Spirit Airlines hires Tombras to lift its reputation

Spirit Airlines has appointed Tombras as its agency of record, handling creative, media, PR, social and CRM. The agency is tasked with changing perceptions of the airline from a low-cost carrier associated with negative consumer criticism. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Spirit declined to name its prior agencies. Tombras was awarded the business without a formal review. “There’s a huge gap in perception between people that fly Spirit and people that haven’t,” said Tombras President Dooley Tombras. “Spirit hasn’t been out telling their story. As a result of that, the story gets told in a lot of different ways in places on the internet. We know that if people fly Spirit, they have a very positive perception of it. It’s a great challenge for an agency to tell the story of the great things that Spirit is doing.” In a 2014 campaign, Spirit tried to capitalize on the negativity associated with the airline by amplifying some of the hate it received online. The appointment of Tombras comes just a day after Spirit announced plans to launch new offerings on its flights next month including bundled fares, allowing passengers to pay higher prices for flights with perks including onboard snacks, priority check-in and boarding and WiFi. The airline will continue to offer unbundled fares in which passengers have the option to buy add-on perks for an additional charge. Spirit is also allowing flyers to change or cancel any Spirit reservation without being charged a fee. “What we realized now is that we were sort of ceding other markets to other airlines,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie told CNBC on Tuesday. “Now we’re saying, ‘No, we can still do what we were doing before, but we’re also going to compete for people who are willing or want a little bit more of a premium feel and would pay for that.’” The changes come two weeks after Spirit estimated that its second-quarter revenue would fall more than it previously expected, due primarily to weaker non-ticket revenue, which includes add-on fees. In March, JetBlue Airways and Spirit dropped their plans to merge after a federal judge blocked the potential deal due to antitrust concerns. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here Branding and naming Lania Rittenhouse, VP of guest experience, brand and communications for Spirit Airlines, said Tombras’ previous “track record of creative storytelling that shakes up conversations around brands” was one of the key reasons for choosing the agency. Tombras is expected to launch a brand campaign for Spirit later this year. Spirit hasn’t been a high-flyer when it comes to advertising. The carrier spent $9 million on marketing and advertising expenses in 2023, compared to $9.2 million and $7.1 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively, according to its latest annual report. “When an agency takes over for a brand that has been advertising a lot you hope to have a breakthrough campaign that can have an incremental impact. But given the fact that Spirit has not been advertising in a big way, we have the opportunity here to drive even greater impact than normal,” Dooley Tombras said. He cited Spirit’s distinct yellow branding and its unique name as pluses that can be utilized in future marketing. Tombras recently picked up business with several Kellanova brands but lost Zaxby’s, an account it declined to defend, to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Tombras also helped launch Bark’s dog airline, though Tombras said that was not related to the Spirit account. “Tombras is having a big year as it relates to flying,” Tombras joked.

Spirit Airlines hires Tombras to lift its reputation

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