Emirates Spent Dhs20bn On Marketing In Last 20 Years – Official

Dubai-based Emirates Airline spent up to Dhs20 billion on marketing and promotion efforts in the last 20 years, a senior executive confirmed.

Speaking at the ongoing Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Thierry Antinori, executive VP and chief commercial officer, Emirates, revealed that the airline was investing heavily in marketing.

“With the rise in technology, it’s the customer who now makes the choice. That’s why we are investing more than three per cent of our revenue in marketing. We have sports partnerships with football teams, a global partnership with Formula One, and we sponsor other events including those in Dubai such as the Dubai World Cup and the Dubai International Film Festival.

“We will continue to invest further,” he added.

Emirates has been expanding services rapidly across the globe, and has already launched three new destinations so far this year. It has also been deploying its jumbo A380 services on several new routes to increase capacity.

In a bid to further boost A380 services, the airline released a high-profile digital campaign in March this year, featuring football stars Pelé and Ronaldo in the onboard lounge of an Emirates A380. The video has received over 4.8 million views on YouTube, with both players now global ambassadors for Emirates.

The airline has always focussed on building its brand and will continue to do so, stressed Antinori. “One of the last budgets we will cut is marketing – never, never ever,” he added.