SINGAPORE: Regional carrier Silk Air has appointed Ogilvy & Mather
to its advertising account, while Ogilvy One will handle online
marketing.
The media account is expected to move from Maximize to either CIA or
MindShare.
The carrier has taken nearly a year to reach a decision on the agency
appointments.
There was originally a long list of advertising agencies in the running
for the account before O&M and the incumbent Batey Ads were invited to
the creative pitch.
It is understood that the pitch process became a long and drawn-out
affair because the airline was forced to change its creative brief to
appease its board.
Industry sources claimed there were differences of opinion between the
board and Silk Air management on how the airline should be
positioned.
It is understood that the original brief positioned Silk Air as a
low-cost airline for adventure seekers.
The positioning came from Silk Air's operation to secondary cities in
Asia, which are too small for its parent company Singapore Airlines, to
operate into. Silk Air's main target is the leisure travel segment.
The smaller airline is also grappling with how to grow its business in a
way that complements Singapore Airlines and avoids cannibalising its
parent company's traffic loads.
Subhas Menon, Silk Air chief executive, recently told the regional trade
title Travel Weekly East that: "Silk Air has been around for about 10
years, operating as an airline to service the needs of Singapore
Airlines." Menon said the carrier needed to refine its role now that "we
have reached the point where we can be called the second airline of
Singapore".
O&M's first work will be a press campaign to announce Silk Air's new
routes to Sumatra, Indonesia and southern India.
The agency will then launch a rebranding campaign in the lead up to
Christmas and Chinese New Year, the peak period for air travel out of
Singapore.
Ogilvy One's main task is to redesign Silk Air's website so customers
can book online.
David Ho, Silk Air marketing manager, said the airline consolidated the
online and offline account to ensure consistency in branding.
He said O&M won because the airline preferred its creative concepts.
O&M has a two-year contract and, according to Ho, the airline has a
policy of putting its account out to pitch every two to three years.
A media agency will be appointed in the coming weeks with Silk Air
deciding between CIA - which handles the media for Singapore Airlines -
or MindShare, O&M's media shop.
Ho said appointing CIA would give Silk Air some buying clout as their
media account would effectively be bundled in with Singapore
Airlines.
He said Silk Air's media spend is quite small because it only advertises
in Singapore as all its services are routed through the city.
