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.
