This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(March 2012) |
Industry | Media |
---|---|
Founded | 1985London, England | in
Parent | WPP Group |
Website | spafax |
Spafax is an international travel media network which provides content technology and media assets at scale for airlines, along with licensing rights to movies, TV, audio and video games for use in airline in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems.
Spafax was founded in London in 1985 and is now part of WPP Group PLC, in the Specialist Communications & PR division. [1]
Spafax started as Bath Spa Factors in Bath, England in the 1930s as a garage servicing Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. From there, they evolved into a parts distributor with a European network. In order to communicate with the sales force, Bath Spa Factors decided to take advantage of Betamax to create films with local talents, from there a film division was born. Spafax Television was one of the earliest customized programme producers that built up a blue chip client base that included the likes of Reuters and Marconi. And then, Duncan Hilleary, one of Spafax's earliest contributors, arrived on the scene in 1986 and pitched a plan for an airline network.
He and filmmaker Jeremy Hunter partnered with the newly named Spafax Airline Network resulted in a contract to produce advertising and video productions for British Airways. The video production, a monthly magazine-style program called The World Traveler Show featuring different locations around the world, led to contracts with different airlines, including Singapore and Northwest.
In 1993, Hilleary pioneered the outsourcing of in-flight entertainment to British Airways (BA) with a dedicated team located in a BA office in Buckingham Palace Road and re-launched BA's IFE with a new programming strategy, a new graphic identity and media brand. This new approach was also one of the first to offer tangible benefits to the airline in the form of substantial savings against the BA (IFE) budget.[ citation needed ] From 1995 to 2004, Spafax has expanded to Canada, Asia, South America, and the United Arab Emirates. Spafax now has 8 offices worldwide from London to Dubai.[ citation needed ]
Spafax office locations:
Part of Spafax's services include publishing with a specialization in custom publishing.
Spafax's main clients are airlines, which started the company. They offer custom in-flight entertainment and branding services to their clients; from publishing to in-flight entertainment media.[ citation needed ]
Advertising and media sales is part of Spafax's services. This aspect of their service is created to sell advertising.[ citation needed ]
In lieu of current trends and digital development, customized digital branding is a part of the services offered by Spafax division, Spafax Studio.
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the second-oldest continuously operating airline, having been founded in November 1920; it began international passenger flights in May 1935. Qantas is an acronym of the airline's original name, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, as it originally served Queensland and the Northern Territory, and is popularly nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo". Qantas is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Emirates is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates. Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai's Investment Corporation of Dubai. As of 2019, it was also the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 3,600 flights per week from its hub at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. It operates to more than 150 cities in 80 countries across all continents through its fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. Cargo activities are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.
Malaysia Airlines Berhad, formerly known as Malaysian Airline System, and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. The company headquarters are at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In August 2014, the Malaysian government's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional—which then owned 69.37% of the airline—announced its intention to purchase the remaining ownership from minority shareholders and delist the airline from Malaysia's stock exchange, thereby renationalising the airline. It operates primarily from its main hub Kuala Lumpur International Airport to destinations throughout Asia, Oceania and Europe, as well as its secondary hub Kota Kinabalu International Airport to Taipei and Tokyo (Narita).
Singapore Airlines is the flag carrier of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in the corporate branding segment. The airline has been ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax since the 1990s, and it has also been ranked as the world's best airline five times.
British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of London Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlines and was described as the "Second Force" in the 1969 Edwards report. It was formed by the UK's second-largest, independent charter airline Caledonian Airways taking over British United Airways (BUA), then the largest British independent airline and the United Kingdom's leading independent scheduled carrier. The carrier slogan was Let's go British Caledonian in the 1970s and We never forget you have a choice in the 1980s. The BUA takeover enabled Caledonian to realise its long-held ambition to transform itself into a scheduled airline. The merged entity eventually became the UK's foremost independent, international scheduled airline.
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgin Australia. Jetstar is part of Qantas' two brand strategy of having Qantas Airways for the premium full-service market and Jetstar for the low-cost market. Jetstar carries 8.5% of all passengers travelling in and out of Australia.
Fiji Airways is the flag carrier of Fiji and operates international services from its hubs in Fiji to 15 countries and 27 cities including, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (Oceania), Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada and the United States. It has an extended network of 108 international destinations through its codeshare partners. The Fiji Airways Group brings in 64 percent of all visitors who fly to Fiji, employs over 1000 employees, and earns revenues of over FJD$815 million (US$390m).
Landor Associates was a brand consulting firm founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, who pioneered some research, design, and consulting methods that the branding industry still uses.
In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2+1⁄2-day flight between Europe and America. After World War II, IFE was delivered in the form of food and drink services, along with an occasional projector movie during lengthy flights. In 1985 the first personal audio player was offered to passengers, along with noise cancelling headphones in 1989. During the 1990s, the demand for better IFE was a major factor in the design of aircraft cabins. Before then, the most a passenger could expect was a movie projected on a screen at the front of a cabin, which could be heard via a headphone socket at their seat. Now, in most aircraft, private IFE TV screens are offered.
Say Media is a technology and advertising firm. The company provides a publishing platform (Tempest) to professional publishers and sells advertising across that platform and extended network of sites. Say Media has offices in San Francisco, Portland, NY, London, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and Detroit and is privately held.
Custom media is a marketing term referring broadly to the development, production and delivery of media designed to strengthen the relationship between the sponsor of the medium and the medium's audience. It is also called branded media, customer media, member media, content marketing, and custom publishing in the US; contract publishing and customer publishing in the UK. In-flight magazines, sponsored by airlines, were one of the first custom media and remain typical of the genre. While other channels have had significant success, the customer magazine is the most successful example of the genre.
Kantar Group is a global data, insights, and consulting company based in London, England. It was founded in 1992, and has approximately 30,000 employees in over 90 countries working in various research disciplines, including brand guidance, brand strategy, social media monitoring, advertising effectiveness, consumer and shopper behaviour, and public opinion.
British airline British Caledonian (BCal) suffered a series of major setbacks in the 1980s as a result of several geopolitical events that occurred during that decade. These events significantly weakened BCal operationally and financially. They were the main factors that contributed to the airline's demise in 1988.
STARLUX Airlines is a Taiwanese international airline company headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, and operated its first flight from Taipei to Macau on 23 January 2020.
Premium economy class, also known by brand names which vary by company, is a travel class offered on many airlines. It is usually positioned between standard economy class and business class in terms of price, comfort, and available amenities. In 1991, EVA Air was the first to introduce Evergreen Class, becoming the first airline to offer this class of service. It was widely acknowledged that the premium economy class has become a standard reflection of what the economy class was like several decades ago. In some countries, this class has emerged as a response from governments and companies requiring economy class for travel done by staff.
Wavemaker is the second largest media agency network in the world, with domestic and international clients such as Vodafone, L'Oréal, IKEA, Paramount Pictures, Chanel, GE, Xerox, Colgate-Palmolive, Chevron, Beiersdorf, Tiffany, Huawei, and Mondelēz International. Wavemaker has global billings of over US$38 billion and it is part of GroupM and WPP plc.
Maxposure Media Group, stylized as MaXposure Media, is Asia's largest Content Marketing company in the genres of lifestyle, luxury, travel, hospitality, retail, enthusiasts, automobile, aviation, entertainment and real estate. It offers magazines, digital content, video, social media, mobile apps, augmented realty, A.I., promotions and events. It was founded by Vikas Johari and Jorge Arauz in Coral Gables, Florida. The CEO & Managing Director is Prakash Johari. Maxposure has offices throughout the world with headquarters in the United States, and offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Bangladesh, India, United Arab Emirates.
An inflight magazine is a free magazine distributed via the seats of an airplane, by an airline company, or in an airport lounge.
Bookmark Content and Communications, sometimes shortened to Bookmark or Bookmark Content, is an international content marketing and communications agency. It is a member of the Spafax Group, a WPP company. It was rebranded in 2016 after the merger of Spafax Content Marketing and Forward Worldwide and operates out of nine cities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Bookmark specializes in content marketing, digital marketing, public relations, CRM, social media, magazine publishing and media sales. The company serves a number of major clients in industries including luxury, travel and hospitality, finance, real estate, automotive, beauty, and retail.