CATHAY PACIFIC LAUNCHES NEW 'PROGRESSIVE' ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

Cathay Pacific Airways will launch its new "Progressive" advertising campaign on 1 August highlighting the many enhancements the airline has made to its products and services over the past two years. The campaign features individual television advertisements on Cathay Pacific's modern fleet, airport lounges, Economy Class, and role in building Hong Kong into Asia's "SuperHub". The campaign will also include print and outdoor advertising.

The new campaign is centred on the term "progressive" which research identified as a highly desirable characteristic for an airline. The campaign includes five new television commercials, each just 15 seconds long but still including an individual storyline. The themes covered include The Wing, the youngest fleet, Economy Class choice, Cathay Pacific's extensive network, and the Hong Kong SuperHub.

While the television commercials provide the key focus, print media advertisements will be used to add detail and enrich the concept. Further support will come from outdoor advertising and Internet media, helping to reinforce the "progressive" message. The television advertisements will appear in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and France. The print advertisements will appear in leading publications around the world.

Cathay Pacific's General Manager Marketing Charlie Stewart-Cox said: "The campaign reflects the investment we have made in our product over the past few years such as the fleet and products at Hong Kong International Airport. We want to show Cathay Pacific as one of the leading brands in its field - one that is changing the dynamics of the market and raising the bar for its competitors."

Cathay Pacific's account director at advertising agency McCann-Erickson Nicci Gallo said: "This is a different approach for Cathay Pacific's advertising with the introduction of fifteen second commercials and small space ads which reflect a change in media strategy. Creatively, the fifteen second ads allowed us to be very focused and single-minded about the product message."

Over the next 18 months, new advertisements will be added to the campaign covering other aspects of the airline's operations. The campaign was jointly developed by Cathay Pacific and McCann-Erickson. The music behind the new commercials is the popular worldwide hit "A Kind of Magic" written by Roger Taylor of Queen.