Vistara to bring new creative agency on board

Ogilvy India is the brand's on-record creative partner at present.

Airline brand Vistara, which is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA), is looking to appoint a new creative partner soon.

"Yes, we are in the process of appointing a creative agency to work on some specific projects for us," said the company spokesperson in an email, when asked about the creative pitch.

Presently, the marketing function at Vistara is led by Kishore Mardikar.

Recall that around this time last year, team Vistara appointed several communication partners, including Ogilvy & Mather (creative duties), Maxus and Neo@Ogilvy (media planning, media buying and digital duties) and MaXposure Media Group (for its in-flight magazine).

Design agency Ray+Keshavan helped name and create brand Vistara. Ray+Keshavan was founded by Sujata Keshavan and Ram Ray in 1989; since 2006, it has been part of WPP's global brand agency, Brand Union. Recently, Brand Union took over the firm completely.

The word 'vistara' means 'a limitless expanse', just like the endless horizon one sees while flying. "For a brand that intends to push the boundaries of the air travel experience, it seemed appropriate. We tested it across several countries and it scored very well for its phonetic qualities," said Sujata Keshavan in a 2014 interview with afaqs!.

BrandMusiq, a specialised sonic branding agency, has worked on building the sonic/audio identity of the brand.

Currently, the tagline that appears alongside the brand logo reads: 'Fly the new feeling'.

For the record, Tata Sons holds majority stake in Vistara (51 per cent) and Singapore Airlines holds the other 49 per cent. Vistara began operations in January this year. In April, the company completed '100 days in the skies'.

Recently, Vistara was in the news for offering a two per cent commission to travel agents, an apparent move to drive ticket volumes.

It remains to be seen what the brand's marketing brief to its soon-to-be-appointed creative partner will yield on the communication front.