RACQUET RETURN PROGRAM!

Emirates Rallies for Kids' Tennis

Serves up Second Annual Racquet Return Program at Rogers Cup

TORONTO – Emirates airline is serving up its Racquet Return Program at Rogers Cup for the second year in a row. For the duration of the tennis tournament beginning August 15th through August 23rd, Emirates’ will collect used tennis racquets in support of The Doug Philpott Inner City Children’s Tennis Fund which reaches more than 4,500 inner city-youth each summer.
The continuation of the successful program was confirmed by the airline’s sponsorship renewal, celebrating a second term for Emirates and Canada’s largest tennis tournament. The Rogers Cup represents the last 10 world attendance records for a Sony Ericsson WTA event and draw an estimated attendance of 155,000 people, making it one of the most prestigious tennis events in the world as well as a terrific source of inspiration for aspiring young tennis stars.
Last year’s program helped outfit many of Toronto children with a tennis racquet of their own to ensure they continue playing beyond the summer months.

“Our summer tennis camps are offered free to Toronto children and youth, ages 5 to 15, who would otherwise not have access to such activities,” said Beth Dea, Executive Director, Doug Philpott Fund. “Our goal this year is to collect 1,000 racquets for next year’s program so that we can continue promoting health and physical wellbeing to inner-city children by providing skill-developing tennis programs.”

Tennis racquets, preferably junior-sized ones, will be collected by Emirates representatives at the main entrance gate at Rexall Centre, York University. Racquet donations will earn visitors a chance to win two round trip business class tickets to Dubai aboard the brand new Emirates A380.

“We’re excited to extend the Racquet Return Program for the entire duration of the Rogers Cup tournament,” said Mary Heron, Emirates Manager Canada. “We were really impressed with the support of the program that we saw last year, and are delighted to be able to keep up the momentum with our renewed involvement in the tournament. We look forward to growing the program and continuing to showcase our support of junior tennis in Canada.”
The Racquet Return Program follows on an initial investment in Canadian tennis development by the airline: in 2007, Emirates launched a bursary program to support Tennis Canada’s Davis and Fed Cup teams.

The 2009 goal for The Emirates Racquet Return Program is to collect 1,000 tennis racquets which will be distributed among 11 summer camps in Toronto. Support of the Doug Phillpot Inner-city Children’s Fund will provide Toronto inner-city children ongoing access to tennis during the program’s camps and beyond.
The Emirates Airline Racquet Return Program is supported with an advertising campaign on 680 News which includes 38 radio spots; it is also supported at the Rogers Cup event through Tennis Canada and public outreach efforts.


Emirates and Sports Sponsorship
This year, Emirates announces its renewed sponsorship of the Rogers Cup: a two year commitment covering men’s and women’s events in both Toronto and Montreal. The sponsorship represents a key investment in Canada where Emirates launched a three-times weekly non-stop operation from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to Dubai in 2007.

Emirates has a long-standing commitment to sport sponsorships and has been involved in a wide range of sporting events and teams around the world for over 20 years. In 1987, only two years after its inception, Emirates began to build up its sponsorship portfolio and currently the airline is linked to some of the world’s leading sport events, spread across six continents that Emirates flies non-stop to from Dubai.

Today that portfolio includes prestigious properties such as the FIFA World Cup, Arsenal football Club, AC Milan, the Breeders’ Cup World Championship and Godphin, horse racing’s most successful international stable. In Canada Emirates is also the official sponsor of Woodbine Race Tracks.
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Fly Emirates’ A380 from Toronto to Dubai for up to

$1,000 off

Emirates Airline Offering Two Day World Sale August 11th and 12th

TORONTO – August 6, 2009 – Emirates is launching a two day world sale in Canada for the first time ever offering $150 off roundtrip Economy Class and $1,000 off roundtrip Business Class fares*.

Canadian travellers booking a roundtrip ticket on August 11th and 12th 2009 exclusively at www.emirates.com/worldsale will receive the special pricing during Emirates’ “Two Day World Sale”. The sale is valid for travel originating from Toronto’s Pearson Airport to any of Emirates’ global destinations between August 28th, 2009 and March 31st, 2010, with minor restrictions that apply**.

***
Emirates services three flights weekly from Toronto non-stop to Dubai aboard the lavish A380 – the world’s largest aircraft. It serves 101 cities around the world, with a young and technologically advanced aircraft fleet. Flights of fancy begin by relaxing in dedicated airport lounges outfitted with hip full-service bar, luxurious seating and large plasma screen televisions.

On-board, all passengers flying on Emirates are privy to the airline’s award-winning 1,200 on-demand channel entertainment system, multi-course gourmet meals and personal mini-bar, as well as by-the-minute service from a multilingual crew. Travellers have the opportunity to mix and mingle at the onboard lounge, a bar in the sky offering the best of champagne and food throughout the flight.

Business Class passengers are spoiled by additional amenities like lie-flat beds and fresh pyjamas, use of chauffeured transport services and showers in the sky, while First Class passengers enjoy all of these luxuries plus private on-board suites. In short, Emirates provides all the services and amenities needed to arrive refreshed and ready for rest of your journey.
For more information about this promotion or to book a trip taking advantage of the “Two-Day World Sale” please visit, www.emirates.com/worldsale.


* Savings of $150 are applicable off of roundtrip Economy Class fares and savings of $1,000 off of roundtrip Business Class fares sold only via emirates.com/ca between August 11, 2009 at 12:01AM (ADT) and August 12, 2009 at 11:59PM (PDT). All travel must originate in Canada on Emirates non-stop transatlantic flight EK242. Discount is applicable to all Emirates destinations. Travel must be completed by March 31, 2010. Fares quoted include applicable discounts. No redemption necessary. This fare promotion is subject to any required governmental approval. Fares are subject to terms and conditions as posted. Savings are only applicable to fares that are available at time of booking.
** Blackout periods apply. Sale not applicable for bookings between December 5thand December 24th,
2009.
*** First image displays first class suite, not applicable for Two-Day sale.

– 30 –

The power of a great idea

By Jeff Lake, APR

Just imagine what you would do if your most prized possession was damaged by careless airline baggage handlers.

Or imagine what you would do to live in a tropical paradise and be paid $150,000 to do it.

One Halifax musician, Dave Carroll, knew exactly what to do when United Airlines damaged his $4,000 Taylor guitar and refused to compensate him for the broken instrument.

Carroll’s idea was for he and his band, Sons of Maxwell, to write a song and produce a $150 video about the experience called “United Breaks Guitars”. He posted it on YouTube and only a short week later, millions of people across the world were aware of the story through international television and newspaper coverage. To date, almost 3 million people have viewed it on YouTube.

His idea is a runaway hit. He’s received thousands of e-mails from people who have been mistreated by uncaring companies. More than 500 stories have been published and he told Rolling Stone magazine his personal website has gone from 40 to 50 hits a week to more than 50,000.

Sales of Sons of Maxwell’s eight albums and Carroll’s solo disc have increased from “one or two a day online, to probably hundreds.” He told the magazine other airlines have offered him free trips to experience their customer service, and Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars personally telephoned, offering two guitars of his choice and props to use in the second video about the incident.

Carroll’s video demonstrates the incredible power of social media and its ability to influence corporations. Within days of the video’s release, United Airlines said it had seen the error of its ways and made every effort to make good. Now, Carroll and his band are about to release a follow-up video that focuses on the exploits of a corporate spokeswoman at United who steadfastly refused to pay a penny of compensation to the guitar-picking Haligonian.

Then there is the “Best Job in the World”…
The campaign has won the top awards for the best PR, direct marketing and online campaign at the International Cannes Advertising Festival. It’s the first time in the history of the Festival that this has happened.

The accolades and worldwide recognition are a result of a campaign idea developed by a Australian tourism board to promote a small island off the Great Barrier Reef. They had a crazy idea that perhaps people would like to be paid $150,000 to spend six months exploring the island and sharing their adventures with the rest of the world.

This was essentially a well-publicized online job search conducted through social media for a new "caretaker" for Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. Done on a comparatively paltry marketing budget of just $1.7 million dollars and reliant on fortuitous PR and word of mouth, the campaign achieved stunning results, including over 34,000 video entries from applicants in 200 countries, and more than 7 million visitors to the site who generated nearly 500,000 votes.

In Canada, The Globe and Mail ran glowing features on the “Best Job in the World” while television newscasts and entertainment programs breathlessly promoted the campaign. The idea was brilliant. If the Queensland Tourism Board had used traditional methods to attract media attention it likely wouldn’t have worked. Or if it had extended an invitation to The Globe and Mail to send a full-time employee to the area to do a feature, the newspaper would probably have declined the opportunity.

But the campaign was irresistible. It used video to showcase the beauty of Queensland. It appealed to people’s fantasies about living in paradise. And it was open to anyone in the world. The public’s response and overwhelming media coverage says it all.

“United Breaks Guitars” and “The Best Job in the World” struck a chord with our imaginations. They were extremely creative pieces that generated unbelievable results.

That’s the power of a great idea.