Media&Marketing: With remorseless pressure on fares, the main airlines are desperately trying to find other ways to drive earnings. For some it is fuel surcharges, for some it is baggage fees, while for Ryanair it is ancillary revenues mainly derived from onboard sales.
Ryanair this week give a fresh indication that it also regards advertising as a growing source of ancillary revenue, with a new deal to place advertising on the back of all seats.
While such an idea might seem far sighted, other airlines have been plastering cabin interiors with adverts for several years. As reported in this column a few weeks ago, some US airlines have even resorted to placing adverts on the outside of sick bags.
Ryanair for its part has signed a five year deal with a company called InviseoMedia to install seatback advertising across the entire current and future fleet of 239 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Asked this week how much revenue might flow from the deal, Michael O'Leary said "a couple of million".
Several major brands are reported to be interested in taking space on the backseat trays where the advertising will sit. In times gone by Ryanair has done advertising deals with the likes of the Sun, which took the opportunity to wrap its whole brand around several Ryanair planes.
But based on literature passed to advertising agencies in recent months Ryanair does not see itself marketing its aircraft space to just the hoi polloi anymore. It claims that 64 per cent of its passengers have an income above €40,000, while 62 per cent own their own property.
Most interesting is the claim from the airline that over 20 per cent of its passengers own a foreign property. While the airline's fares remain its almost unique selling point, its ability to second guess where the Irish foreign property buyer will go next is also clearly a factor.
Mooney show looks for sponsor
Negotiations continue to find a replacement for Renault, the former sponsor of the Late, Late Show on RTÉ 1.
That sponsorship was the most lucrative in the history of the broadcaster, worth €1 million a year. Based on that figure RTÉ will be looking to at least match that deal next time out.
But for sponsors not quite prepared to pay that scale of fee, RTÉ is seeking sponsors for its new afternoon flagship radio show hosted by Derek Mooney. The show is a centre piece of the new schedule shaped by the controversial head of RTÉ Radio 1, Anna Leddy.
The sponsorship fee for six months is € 150,000, while a whole year will cost € 240,000. Clearly as a new show it's a risky venture for any sponsor. If the show bombs the sponsor gets associated with a failed project. But equally RTÉ are emphasising that if the show becomes a major success the sponsor is getting in early and can benefit accordingly from the association with a popular format.
Super Valu ditches Grey Helme
While retailer Super Valu has strong local links in Irish retailing, the company has opted to go with one of the major multi-national ad agencies operating in Ireland.
Super Valu has appointed McCann Erickson Dublin as its creative agency in Ireland. One of the most sought after accounts in Irish retail, Super Valu has 211 supermarkets throughout Ireland and it is part of the Musgrave Super Valu Centra Group that currently employs 1,400 staff. The previous holder of the account was agency Grey Helme.
Ray Kelly marketing director at Super Valu said Grey Helme, the incumbent, had done a very strong job on the brand over 13 years , but now was a good time for a change.
Orlaith Blaney, managing director of McCann Erickson, said there was an "obsession" about price-only communication, but its work with Super Valu would not only concentrate on this, but also give the brand "more resonance and meaning".
While McCann Erickson has offices in 130 countries and is part of the giant Interpublic Group, it is very much rooted in Ireland and traditional Irish firms and organisations like Shamrock Foods and Fáilte Ireland have entrusted their brands to the company over recent years.
Grey Helme is itself not entirely Irish in ownership terms, being a mix of Grey Global which is based in New York and the old Helme Partnership, which was an Irish owned agency which was acquired by Grey in 2004.
Guinness woes please Brazilians
One company's troubles is another's opportunity. News of the recent demise of Guinness sales in Ireland has even reached as far away as Brazil it would appear.
A Brazilian drink called Sagatiba has appointed a public relations agency to push the drink in Ireland on the basis of offering Irish drinkers an alternative to faltering brand leader Guinness. The PR firm handling the account is Eulogy! run by Irish man Adrian Brady.
Sagatiba is a cachaca, in the same way as Jameson is a whisky. Cachaca is a white Brazilian spirit and is the third-most drunk spirit in the whole world. Vodka, unsurprisingly is number one and gin is number five.
Currently, 99 per cent of all cachaca is consumed in Brazil but this is expected to change rapidly. With Guinness sales down 8 per cent year on year, the promoters of the new brand believe this trend provides a great opportunity for premium spirit brands to grab market share. Sagatiba is being distributed by Irish company, Brinkman Beverages.
Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie
