Emirates sets new standard for airlines, but will its master plan fly?

By David Grossman

A billboard on an Oakland city bus touts complimentary chauffer-driven limousine service for first- and business-class passengers flying to Dubai and beyond on Emirates Airlines. Although it might seem an unlikely place to plug an airline based 8,000 miles away, this is part of a much larger advertising campaign for a new nonstop flight linking this rapidly growing Middle East city with San Francisco, Emirates' fifth gateway in North America.

Before the ads, few locals had likely heard of Emirates or Dubai. Then a radio blitz, newspaper ads and several well-publicized media events heralded the arrival of this new airline. In San Francisco's financial district, the walls of an entire subway station were plastered with billboards and columns dressed up as palm trees to advertise exotic Emirates destinations. "Everybody in the San Francisco Bay Area knows who Emirates is today", says Terry Brodt of Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

While everyone may now know the Emirates name, the real targets of the ad campaign are the corporate travel managers and travel agents serving the many high-tech, bio-tech and financial services corporations located in San Francisco and nearby Silicon Valley. Who else would pony up $11,000 or more to fly their corporate travelers in Emirates business class, or almost $18,000 for a private first-class suite on the 16-hour nonstop journey to Dubai and beyond?

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2009-01-27-emirates-airlines_N.htm