FCB and Zenith win £24m Iberia task

Spanish national airline, Iberia, has awarded its &£24m global advertising account to FCB and Zenith.

FCB’s Spanish agency FCB/Tapsa beat five other competitors in the pitch including incumbent Tiempo BBDO, Publicis, Young & Rubicam, Vitruvio Leo Burnett and McCann-Erickson Worldwide.

FCB had already worked with the airline on specific projects before its privatisation last year. PHD was the last media agency known to work with the airline in the UK.

In common with other national carriers Iberia suffered heavily following the terrorist attacks on the US and is likely to find conditions worsening following the crash of an American Airlines flight over New York this week.

Iberia was also hit by a pilot’s strike in the summer and revenue is down 41 per cent for the first eight months of the year. The airline has already announced plans to axe 100 daily flights and cut up to ten per cent of its workforce.

In September it launched a promotional offer covering 50 destinations, but it imposed a &£5 surcharge on all flights at the beginning of October.