Media Release 11 May 2007

Air New Zealand's Pimp My Plane best online ad campaign

Air New Zealand's funky online "Pimp My Plane" promotion - which allowed punters to virtually decorate an A320 aircraft with everyone from bling and leopard-print to souped-up wings - last night won the best online ad campaign award at the 2007 People's Choice NetGuide Web Awards.

Another hugely popular Air New Zealand online initiative, grabaseat, was a finalist in the same category, along with 42 Below.

Air New Zealand General Manager Internet Nicki Garraway said today that the Online and Innovations in-house teams - who developed both campaigns - were stoked with the win.

Pimp My Plane was developed and designed to promote the recent sell-out MTV Mile High Gig.

The online promotion enabled customers to create the A320 of their wildest dreams by choosing from a selection of outrageous paint jobs, wings and things, rims and tints and bling (including chunky gold medallions and fluffy dice). One of the stand-out features was a "Quick! The boss is coming!" link, which defaulted at a click to a highly technical spreadsheet.

"The MTV Mile High Gig was completely new territory for us and the team knew we needed an online promotion that was humorous, funky and edgy. It's fair to say that this campaign pushed the boundaries of our brand!" Ms Garraway said today.

"We're rapt that Pimp My Plane has resonated so well with our customers and we're thrilled to have been publicly recognised for a promotion the team is incredibly proud of."

Ms Garraway said the award followed a number of successful initiatives designed by Air New Zealand's in-house teams, including grabaseat - which recently hit 100,000 sales - and the new check-in online option.

"We've got some hugely talented people working at Air New Zealand to develop these innovative online solutions for our customers - there's a heap more on the way!"

ENDS