M&C Saatchi wins 10m Arik Air global brand account

Arik Air, the Nigerian flag carrier, has appointed M&C Saatchi to develop a global brand for the airline and to launch it internationally. The account is worth an estimated £10m.

The appointment comes ahead of the launch of the airline’s Lagos to London Heathrow route, which is scheduled to launch later this year, and will compete head-on with international carriers such as British Airways and virgin Atlantic.

The airline, which started the review earlier this summer (MW.co.uk, July 22), hopes to “rapidly expand” its intercontinental networks and hopes to open a number of international routes, including to New York and Beijing.

The agency has a brief to create and lead an integrated communications and marketing campaign and it will work with Walker Media and The PR Office.

Arik Air was launched in 2006 by Nigerian businessman Sir Jia Arumemi-Johnson and already flies 25 domestic and regional routes in Nigeria and across Western Africa. It is investing $4.4bn on new aircraft over the next ten years, including seven next-generation 737s that it ordered at the recent Farnborough Airshow.