England fly-half signed up as the ‘face of BA’ for Rugby World Cup
British Airways has signed up England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson as its brand ambassador for the duration of the Rugby World Cup.
The Newcastle rugby union captain will help market BA globally throughout the tournament, which kicks off on October 10 in Sydney, Australia.
Wilkinson will appear in direct marketing activity promoting the airline’s Club World product, including leaflets and posters. The England team is flying with BA’s Club World to the tournament.
Wilkinson has sponsorship deals with Adidas, Hackett, Lloyds TSB, Lucozade Sport and Tetley’s. He signed up for GlaxoSmithKline’s Lucozade Sport in January to appear in advertising devised by newly appointed agency M&C Saatchi.
The Rugby World Cup is seen as the platform that could catapult Wilkinson to international sporting superstardom. He will appear in an advertising campaign for Adidas’ Predator boots range, which will run alongside the tournament.
BA is still deciding when to put its Club World flatbed advertising back on air following the negative publicity surrounding the unofficial strike by check-in staff at Heathrow last month.
So far, BA has received 20,000 claims for the &£80 voucher it has offered on top of full ticket compensation to those who suffered due to the strike. An estimated 90,000 people were caught up in the chaos.
