An Italian airline has chosen a Hollywood icon as global ambassador for its new marketing campaign.
Open Jaw attended a virtual press conference starring legendary actress Sharon Stone extolling the virtues of ITA Airways, the reincarnation of Alitalia, whose branding is not as familiar to North American audiences. Enter star power.
ITA Airways launched its new ‘Simply Italian’ campaign Monday featuring Stone, who has longstanding ties to Italy. The Hollywood star power is intended to help ITA grow its international brand in countries like the United States and Brazil.
Jeorg Eberhart, ITA’s CEO, said the goal of the campaign is to give passengers the full ‘Italian experience’, from the moment they step onto a flight.
“Flying should be an experience, not just time between departure and arrival,” Eberhart told journalists at a press conference Monday.
“Our role is to connect Italy to the world and bring the world closer to Italy, supporting tourism, international trade and the country’s global connectivity…but our ambition goes far beyond taking passengers from one destination to another.
“We want to hit them in a way that reflects the best of Italy, with warmth, style attention and genuine care. This is what sets us apart. We do not simply transport people, we host them in the ways Italians know how.”
Stone, who has lived in Italy at numerous points throughout her career, said her experience on ITA’s flights is a far cry from her first time visiting the country, when she was a 19-year-old fashion model in the days of in-flight smoking.
“They sent me to Milan to learn how to be a model, and I was of course in the back of the airplane,” she said. “I was on this really long, smoky flight, and I got off and I had never had jet lag before. I got off and felt like I was drunk… I didn’t know what was happening to me.”
ITA, she said, is a much more comfortable experience, in part because of the focus on Italian customs and culture.
“The food is wonderful because it’s Italian food and the service is wonderful because it’s Italian service,” Stone said. “The environment is great because it’s an Italian environment, and the care on the airline is great because it’s Italian care, which means it’s warm care, its not cold care. It’s really, really a pleasant journey.”
Eberhart said the airline, which also offers direct flights to Rome from Toronto, wants to strengthen its relevance outside of Italy. ITA’s focus is especially on the United States, which he called its most important non-domestic market.
“It’s both incoming tourism to Italy but also it’s outgoing business for the Italians,” he said. “I think it’s a good match and we have big plans for the US in the future.”
The campaign, which is already live in Italy, will launch in the US on 22SEPT.
