Malaysia Airlines is inviting agencies to bid for their Global Channel Planning and Media Buying business. Invitations have been sent to incumbent Starcom, GroupM, Universal McCann, OMD and Havas. For year ending July 2011, Malaysia Airlines total media spend was RM31.5 million.

In a long drawn pitch since the middle of last year, Malaysia Airlines awarded its creative branding business to Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia in March this year. Others in the running were shortlisted agencies Draftfcb and M&C Saatchi. Ogilvy created a through-the-line campaign to launch the airline's new A380 service between Kuala Lumpur and London.

Malaysia Airlines also took the lead in social media with the launch of the Log Out Experience on the Facebook platform, offered exclusively through BETTER Sdn Bhd, to announce the launch of the new Airbus A380. Group CEO Ahamd Jauhari Yahya and Puan Zahrah Zaid, Head of Human Capital for MAS, brought back the A380 from Toulouse in France to KL late last month with an entourage of 80 people.