As someone personally involved at the Air New Zealand cabin crew dispute I can tell you it’s been pretty nasty for everyone involved. But what it’s really brought home for everyone has been the seamless (and slightly creepy) way the airline has used its internal communications to reinforce the brand cult of Air New Zealand.

Don’t get me wrong, I know every large business runs internal PR, it’s part of getting their staff on side so they do their best for the business. But usually it’s no more than a staff newsletter and some hokey team-building once a year.

Air New Zealand takes it to a whole new level. The airline’s 11,000 staff who, like in some weird nation within a nation, are encouraged to think of themselves as “Air New Zealanders”, are emailed weekly CEO messages as well as good news stories about the company and media releases. They run regular training sessions with Orwellian titles like “realise your potential” in which staff are encouraged to identify themselves and their futures in terms of the Air New Zealand brand and they provide staff with a whole separate password coded online world called the korunet with its own forums and newsfeeds. A world that is heavily moderated and censored of course....