Aeroflot - Paint The Plane

Aeroflot - Paint The Plane

We have reported several times how airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines are aligning themselves with the world’s most popular sport – soccer/football – in order to build their brand names globally.

On a similar note, Russia’s Aeroflot in 2013 signed a 5-year sponsorship agreement with Manchester United that gave the airline an extensive set of rights to use the team’s logos and players in its marketing initiatives. The team will also use the Aeroflot fleet to travel to matches around Europe and worldwide.

Says Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev,

It’s a significant step for our first global partnership to be with one of the most successful and well-loved football clubs in the world. We believe that such a great club as Manchester United will help us to promote our brand worldwide.

In an activation of the partnership, Aeroflot recently challenged nine Manchester United stars to paint an Aeroflot plane on canvas. The Man Utd ‘artists’ involved were David De Gea, Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrera, Ben Amos, James Wilson, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Michael Carrick.

The campaign is led by an online video revolving around the three-minute challenge at Old Trafford where the players’ artistic flair was judged by vice captain Darren Fletcher – who selected the top three works, with eventually Herrera and Carrick being the only Man Utd players to show some kind of artistic talent.

An online competition offered fans a chance to win one of the nine signed paintings and two Business Class return flights with Aeroflot from Europe to Asia.