Monarch flies high at sponsorship awards

Low fares airline Monarch triumphed at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2008, after topping the ‘First Time Sponsor’ category for its flyKandi with Monarch campaign.

Monarch needed to quickly establish credibility within the youth market after announcing plans to launch flights between the UK and Ibiza for Summer 2007. With a core customer demographic of 45+, it was the first time that the airline had looked to target a younger audience and identified sponsorship as an ideal vehicle through which to effectively engage and communicate with this market.

Sponsorship of a high profile club brand was researched and subsequently negotiated with leading dance and music label, Hed Kandi. The partnership, which was launched under a sub-brand of ‘flyKandi with Monarch’, included weekly aviation themed UK and Ibiza club nights, online and database marketing, media promotions and the Hed Kandi branding of a Boeing 757 aircraft.

Commenting on the winning partnership, head of PR and communications at Monarch, Jo Robertson said, "The teams at both Monarch and Hed Kandi are delighted to have scooped the title of First Time Sponsor at the Hollis Awards this year. The award is the culmination of a fantastic campaign which captured the imagination of customers and staff alike.

“It is the first time that an airline and a club brand have joined forces and the partnership has demonstrated how a brand can successfully target a new segment through effective activation of a sponsorship campaign.

“Monarch carried over 100,000 passengers on it Ibiza services during Summer 2007, 77% of which were aged under 45, and through its flyKandi activity, has established a growing number of youth customers, who are now active on our database."

Monarch Airlines is the longest established airline brand still trading and flying under the same name in the UK. Historically a charter carrier, the airline is now split 60/40 between scheduled and charter flying and carries over 7 million passengers annually to over 100 destinations worldwide.

The scheduled division of the business, monarch.co.uk, operates frequent, low-cost flights to destinations throughout the Mediterranean, including Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Cyprus.