand fleet yesterday, follows other viral successes from the airline including The Hobbit-themed ‘An Unexpected Briefing’ and All Blacks-themed ‘Crazy About Rugby’ and ‘Fit To Fly’.

It was filmed in a remote part of the Routeburn Track near Fiordland in New Zealand’s South Island late last year. Grylls is assisted in the execution by renowned Kiwi entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste (also known as The Bug Man) as he contends with a cast of native creatures.

He says shooting the in-flight safety video in the wild was an inspired idea. “New Zealand is a country that I have always called my home away from home and I feel so proud to be involved with this campaign. We shot in a truly amazing setting with an amazing team – and that is always a privilege.”

Air New Zealand Chief Marketing and Customer Officer Mike Tod says Grylls was the ideal choice. “Bear was the ideal partner to help us bring to life important on-board safety messages in a unique and compelling way, while at the same time demonstrating the best of what New Zealand has to offer.

“We hope the global attention this safety video will receive generates more awareness of our amazing country and gets a few more bums on seats.”

The airline partnered with the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) to promote the country’s environmental tourism experiences.

Grylls has a global following of more than nine million Facebook fans and nearly a million followers on Twitter, and his ‘Man vs. Wild’ TV shows have been watched by more than 1 billion people in 182 countries.