Legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant to promote THY brand

The FINANCIAL — Turkish Airlines (THY) has signed a contract with Kobe Bryant, the three-time winner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award, to promote the THY brand, according to Today's Zaman.

Bryant signed the contract at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, committing to appear in THY advertisements for the next two years. A statement from THY asserted that the commercials with Bryant will be shown globally but that the focus of the campaign will be on the US market and on the Far East and the Middle East, where the player has more popularity. In addition THY is improving and adding to its destinations in the Americas. The airline, which has been flying to New York and Chicago for a long time and added Toronto and Sao Paolo a couple of years ago, recently added Washington, D.C., as a destination, with Los Angeles coming soon.

As part of the deal, Bryant will participate in a number of public relations events for THY and special gatherings with his fans around the world, promoting the THY brand.

A statement quoted THY Chairman Hamdi Topçu, who indicated the company’s ambitious targets such as adding 23 new aircraft to the fleet by the end of 2011 and a number of new destinations around the world, along with increasing the frequency of flights on existing routes. “In line with our strategy of conducting communication through the field of sports, we have shaken hands with Kobe Bryant, the most popular figure in basketball and whose career is full of success, to effectively promote our major boost in capacity and new products to our customers both in target markets and the whole world,” he said.

Bryant also voiced his thoughts that he was filled with “a great joy” to be the one to try THY’s “excellent service” before everyone else.

The first THY commercial with Bryant will be aired in more than 80 countries in the first quarter of 2011. The advertisements will also appear on many other outlets including billboards, magazines, dailies and digital environment.