Nationwide brands itself on an airplane.

Skybus Airlines and Nationwide unveiled the airline’s first “branded” airplane. The Airbus A319 displays a large Nationwide logo and the tagline, “Nationwide is On Your Side,” on the exterior of its fuselage.

“At Skybus, our goal is to provide outrageously low fares to our passengers – fares significantly lower than what Columbus passengers are currently experiencing,” said Bill Diffenderffer, Skybus CEO. “One of the ways we are able to do this is by offering both traditional and nontraditional marketing opportunities – like advertising on our planes. We’re excited and proud to partner with Nationwide, another Columbus-based, hometown company, on our first co-branded plane.”

Skybus is believed to be the only U.S.-based domestic carrier to currently make exterior fuselage space available to advertisers. Advertising opportunities are available on all Skybus planes as well as on the interior of the plane, allowing advertisers to create a complete “brand experience” for passengers. Nationwide will also place branded images inside the plane, including on the plane’s tray tables, overhead bins and rest-room doors.

“This is another example of how innovation will help us cut through the clutter,” said Jim Lyski, Nationwide’s chief marketing officer. “We’re excited to be the first to demonstrate how this new medium can deliver our brand to consumers on a grand scale.”

Nationwide has introduced a series of innovative marketing efforts in the past year, most notably, the most talked about ad from this year’s Super Bowl, featuring Kevin Federline.