Air New Zealand, you know, the carrier that’s paired its spokespuppet with Lindsay Lohan (above) and once had an animated Al Bundy provide safety tips, has expanded its relationship with Draftfcb, handing North American creative duties to the agency’s San Francisco office. The airline had already been working with Draft’s New Zealand branch, with the latter serving as the former’s brand agency in Kiwi country since January of this year.
DFCB SF beat out multiple agencies in the pitch, which was handled by SelectResources International, and as a result, will be tasked with driving brand awareness and online conversion North America. The agency seems to have the vote of confidence from ANZ brand manager, Western markets John Wilhelm, who says in a statement, “We are confident DraftFCB San Francisco is the right partner to help us lay a strong foundation for sustainable growth and help us take the Air New Zealand brand to the next level in the US and Canada.”
From what the Air New Zealand folks tell us, the brand as of late has been working with agencies on a project basis in North America, so there was no incumbent in the pitch for this business–though ANZ has retained agencies in the past.