Y&R New York announced that it has been appointed the Advertising Agency of Record in the United States for Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA). It represents the first AOR assignment that ANA has awarded to a U.S. agency, who will play a major role to deepen ANA’s commitment to the U.S. market and travelers.
Y&R New York will handle a broad scope of marketing activities, starting with major brand and category research, driven by Y&R’s proprietary BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV). The agency will utilize BAV and BAV Social tools to analyze the ANA brand and the overall travel sector. In addition to research and brand strategy positioning, Y&R will be responsible for creative development.
“As we continue to grow ANA in the U.S., it was critical for us to find an agency who has exceptional strategic knowledge and resources, as well as proven creativity that will bridge cultures and drive marketplace results. Y&R’s BAV is a tremendous starting point for us, given its enormous data and analytic capabilities as well as the insights that can be leveraged from it. We are confident that Y&R will be a great partner to building our connections with U.S. travelers and expanding the horizon of ANA,” said Tadashi Matsushita, Vice President Strategic Planning, The Americas, ANA.
Y&R Global CEO, David Sable stated, “ANA is not only Japan’s largest airline, it has grown over six decades to be a recognized leader in international travel. We are thrilled to bring the creativity and insight of our global boutique – that is structured to help brands benefit from both local understanding of individual markets and the power of our global infrastructure – to ANA as they continue to build their brand across the U.S. market. We are excited to expand understanding, awareness and engagement with this dynamic brand.”
This win complements the existing relationship ANA has with Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K), who sits within Y&R’s parent company, WPP. H+K is responsible for ANA’s U.S. public relations efforts, and last year was awarded ANA’s first-ever U.S. multimedia marketing project, “Welcome to Experience Class.”
ANA, which ranked third in Skytrax 2017 list of the world’s Top 100 Airlines and achieved a 5 star rating for the 5th consecutive year, is committed to actively expanding its international network. Last year they carried more than 52 million passengers on 87 international routes and 117 domestic routes. The airline recently launched the third daily flight between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
About Y&R
Y&R is one of the leading and most iconic global advertising agencies. We operate as a Global Boutique, connecting deep insights from local business needs and consumers with strategies and objectives that travel across borders. United by a global infrastructure and common tools and technology, all our clients have access to people and resources from everywhere in our network. Y&R has 189 offices in 93 countries around the world, with clients that include Bel Brands, Campbell’s Soup Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Dell, Telefonica and Xerox, among many others. Y&R is part of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY).
