StrawberryFrog Amsterdam has won Emirates Airline’s $260 million global advertising account following a drawn out competitive pitch that began last June.
The agency will be responsible for developing and rolling out a new brand platform for Emirates across 80 markets, as the national airline for Dubai looks to become one of the world’s most recognised global names.
Emirates divisional senior vice-president corporate communications, Boutros Boutros, said: “StrawberryFrog presented some outstanding and innovative ideas that connected with our vision of where we want to take our brand, as we evolve and enter a new growth phase.”
He added: “As our global lead communications partner, we look forward to working with them to define and create a new category in the evolving media landscape, one that reflects our values and global aspirations.”
The move means that Emirates’ ‘Keep Discovering’ slogan will be dropped.
The Emirates pitch had involved all of the big global networks, but in January this year the field of major players was whittled down to a final two – WPP and VCCP. However, in an unexpected move, the airline invited unnamed independent agencies to participate in its final round, with StrawberryFrog among them.
In August last year, Emirates handed its UK account to VCCP’s London office without a pitch.
I bet the networks/agencies who went through all the earlier rounds only to have the independents thrown into the mix at the end were wrapped.
The era of the independents has begun