Press Release Details

NEW AVIS TV CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS CUSTOMER APPRECIATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO 'TREAT PEOPLE LIKE PEOPLE'

March 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM EDT

PARSIPPANY, N.J., March 23, 2011 - Every year, Avis Rent A Car receives thousands of letters, telephone calls and emails from its customers, thanking Avis employees who have done whatever it took to deliver an outstanding rental experience. To celebrate the hard work and personal caring of its employees who routinely provide extra effort and exceed customer expectations, Avis has developed a series of new TV commercials which feature first-person accounts of excellence in customer service.

The campaign launched with three commercials, each of which depicts a true story told to Avis by its customers. These include the stories told by:

  • Susan Boles, who arrived late at night in Fresno due to a delayed flight and was pleasantly surprised to find Avis employee Debbie Jones keeping the counter open just for her when all the other counters were closed for the night.
  • Steve Townsend, who returned home from Seattle to discover he was missing a shoe. After a quick call and a careful search by Avis employee Bob Noll, the missing shoe was located and returned to its rightful owner.
  • Lynn Hurley*, whose husband arrived at his destination and found his six-feet-seven-inches height was too much for his reserved rental vehicle. Avis employee Barbara Brown saw the problem and acted to get a larger vehicle for Mr. Hurley* before he needed to ask.

"For nearly 50 years, Avis employees have proven to be warm, respectful, empathetic and approachable people who go to extraordinary lengths to serve their customers' needs. All of that goes into why we say that 'We try harder' when it comes to meeting the needs of our customers," said Tom Gartland, executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer care for Avis Budget Group, parent company of Avis. "Our new marketing campaign shows that Avis employees understand and demonstrate every day that we are 'in the business of treating people like people.'"

The campaign includes the new TV spots which will air during coverage of PGA Golf tournaments throughout the year, supported by print advertisements in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Ads will also be prominently featured in magazines such as The Economist, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Wired and Conde Nast Traveler as well as online media and airport terminal displays.

The television spots were created by Avis' agency of record, McCann Erickson and directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck (Blades of Glory and The Switch).

"Following a year of strong financial results, we are entering a new phase of investing for growth," said Mr. Gartland. "The new marketing campaign is one of several initiatives we have launched to grow revenue, increase brand equity, and celebrate our renowned customer service and the employees who make it happen each and every day."

For more information or to view the commercials, visit www.avis.com/tv.

*Renters' names have been changed.

About Avis
Avis Rent A Car System, LLC and its subsidiaries operate one of the world's leading car rental brands, providing business and leisure customers with a wide range of services at approximately 2,200 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Latin American / Caribbean region. Avis is one of the world's top brands for customer loyalty, ranking as the number one car rental company in the Brand Keys® Customer Loyalty Engagement Index for the past eleven years. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR). For more information, visit www.avis.com.