There had been speculation that the agency was about to lose the
Adollars 25 million (USdollars 13 million) account after 12 years after
Ansett said it planned to review the relationship later this year. But
that was before Ansett was forced to ground some of its aircraft after
Australian civil aviation authorities ruled it had failed to carry out
inspections called for by manufacturer Boeing.
That meant that Ansett was forced to delay flights during the peak
Easter holiday and it was also threatened with having its operating
licence suspended.
In the fallout from the PR disaster, Ansett agreed to allow George
Patterson Bates to create a campaign to rebuild its image. The agency
responded with a series of television commercials and full-page
newspaper advertisements under the tagline "Absolutely".
The campaign features Australian sports and entertainment celebrities,
including Sydney Olympics swimming gold medallist Michael Klim using the
tagline in response to the question about which airline they would like
to fly with Ansett will be spending around Adollars 10 million on the
Absolutely campaign over the next 12 months. The allotment is on top of
its planned marketing and advertisting spend for the year.
George Frazis, senior vice-president of Ansett and sister company Air
New Zealand, has meanwhile been quoted as saying that a review of George
Patterson Bates' status had been ruled out by the parent, Ansett
Group.
Frazis and his chief executive Gary Toomey, who had personally been in
the media firing line over Easter, have praised George Patterson Bates
and its chairman, Ian Elliot, for their work on the Absolutely
campaign.
The agency is now believed to be in a strong position to pick up the Air
New Zealand account, worth Adollars 15 million a year, currently handled
by Colenso, owned by Clemenger BBDO.
Asked to comment on the speculation, Frazis said no decision has been
made on the agency it will use to promote its international expansion.
