Microsoft selected by Emirates for #AllTimeGreats global football ad campaign

All-time great footballers' video campaign deployed at scale across PC, TV, tablet and mobile in 25 markets.

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Apr 16, 2014, 05:00 ET

LONDON, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Advertising announced Tuesday that it has been chosen by Emirates Airline and its media agency Havas Media Group as one of the key partners for its global brand campaign. The large-scale campaign spans 25 markets and runs across services including MSN, Xbox, Windows 8 and Skype on four different screens (PC, TV, tablet and mobile). The campaign aims to raise brand awareness among a target audience of football fans by driving views of the hero video — created by BBDO — featuring footballing legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Pele aboard Emirates' flagship aircraft, the Airbus A380.

This new campaign, which launched on March 28 at an event in Madrid and will run until April 21, leverages a variety of ad formats and interactive technologies, such as touch and Kinect, to offer the optimal brand experience on the screen and service the consumer is enjoying. The campaign will deliver over 400 million impressions around the globe.

As part of the deal Microsoft will design the Emirates Airline page on the MSN World Cup channel in the majority of markets involved in the campaign, featuring specially designed page skins and takeovers. Other key value-ads offered by Microsoft include building out the creative, translation, and investing in research of the campaign effectiveness.

"For this digital campaign, we were looking at reaching as many customers across as many platforms as possible. We chose Microsoft as one of our partners for this campaign because of the multiple touch points it was able to offer," said Christopher Galanto, Emirates senior vice president, Advertising. "As a global airline, we wanted a partner with a truly global reach to emphasize our global brand presence. We were also attracted to Microsoft's ability to offer consistent formats across markets with the reassurance of a brand-safe environment."

"Emirates came to us with the challenge of opening up its premium brand to a wider audience, both for this brand campaign and beyond," said Frank Holland, CVP Microsoft Advertising & Online. "Specifically, through views of the hero video it wants to raise brand awareness among a younger, tech-savvy demographic increasingly accustomed to frequent traveling: the business travelers of tomorrow. Microsoft's ability to offer a seamless experience for these consumers across platforms, screens and markets means that we are able to provide a valuable brand connection to the target demographic wherever they are and on whatever device they are using."

The campaign will use the following activations to reach consumers across the Microsoft network:

On MSN, the campaign features a full homepage takeover in all markets (excluding Japan).
On Skype, there is a masthead-format homepage takeover featuring a 10-second sneak peek of the video, where the user can click through to view the full film.
On Xbox the in-banner video is activated by a user-initiated action and can be expanded to full video when selected.
On Skype, the campaign will be featured through a mobile banner that will take the user to the full video when clicked upon.
On Windows 8, the campaign will be featured throughout key apps including Skype, Xbox, Bing News, Bing Sports, Bing Weather, Bing Food & Drink, Bing Travel, Bing Finance, and Bing Health & Fitness.

The campaign is running in 25 markets: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Oman and has been translated into 12 languages. Once users have watched the video they are prompted to click through to the Emirates World Cup microsite featuring an extended feature with the two footballing stars and a visual walk-through of the new Airbus A380.

Efficacy of the campaign will be investigated by two research projects: Nielsen will research the uptick in brand awareness, favorability and purchase intent in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, and Microsoft's own Consumer Insights team will undertake an engagement study in the United States.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.