±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Emirates, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is in

the advanced stages of a global review of its £20 million

above-the-line account.

Three London agencies - St Luke's, HHCL & Partners and Wieden & Kennedy

- are pitching for the business.

The client, which spent £2 million on its advertising in the UK

last year, is understood to want to differentiate its services from

other luxury airlines. A TV campaign is planned.

Partners BDDH, the UK incumbent agency until May last year when it

parted company with Emirates, will not be pitching for the work. The

agency developed a campaign for the airline that showed a man talking on

a mobile phone to his pet Red Setter, while sitting in his capacious

airline seat.

Emirates was unavailable for comment as ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 went to press, but it

is not thought that the media account, currently handled by MediaCom, is

under review.

Partners was reappointed to the global account in August 1999. The

agency, which had held the account for five years, successfully pitched

against eight other agencies to retain the business.

Last month the client launched its latest online campaign featuring an

air hostess called Sonia. Media. com created the new campaign for both

Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines.

In May, Emirates struck a £500,000 sponsorship deal with the

Evening Standard. The company will sponsor five 20-page glossy

supplements to be distributed with the Evening Standard over the next

six months.

Last year Emirates also committed to a three-year shirt sponsorship deal

with Chelsea FC, which is believed to be worth £20 million.