Pacific Blue's huge blue

Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 23rd April 2004

New airline Pacific Blue has made an embarrassing blunder - sending an 11-page confidential marketing document to the advertising team of fierce rival Freedom Air.

The papers, which set out details of Pacific Blue's branding plans and advertising requirements, were sent by its Australian-based head office to advertising agency DDB.

A division of DDB, Wow Rapp Collins, does award-winning work for Air New Zealand's cut-price subsidiary Freedom Air.

The Richard Branson-backed airline is in the process of choosing an advertising agency in this country and the papers were intended to brief prospective agencies about its requirements.

The gaffe does not appear to have been a mistake in typing an email address but a failure of Virgin Blue, running its New Zealand operations by remote control from Australia, to research the local market.

As a result Pacific Blue's rival now knows:

* how Pacific Blue views its "brand personality;"

* who it wants to "capture;"

* how it plans to manage its marketing; and

* what kind of budget it has to spend on marketing that is, not much.

The document has raised eyebrows in the advertising industry, not just because of the stuff-up of being sent to a competitor but in its tone and attitude.

"It's the most arrogantly worded document I've ever seen and that's saying something," one veteran adman said.

His agency was invited to pitch but turned down the invitation, which appeared to be offering the chance of working round the clock practically for nothing.

Pacific Blue has told agencies it expects its brand to occupy their every thought and warned them they would get briefs at odd hours of the night. But it claims they should be happy to do this for very little remuneration in return for the status of having the Pacific Blue brand on their roster.

"If you already have a number of strong brands in your stable and don't need us to enhance the value of your agency and you plan to charge us your standard fees, please don't pitch," reads the document, sent by Katrina Dowling of Virgin Blue in Australia.

Potential agencies are also told they will have to kowtow to their Australian counterpart, Cummins & Associates, run by former New Zealand Mojo managing director Sean Cummins.

Ms Dowling told The National Business Review Pacific Blue had sent the pitch documents out to all agencies that had expressed an interest or had been recommended.

She said despite the document being sent from Australia the process had been a joint one with its New Zealand operation.

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