O&M wins £20m Northwest Airlines

Ogilvy & Mather has plucked the Northwest Airlines &£20m international account from incumbent Foote Cone & Belding in the US.

It has also emerged that Euro RSCG Worldwide has picked up the $50m (&£30m) account for the yet-to-be-formalised Wings Alliance, which is thought to include Northwest Airlines, Alitalia, Continental Airlines and KLM.

A spokeswoman for Northwest says: “We have just switched to Ogilvy & Mather internationally. However, the Wings Alliance is totally separate, and Euro RSCG has been appointed to the work.”

Agency organisation for airlines is becoming increasingly complicated as the industry moves away from single carriers towards alliances.

The airline business is now dominated by several major alliance groupings. These include the Oneworld Alliance led by British Airways and American Airlines, the Star Alliance led by United Airlines and Lufthansa, and the as yet loosely formed Wings Alliance.