ETIHAD AIRWAYS PARTNER AIRLINES SELECT STARCOM AS NEW GLOBAL MEDIA AGENCY

Etihad Airways Partner (EAP) airlines Etihad Airways, Alitalia, airberlin and Jet Airways have announced that Starcom, part of Starcom MediaVest Group, has won the contract to become the airline group’s new global media agency, following a joint tender sent to several leading agency networks.

Starcom was selected by EAP to deliver scaled benefits by aligning media spending power across key markets and to provide added value and centralised strategic advice and planning to meet the unique commercial needs of the airline grouping.

Shane O’Hare, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Marketing, said: “Starcom demonstrated that they fully understand the emerging media scene which has digital media at its core. Their highly experienced team, resources, planning tools and buying clout in all the key EAP markets gave them a clear edge in the tender.

“The depth of the relationships within the EAP allows us to go even further with our joint media strategy alignment, and will allow Starcom to maximise returns on our collective investment and to ensure that each unique brand experience is brought to life with optimum exposure on a global scale.”

The appointment of Starcom will allow the EAP to benefit from a superior knowledge and skill base within one agency to service all partners with market and industry insights and to provide access to leading edge global thinking and proprietary technology with consistency across all partners.

Starcom will service the EAP airlines in key hubs in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Italy and India, with central coordination from their EMEA head office in London.

Matt Blackborn, President, Investment and Diversification at Starcom MediaVest Group, said: “We are the foremost innovators in the precision media space and very much welcome this exciting challenge of working with the Etihad Airways Partner airlines across all their communications platforms.

“This is a unique client brief and relationship as it brings together multiple brands from the same industry and is ground-breaking in the agency world.

“We look forward to servicing Etihad Airways Partners through a unified approach that integrates connections, content, data and technology.”

Andre Rahn, Senior Vice President of Marketing at airberlin, said: “airberlin is looking forward to reaching a new level in our partnership and managing the future of media buying within the group. With Starcom’s worldwide digital experience and our group’s airline experience, we plan to be a step ahead in reaching potential customers with the right content at the right point.”

Ariodante Valeri, Alitalia’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “This new partnership kicks off at a very exciting time for Alitalia. We have just launched the new livery of Alitalia aircraft, the new design of the cabins and new premium services for our guests. Alitalia is rapidly increasing its global reach with new long-haul services between Italy and China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, areas of the world which are rapidly growing. In addition, the agreement with Starcom will bring significant synergies for the EAP, and will allow us to have better access to traditional and digital media in all of our key markets."

Gaurang Shetty, Senior Vice-President Commercial at Jet Airways said: “Starcom showed their ability to add value to our media investments and demonstrated their thorough understanding of the evolving media scenario. Starcom’s solution was backed with data, insights and relevance to the brand’s core values. We look forward to partnering with Starcom to develop synergies along with other Eithad Airways Partner airlines.”