• by Karl Greenberg , May 1, 2007

Eos Airlines, a high-end airline offering service that uses 757 jets refitted to contain 48 suites is launching a campaign, "Uncrowded. Uncompromising." Eos offers 32 flights per week between New York's JFK Airport and London's Stansted Airport.

The effort centers on creative that extols the benefits of more space, fewer people, more service, and less rush. One ad shows an affluent young couple arriving at the airport with less than an hour before their international flight. The airline offers curbside guides to assist with fast-track check-in, allowing for arrival 45 minutes prior to departure.

Another shows a tennis stadium, with two fans alone in a large roped-off area, as an attendant stands nearby. Headline: "Uncrowded in a Crowded World." A forthcoming newspaper ad uses blue velvet rope to separate editorial copy from the Eos message.

The blue velvet ropes will be central to Eos-sponsored events in New York and London. In New York, street teams will also carry velvet ropes to create instant private space on city streets.

Print advertising will run in leading business and travel periodicals. The effort targets premium class travelers in the finance, entertainment and fashion industries, among others. The work is via Mullen, which became the agency-of-record for Eos in January of this year. Initial spending is $6 million.

Adam Komack, senior vice president/marketing at Eos, says the campaign is not the first for the airline, which launched last October, but "it's the first that defines what we do in an emotional and rational way. Previously, we focused on better, cheaper and faster. But we are creating the total travel experience."

He said Eos will run sponsorships wherein it will sell tickets to such events as fashion shows, where one gets access to a viewing area cordoned by blue velvet rope--the brand signature.

Komack said the company will expand its ad reach to lifestyle and travel magazines like The New Yorker and Travel and Leisure.

"We target business travelers," he says, "and we have focused on business publications in the past, but our customers play hard, so we also target high-end leisure as well."

He says the primary competition is legacy airlines' first-class seats, with some private-jet travelers. "We are getting people out of first and business classes of traditional airlines. The value equation speaks to them, since we are 25 percent lower than business class or first class in legacy airlines."

The airline launched its third flight two weeks ago and plans to expand in the fourth quarter this year. "We are planning multiple city pairs and multiple flights. There's a high value in this model, and it's not the business traditional carriers are in."