It is understood that the agency presentations will take place in a few weeks’ time, with a winner selected around mid-July. No one from the airline’s marketing or PR department was available to either confirm the pitch or make a statement.
The incumbent on both the airline’s branding and creative accounts is Tonic Communications, although no formal public statement confirming its appointment has ever been released. The agency was handed the business almost a year ago. It is unclear whether the Dubai-based agency will continue to work with flydubai when the winner is announced.
The pitch follows on from a review of flydubai’s PR and communications brief. Fifteen PR agencies were initially invited to present credentials, of which a shortlist of eight agencies was decided. From this, a second round of presentations whittled the field down to three finalists, with DABO & Co winning the final shootout. The PR account incumbent at the time was Polaris, and DABO & Co’s appointment ended its two-year association with flydubai.
The airline operates from Dubai International Airport and currently flies to 40 destinations. It was founded in March 2008 by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Emirates.