Airport mall spends dollars 5m on image lift

HONG KONG: The Airport Authority (AA) is relaunching its SkyMart retail mall through a HKdollars 5 million (USdollars 641,000) campaign to position it as a competitive and attractive alternative to downtown shopping facilities. The repositioning drive includes a revamped logo, a 60-second television commercial, press advertisements in local and foreign media and exposure in transit media, airlines and hotels. J. Walter Thompson handled the campaign for the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) facility. The agency's group creative director Poh Hwee Beng, said the logo's theme is: "Take the energy of Hong Kong with you", to symbolise the energy and dynamism of the city. The AA's commercial director, Hans Bakker, believes it's crucial to expand SkyMart's image. "When people think about airport shopping, duty free comes to their mind and that's about it. But at HKIA we have over 150 outlets which puts us on a par with Hong Kong's premier shopping malls," he said. Under the integrated campaign, the AA is introducing branded premium items such as clothing and accessories. The promotional drive will also highlight several initiatives that the AA is undertaking. "HKIA was voted the best airport in the world for 2001 by a UK travel research company, Skytrax. By adopting a higher profile we want to get the message across that because of SkyMart and our other attractions, HKIA is a destination in its own right." An expansion of the airport's east hall is in the pipeline to increase the number of retail and catering outlets in the next three years.

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