EasyJet campaign set to challenge BA ads

Low-cost airline easyJet is planning a print campaign to embarrass blue-chip companies about the money they spend on business-class flights, to coincide with a British Airways campaign to attract business customers.

EasyJet, which is building up its Gatwick airport presence, will run broadsheet ads alerting shareholders to the fact that employees of companies they invest in could make big savings by flying with easyJet.

The move follows research by NOP for the airline, which showed only 25 per cent of the top 100 FTSE companies use low-cost airlines.

Head of marketing Alistair Buckle says:”The ads will ask shareholders: ‘Is your company interested in saving money?'”

British Airways this week launched a &£5.3m TV campaign to woo back business travellers. The ads, devised by M&C Saatchi, use the slogan: “It’s better to be there”, and show how a transatlantic deal is clinched by a face-to-face meeting.

The campaign runs until the end of March in the press and on outdoor sites. Planning is by Walker Media and buying by Optimedia UK. It is supported with direct marketing by Tullo Marshall Warren.