Alitalia launched a new global brand campaign with the worldwide premiere of a new television commercial at the Nazionale Spazio Eventi in Rome, attended by hundreds of representatives of the global media and specially invited guests. The television commercial celebrates the Italian airline as it faces the future with renewed vigour and vitality, following a successful restructure in 2014, which saw it also introduce a series of enhancements and upgrades to its inflight product and fleet.

Cramer Ball, Alitalia’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Italy is the embodiment of beauty, warmth, passion, hospitality and a way of life celebrated the world over. It is an undisputed leader of style and innovative design. The Alitalia of today, as a national symbol, is imbued with the finest qualities for which this country is famous. It is with this spirit that we introduce our new global brand campaign, starting with a television commercial which presents the best of Italy and the importance that the country enjoys on the world stage.”

The new campaign showcases Alitalia as a modern airline, its commitment to excellence in all areas of its operations, and the pride and passion of its talented people, who are the driving force behind the progress the airline has made since its re-launch. It also strives to represent Italian excellence around the world, to promote a vibrant nation at the forefront of design and style, highlighting its arts, culture and landscapes.

Two weeks of video and photo shoots took place in a variety of locations including Alitalia’s hub at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and onboard its aircraft. The campaign’s photography collection was produced at studios in Milan.

Pierpaolo Ferrari, one of the most highly acclaimed fashion photographers in Italy, was commissioned by Alitalia to capture the nuances of Italian beauty, including a set of stunning images of its new uniform collection, designed by Milan based haute couturier Ettore Bilotta.

The campaign also integrates a series of web videos revealing aspects of Italian warmth and hospitality, the skill and experience which has propelled Alitalia along a remarkable renewal process, and a selection of interviews with the airline’s industry partners, who include exclusive and quintessentially Italian brands such as Poltrona Frau, Lavazza, Ettore Bilotta, diego dalla palma Milano, Cantine Ferrari, Atelier Fragranze Milano, and architect Marco Piva, who created the airline’s new ‘Casa Alitalia’ airport lounge designs.

The feature will be shown on global TV stations in major markets such as Italy, the USA, Brazil and Germany in both 60 and 30 second formats, and on social media channels, with still versions of the campaign appearing in print, digital and on outdoor channels. A strong focus will be placed on digital channels with a strategic presence on main news portals, entertainment websites and on social networks, and on mobile devices and tablets.

The Alitalia brand story has been visually interpreted by award-winning director Federico Brugia, whose work includes motion pictures, music videos and commercials for major brands including BMW, Damiani, Audi, and Dolce & Gabbana. His music industry collaborations include Elton John, Malika Ayane, and the late Luciano Pavarotti, among others.

Mr. Brugia said: “This short film has provided an opportunity to create a visual and emotional piece of work which connects Alitalia’s brand and vision directly with the heart and mind of the viewer. Whether they are Italian or from elsewhere around the world, we wanted to deliver the same message, and that is one of Italian passion and culture, expressed through the experience and achievements of its airline.”

The concept for the new campaign was created and developed by communication agency Leo Burnett Italia, part of Leo Burnett Worldwide, one of the world’s leading advertising agencies, and part of the giant Publicis Groupe. Media strategy and planning were managed by Starcom, leading worldwide media agency and referent agency for the Etihad Airways Partners group. The Italian carrier is 49 per cent owned by the UAE's Etihad Airways

Alitalia commissioned award-winning Italian singer Malika Ayane to provide the vocals for the title track of the television commercial, the timeless Italian song ‘Volare’. The singer, who is famous in Italy for her raw, emotional musical style, also performed the song live at the official launch event of the new advertising campaign in Rome.
 
The new campaign is on air from today and can be viewed on the Alitalia.com website.

On the 5th of December, Alitalia, the national flag carrier of Italy, welcomed its first new medium-haul interior to match the new brand style introduced in the airline’s long-haul cabins. This commences the major cabin refurbishment project of Alitalia’s short and medium fleet of 96 aircraft, and is scheduled to be completed by April 2016.
 
The project will commence with four aircraft to be retrofitted per week, which will match the airline’s plans to repaint each of the aircraft in the new livery that was launched in June this year. The refurbishment work on each aircraft will take around five days from start to finish, and more than 14,000 black leather seats, complete with elegant beige stitching, will be fitted on board the Alitalia aircraft. Taking design cues from their new Airbus A330 aircraft interiors, each seat will have new coloured headrests – beige for Business Class and red for Economy Class. Every plane will be fitted with new ‘wood effect’ bulkheads which will feature the brand new distinctive Alitalia logo.
 
“The aim is give a greater feel of Italian style and quality on board the aircraft that will hopefully attract new customers and retain existing ones.” Marco Martinasso, Alitalia’s Vice President of Marketing said. “We have shifted from a typically technical type of refurbishment which relied more on functionality, airworthiness and acceptable aesthetics to a new focus on customers and higher levels of service. We want our customers to experience a higher degree of comfort by providing a much better standard of cabin.”

Earlier this year, Alitalia unveiled a revamped brand livery at a lavish ceremony, with the first Airbus A330 rolled out in the new colors (video below).
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