St Luke's flies home Nusli Wadia's aviation venture - low cost airline

If this had been the age of Star Wars, St Luke's and Lowe would have battled tooth and nail for the Wadias in the mighty heavens. But it is not. So let's contend ourselves with the fireworks in the earthly sky!

Even then, it is a spectacular win for St Luke's, which is so completely thrilled by the win.

Lowe and St Luke's were the two agencies in the fray for the yet-to-be launched low-cost aviation venture from the Nusli Wadia group. And, just a short while back, St Luke's has been informed about its appointment. Bombay Dyeing and Britannia Industries are the two well-known companies of the Wadia group.

"We are very delighted and over-the-moon. For all of us at St Luke's, it's a dream come true to work on an airline account. And personally, creating an airline brand from scratch is beyond my wildest imagination!" says an excited Anil S Nair, COO, St Luke's.

The account was won on the back of a creative-cum-strategic presentation. "We feel that we were able to translate the stated business vision into strong brand ideas backed by creative recommendations full of impact. Moreover, we feel that we did demonstrate a very clear consumer understanding. Above all, we feel that we managed to impress upon the client that we are capable of becoming the true brand custodians in every sense," says Nair, exuding confidence.

While the size of the business is 'significant', the agency could not divulge the details as it was bound by the confidentiality clause in the client-agency agreement. But that seems to be the least of concerns for the agency. Getting started on the account is what the agency is eagerly looking forward to.

"Our task begins with the creation of the brand and extends to all customer touch points. The Wadias have a very robust and exciting business plan. Our job is to support it with the necessary communications input," informs Nair.

And, these communication are just not limited to creating the right kind of brand awareness, it extends to an integrated marketing campaign. "We don't feel that the challenge just ends with creating brand awareness. We need to, on a proactive basis, deploy a smart integrated marketing campaign to ensure that the venture is successful," Nair says.

"We are very clear that this business is not about 30-second television commercials and colour ads but about smart ideas. And our project team, which includes senior members from all key disciplines and the client, are gearing up for just that! We know that it is challenging but we are very confident that we will win!" he elaborates.

While media reports mention that the Wadia venture may be called GO, the agency says, the decision regarding the name is yet to be taken. "There will be an announcement in the media by the client in the near future," says Nair.

As for the Wadia group, it is still to get the permission from the director general of civil aviation for a license to operate the airlines.

Prior to this venture, Wadia's involvement with aviation was in the capacity of a non-scheduled operator with a charter permit. The operation was called Megapode Airlines, which remained part of the group for many years.

© 2004 agencyfaqs!