Singapore Airlines (SIA) unveiled last week its newest advertising campaign. This could have gone totally unnoticed if the airline did not change its main selling message from its iconic Singapore Girl to its service…
SINGAPORE- Launched some 40 years ago with the birth of the new Singapore Airlines, advertising campaign presented an iconic Asian flight attendant, dressed in a Malay-style “Baju Kabaya” – in reality designed by French fashion designer Pierre Balmain. Since that time, the gentle smile and incredible grace of the Singapore Girl went all around the world, becoming the most powerful marketing tools and brand supports of any Asian airline. Which did not always go without generating controversy. Some groups protested already against the overuse of the Singapore Girl image, deemed as sexist and degrading for Asian woman judged as submissive.
Those protesters will probably feel relieved now: SIA new brand campaign “The Lengths We Go To”, focuses more on the passenger’s experience than on the SIA Girl’s appeal. Singapore Airlines wants indeed to showcase the Airline’s unwavering commitment to putting the customer at the heart of everything it does, in all classes of travel. The SIA Girl does not disappear, she just goes slightly to the background.
The global campaign, which will run on television, print and digital platforms, turns the spotlight on the lengths to which the Airline goes to make every customer feel special. It is the culmination of a wide-ranging review which started a year ago, aimed at focusing the Airline’s marketing communications on the attributes that set it apart from the rest of the industry. Customers across different age, income and gender groups were interviewed as part of the review, which was conducted with creative agency TBWA.
Explaining the thinking behind the brand campaign, Singapore Airlines’ Executive Vice President Commercial, Mr Mak Swee Wah, said: “Making every customer feel at home when they fly with us has always been the cornerstone of our service philosophy. Our customers’ preferences have always been the foremost consideration in the curation rocess for our new products which are sourced from all over the world. This new campaign sets out to reaffirm this ommitment.”
Singapore Airlines’ efforts to deliver the best travel experience to its customers are epitomised by the iconic Singapore Girl, who plays the protagonist in three short
features.
“The scenarios in the advertisements are examples of our commitment to delivering a special experience to our customers, with the Singapore Girl symbolising the lengths to which we go to bring them the feeling of home on every flight. The essence of the Singapore Girl and her gentle, caring ways remain especially relevant today. In this ever-changing world, it is even more important for service excellence to be the key differentiator,” added Mr Mak.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
