Emirates fast forwards to prestigious digital advertising award

In securing "Gold" in the Travel and Leisure Category at the Campaign Media Awards 2007 in London, the airline has again demonstrated its leadership and creativity on the web. Fierce competition in this category came from across the international business world, not just the airline industry, and Emirates beat off competition from corporate heavyweights such as Google and Lastminute.com to pick up the prized accolade.

The winning creative was for the "Time Will Fly" promotion of Emirates' ice in-flight entertainment system. The rich media video adverts, linked through to the campaign microsite , hosted on www.timewillfly.com. The site allowed surfers to explore the ice system and carried an amusing, speeded up video showing a passenger captivated by the 600 channels of films, games and audio, emphasising the fact that with so much content to choose from on board, time really does fly.

The campaign ran from May 2006 to March this year across the United States, Middle East, UK and Australasia, and generated a staggering 33 million online 'impressions.' Response levels were between double and eight times greater than the industry average, depending on the region - a key factor in winning the award.

Mike Simon, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, said: "I doubt there has ever been a case where so many peoples' attention has been drawn to one passenger watching his in-flight television screen. But Emirates' ice is no ordinary entertainment system, and so this is no ordinary advertisement. We are delighted that this online campaign has so successfully engaged our target audiences, and winning "Gold" at the Campaign awards is the icing on the cake."

Among the prominent websites featuring the advert were The Financial Times, Guardian, The Economist, AME Info, Forbes, ITP, MSN Arabia, Khaleej Times, Yahoo and Zawya.

Campaign magazine is the weekly authority of the advertising industry, spanning advertising, media, direct, digital and marketing communications. Its Media Awards have established themselves as the most prestigious event in the media calendar, with an emphasis on brilliant and inspiring creative media ideas.

Emirates is well known for exploiting the power of the internet to engage with global travellers, and to make life easier for its customers. In July, Emirates enabled all passengers to select and secure their preferred seats at the time of booking, when they purchase their tickets at www.emirates.com, extending the service previously only available to First and Business Class passengers who book online.