• Austrian Airlines advertising account goes to PKP BBDO
• New agency makes convincing pitch thanks to strong strategy and creative concept
Vienna, Austria, 2013-12-23 — /travelprnews.com/ — Austrian Airlines has announced that it is to start the new advertising year by switching to a new provider, the agency PKP BBDO, from April 2014 onwards. In a three-stage selection process, ten agencies from Austria took part in the pitch for the account. At the first stage, participants were required to demonstrate their strategic and conceptual competence. Five agencies convinced with their concept and proposed international set-up, and made it through to the second stage, when they were given the opportunity to present the creative concept these were based on. In the third and final stage, it came down to two agencies, Young & Rubicam and PKP BBDO, and based on its outstanding strategic brand platform, convincing creative concept and excellent references in the markets of the German-speaking countries and the Central and Eastern Europe region, the decision, while tight, was eventually for PKP BBDO.
Bernd Hartweger, Vice President Product and Marketing Austrian Airlines, said the following: “During the pitch, we saw many exciting concepts and ideas. PKP BBDO won because, as an agency, it thoroughly convinced us of its product, from the strategic platform through to the creative implementation. Because of its people and organisation, PKP BBDO is perfectly equipped to strengthen the Austrian Airlines brand to 130 destinations in over 50 markets around the world. We are now looking forward to the challenge and to getting started with 2014 with the new team.”
With 287 agencies in 79 countries and more than 15,000 staff, BBDO is the world’s second-largest agency network, operating under the umbrella of the listed Omnicom Group. Qualitatively, BBDO has been described as far and away the world’s most creative agency network in all the most important creative awards in the industry, the objective “One Report” and the rankings of the most important specialist newspapers for many years now.
Alfred Koblinger, CEO of PKP BBDO, said this: “Rarely have we been asked to do quite as much as we were for this pitch. The passion and commitment of the Austrian team for a brand which is undoubtedly part of the national identity is enormous, which is why we are all the more pleased to have been able to inspire both the Austrian Marketing Team and the company’s management with our strategic considerations and the creative implementations derived from these. The team from PKP BBDO is extremely happy to have been given the opportunity to anchor the Austrian Airlines brand even more strongly in the heart of Austrians, a role which we view as a huge responsibility.”
The domestic carrier will start the second quarter of 2014 with the aim of clearly positioning Austrian Airlines as the airline for Austrians within Austria, and of strengthening brand awareness relative to the competition in markets abroad.
Austrian Airlines is separating from its previous advertising agency, Jung von Matt, after seven successful years. Isabella Reichl, Director Marketing Austrian Airlines, said this: “During our time with Jung von Matt, we didn’t just win numerous advertising awards. Jung von Matt also made an essential contribution to our brand presence and new advertising appearance, rejuvenated the Austrian brand and clearly differentiated the company from its competitors. We have been collaborating successfully with Jung von Matt since 2007. But after seven years, we decided, as is normal in the industry, to pitch our account to a new company.”
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