The print ads started running last week. In them, the French-born American cellist is holding his cello at SC Global’s The Marq on Peterson Hill, Hilltops at Cairnhill, with the Marina Bay skyline behind him. It is runnning in newspapers including The Straits Times and the Financial Times, as well as Forbes magazine.
The one-minute television commercial, meanwhile, began in May. It features Ma playing the prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No.1, against the backdrops of SC Global’s The Marq and Seven Palms at Sentosa Cove.
In the ads, he talks about what he thinks makes a masterpiece as he plays the cello. It then ends with the tagline ‘Own the original’.
Behind the ads is Timmermann & Tan Advertising, while the production house is Shooting Gallery Productions.
The agency's William Timmermann said the objective of the campaign is to convey the brand values that set SC Global apart, which would resonate with SC Global’s customers.
"SC Global has always been about continual innovation, originality, superior quality, sublime style and iconic design. Yo-Yo Ma has a unique appreciation of these same values," said Timmerman.
Believing that Ma is singularly appropriate to personify and communicate SC Global's values due to his eloquence and engaging personality, Timmerman said that Ma also has insights and understanding of what goes into the making of a masterpiece, the value of successful collaboration and sustained invention.
(Ma understands) "The art of combining existing forms in a new and innovative way to create something totally new which has value greater than the sum of its parts and which, over time, will become classic in its own right," he added.
He noted that this philosophy ties back to SC Global’s own proposition, 'Own the Original'.
Credits
Project What makes a masterpiece
Client SC Global
Agency Timmermann & Tan Advertising
Production company Shooting Gallery Productions Pte Ltd
Director Willie Tang
Exposure Television, newspaper
