Independent content and publishing agency Hardie Grant Media has been announced as the winner of the Virgin Australia publishing and sales contract following a competitive tender process.

The contract, which has previously been held with Pacific+, includes publishing of the monthly in-flight magazine and digital content creation for the Virgin Australia website and social media channels.

Hardie Grant Media managing director Nick Hardie-Grant commented: “We’re looking forward to partnering with such an exciting Australian brand as they go through a lot of positive change, both as a business and specifically with their content and publishing strategy.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in airline media as the landscape is changing so quickly and we’ll be working with Virgin Australia to help them navigate changing passenger behaviour, technology, new formats and the commercial opportunities that come with that”.

The contract also includes media sales in print, and Hardie Grant Media will be partnering with Virgin Australia’s internal advertising sales team to deliver commercial results for the magazine.

This marks quite a shift for Virgin Australia Voyeur, as Pacific+ had been the team behind the in-flight magazine since the airline’s inception in 2000.

The first issue of the magazine contracted to Hardie Grant Media will be July 2019.

Hardie Grant Media will manage the account out of its Sydney office with an editorial team yet to be announced.

Other Hardie Grant Media clients include Dan Murphy’s, Australian Unity and the Spirit of Tasmania, for whom the publisher managed a return on marketing investment of 1458 per cent.