A great way to fly, and advertise

Now let's hope SIA will be an even greater way to fly.


SIA's their biggest win
TBWA clinches airline's ad account replacing firm that gave birth to the Singapore Girl
Tuesday • April 17, 2007 * TODAY / Tor Ching Li

AFTER four months of intense screening and sizing up, the Singapore Girl has finally found a new chaperone: TBWA.
The advertising agency, which has its headquarters in New York, was yesterday declared the new creative agency of Singapore Airlines, replacing Batey Ads which has marketed the SIA brand for the past 35 years and conceptualised the Singapore Girl icon.
TBWA beat two other shortlisted contestants, DDB and Publicis, to clinch the sought-after Singapore Airlines (SIA) account.
The lucrative account, worth $50 million a year for the next five years, is something TBWA regional chief executive Philip Brett said he "would not have dreamt of" 10 years ago when the company started out with two people.
"It's the biggest win since we opened here, we're absolutely delighted," he said.
TBWA counts M1, Sentosa and Standard Chartered Bank as its clients locally. Its sister company, Tequila, won the Krisflyer account two years ago.
Other companies under TBWA globally include Apple, Adidas and Martell.
SIA executive vice-president for marketing and the region, Mr Huang Cheng Eng, said the process has been "a spirited and competitive one, with agencies submitting dynamic proposals to position the Airline's brand into the future".
Mr Huang said TBWA's creative concepts suited the brand positioning of SIA in the coming years.
"SIA remains committed to its underlying branding, emphasised by the Singapore Girl as an iconic presentation of the service customers expect onboard SIA flights. This is part of our commitment to be a premium, full-service, network airline and an industry leader."
While no details of the selection or bids were provided, SIA spokesperson Stephen Forshaw said the new branding campaign would be rolled out "as early as there is a practicable opportunity".
The change in creative agency will not affect the airline's media buying agency with MEC "at this point in time", said the statement.
However, SIA added that "in line with the airline's commitment to regularly review the procurement of goods and services, market reviews will become a more common feature at periodic intervals".
more passengers, more cargo
Singapore Airlines Ltd filled more of its combined passenger and freight space in March, as it carried more travellers in flights to destinations such as Australia.
The airline packed an average 70.4 per cent of its combined passenger and cargo capacity in March, compared with 69.8 per cent a year before, it said in a statement to Singapore's stock exchange today.
It flew 1.63 million passengers last month, 10.1 per cent higher than a year earlier.