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Landing a commercial is not about luck

Adele Leung

Recently I landed a Cathay Pacific commercial as one of the talents. Over the years many people have told me that I am lucky to get these roles and most of the roles I have been offered are very memorable. The ads are covered throughout massive billboards and they are seen everywhere.

What is clear about this job is, being a talent has nothing to do with luck. I have continuously in the past being asked to cast Cathay Pacific jobs but never was I selected. So what has changed this time?

Over these few years I have been flying with Cathay Pacific frequently, almost every trip I took was with them. In our closer connection with each other, there was more for me to observe. Every time when I saw something that cannot be ignored in their service whether it is through ticketing, online customer service, inflight customer service, I made sure that I did not let anything slide. I spoke with every single staff necessary and did not give up because it was a hassle to contact them, I kept reaching out and kept connecting and did not let anything deter me in our communication.

I also thanked and complimented with the excellence and speediness in their responses each and everytime, whether someone actually received the appreciation or not, it was expressed. I texted, called, asked to speak with staff personally and this became a habit. Their staff I have realized often in the beginning were surprised because someone would talk to them to such lengths and not hold back. Yet very quickly I could feel their response on the genuine honesty from our conversations, I could feel how much they felt loved because a passenger was so brutally honest with them. I did not offer any niceness or courteousness, I was simply direct on what needs to be attended.

During such communication, I was offered to cast for their upcoming campaign for the Lunar New Year. I was asked to do a casting video when I was abroad (as I can't physically attend the casting in HK), and I immediately did one in the most impossible situations (as I was flying here and there and not in one place for a very long time) and reached out to friends around to support me in it as well. It was very imperfect but at the same time, I was given everything that was necessary to do the video. I edited it and put voiceover on afterwards, as it was too noisy to record sound where we filmed and sent it in. The communication with the casting agency, again, was with no niceness.

After the video was sent in, the agency told me I was shortlisted and asked me to hold some dates. I thanked them and continued with my trip. In a few days time, after I returned back to Hong Kong, they confirmed that I was selected for the job.

That was how I ended up in the latest Lunar New Year campaign for Cathay Pacific! It was a brilliantly fun shoot to be in, there were a lot of cast and everyone was so distinct and expressive in their characters, it was a pretty realistic picture of how families are like in real life, chaotic and colorful. It is super grand to be a part of this campaign, thank you Cathay!




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