Eurofighter PR first

The European consortium behind the pounds 42bn Eurofighter project

is to launch an international advertising and public relations campaign

to promote the jet fighter to foreign governments.

The group, which includes British Aerospace (BAe) and Daimler-Benz

Aerospace, has appointed Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper and Biss Lancaster to

handle the business, with a brief to project the plane as the world’s

most advanced combat aircraft.

The communications programme - believed to be the first of its kind for

a military product - is expected to launch next year.

It will target key opinion formers in foreign military establishments

responsible for purchasing aviation equipment, as well as generating a

positive public image for the product.

The Eurofighter project, which is jointly funded by the UK, Germany,

Spain and Italy, has been plagued by controversy over the cost and

performance of the aircraft, with some critics suggesting that it will

have a limited export market when it enters service early next

century.

BAe recently hired a legal team to counter allegations, made in a

forthcoming BBC Panorama documentary, that the plane has performed badly

in trials.

Last year, Airbus Industries appointed Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper to create a

pounds 15m global campaign backing its civilian passenger aircraft in an

attempt to fend off competition from US aircraft manufacturer, Boeing.

This article was first published on Marketing