“The client decided to allot the account following a visit by company officials earlier this week,” said Khanna. Grey edged past Everest Integrated Communications in the final analysis.

The mandate includes working on the airlines’ entire South Asian account, which also includes India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

For the record, Emirates had invited eight agencies for the pitching process, which was initiated almost a year back. In the second round, apart from Grey and Everest, the other two agencies, which were in the fray, included Ogilvy & Mather and Lowe.

The client has taken more than five months to choose between Grey and Everest. The criteria for short-listing the agencies included evaluation of the "network capabilities, understanding of the brief, creative/media capabilities and financials." While the first presentation was credential-based, the second one was relatively more exhaustive; and it included assessment of several factors including response to the brief by the client and other strategic inputs.