When only the best is a girl called Nicole

Melbourne Herald Sun, Thursday March 19, 2015

When the world's richest people needed a spokesperson for their re-positioned airline, someone smart, elegant, sincere - they picked an Australian, Nicole Kidman. And all this week you will have seen her praising the magnificent new Airbus A380 fleet of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.

Richest, you ask? Well try this rough calculation: native population one million. Sovereign wealth fund - the piggy bank under the bed - one trillion dollars. So on that basis alone every native Emariti is worth one million dollars.

Etihad is described as the world's fastest-growing airline, being only 12 years old but currently in the process of increasing its fleet from 100 to 200 brand new aircraft. It has chosen the high road of marketing, featuring the quality and style of its operations.

At its helm is CEO James Hogan, a boy from Coburg and Ivanhoe Grammar. It also holds 24 per cent of Virgin Australia so you could say the bonds with Australia are pretty strong.

Hogan started his career on the ground floor at Ansett forty years ago, so he's your typical Aussie self-made man. Nicole, as we all know, was a Sydney schoolgirl when she first ventured onto the screen in Bush Christmas. So she's the self-made girl, though I have no idea if anybody thought of it when they were casting the commercial.

What I do know is how fiercely competitive the world aviation market is, and how important to carve a solid position for your brand.

The major brands are clearly stamped with their identity - Qantas, British Airways, Singapore (girl), American, Air France, Lufthansa - you know exactly what you are buying, have known them all your life.

Then there are the bargain carriers, Jetstar, Air Asia, Air China, Garuda, Brunei, Cathay - dozens of them. How can you make your new airline stand out?

Hogan has used the opportunity of his new fleet of planes to create an upper level of luxury. So the new planes have a seat called The Apartment - a room which contains a full-length bed and immaculate service; or The Residence, a three-room private apartment on your plane.

Aren't they expensive? Of course! The Residence from Abu Dhabi to London is $24,000. But then, this isn't made for us hoi polloi, this is for the flyer making a choice between the suite and his private jet. With its own butler and chefs, you're probably more comfortable on the big plane.

But by promoting itself as the classy airline Etihad will attract the business travellers, who don't pay their own fares anyway, and who are much more profitable than the penny-pinching rabble in economy. In fact I wouldn't mind betting they get a better class of economy passenger anyway, willing to pay a little extra for the perceived luxury of the new fleet.

Just last week we lost Stuart Wagstaff, who epitomised the line, "when only the best will do". All right, he was talking about fags, but the words ring true in marketing.

This is the strategy that Etihad are running. So they have put their name on our Docklands stadium, Twickenham rugby, and Manchester City's soccer ground. They put their name on the best to create an identity up against established airlines like Qantas and BA. They should be on a safe bet with Nicole, too.

ray@ebeatty.com