Eurotunnel is to stage a pitch for consumer PR support to help
consolidate its position as market leader in channel crossings and in
the face of fresh competition from low-cost airlines.
The company said this week it was interested in hearing from agencies
with lifestyle or travel expertise that can devise broadly-targeted
campaigns.
Media relations manager Kevin Charles said: 'We have had the initial
operations stage, we are now market leader and are consolidating that
position. We want to expand what we do in the consumer sector,
communicating the Eurotunnel messages of speed and ease of travel.'
Charles said an agency with some knowledge of French culture would be
'ideal' as the campaign would involve 'creating reasons for people to
travel'.
'This is about lifestyle rather than just travel. It is about selling
the French way of life, the cuisine for example, and saying that there
is more to France than cross-channel shopping. We are looking for an
agency to run a mass market campaign,' he explained.
'Initially we thought we wanted a agency specialising in travel PR, but
then we realised that there was an important message about French
lifestyle and culture to be communicated,'Charles added.
The company already uses Maidstone-based agency Edwards Harvey
Associates for campaigns to generate day-tripper traffic, and Citigate
Dewe Rogerson on financial PR. The former agency is expected to pitch
for the latest brief.
The successful agency will report to Charles, who heads an in-house UK
team of four.
Eurotunnel carries 2.6 million cars and 75,000 coaches a year on the
35-minute journey through the tunnel, which opened in 1994.
