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Rediffusion is said to be the strongest contender in the race to handle the Kingfisher account after the merger of Deccan Aviation with Kingfisher Airlines. The account is pegged at around Rs 20 crore
In 2007, Vijay Mallya owned Kingfisher Airlines bought majority stakes in Captain Gopinath led Air Deccan. The two airlines continued to function on the same premise as before, with Kingfisher being a premium airline and Deccan, a low cost, no frills airline. The Deccan logo, font and colours were changed to match those of Kingfisher and the airline was renamed Simplifly Deccan.
Deccan as it is known will cease to exist. The merger between Deccan Aviation and Kingfisher will allow Kingfisher to bypass the five year wait to fly to international destinations. It is believed that Deccan will fly to the Gulf and Southeast Asia, while Kingfisher will reserve for itself Europe and North America. Deccan will no more be a low cost airline, but a value based airline.
Sources confirm that Rediffusion is a likely contender for handling the creative business. Orchard, which was responsible for the re-branding of Air Deccan to Deccan and the earlier ad for Air Deccan, Old Man and the Sky, did not participate in the pitch.
The size of the business is estimated to be around Rs 20 crore.