A tender has been sent to selected 4As agencies, and incumbent Ogilvy & Mather Singapore will defend the business.
The winner will initially be awarded a two-year contract, starting 1 April next year.
A briefing session will held on 3 December.
The winner will initially be awarded a two-year contract, starting 1 April next year.
A briefing session will held on 3 December.
According to the briefing document, the client wants pitch contenders to show how SilkAir can become the ‘top of mind brand for regional travel’.
Agencies have also been tasked to suggest ways to drive sales through traditional and direct channels, including silkair.com, and propose a media strategy for tactical and brand campaigns.
Ogilvy, which won the account from Batey in 2001, created the ‘Where the world unwinds’ platform in 2002.
The campaign positioned SilkAir as an upmarket regional airline that transported travellers from their rat-race lifestyles to relaxing places.
The airline changed tack in 2006, a year after low-cost carriers entered the market.
Its advertising pushed its role in creating happy memories with the slogan ‘You never forget a SilkAir holiday’, using quirkier ads to stand out in an increasingly crowded category.
Mark Wong, managing director of Ogilvy Singapore, suggested that the next step for the airline could be to further distinguish itself from its no frills rivals - and, perhaps, its parent too.
“SilkAir has always been identified alongside its big brother, SIA,” he said.
“But unfortunately, it has been seen as SIA’s poor cousin. It’s a fine line to tread: how to leverage the Singapore Airlines family connection, but also strengthen SilkAir’s own identity.
“SilkAir has always been positioned as an upmarket airline - a more desirable option than the cheaper carriers. But travellers still tend to think that SilkAir is expensive, even though it’s not in the low-cost category.”
Caught in the middle of a polarising market does not appear to have affected SilkAir’s fortunes - yet.
The company claims its business has doubled since 2004, and has remained profitable since lower-priced airlines joined the sector.
The company states in its briefing document that it is committed to growing its capacity by more than 10 per cent per year.
To do this it wants to increase traffic and brand presence, particularly in its home market.
Alan Fairnington, CEO of Batey, which recently lost the SIA business and picked up Qatar Airways, commented: “SilkAir should be headed upmarket - not down. It dominates a number of routes where there is little competition, so it should be leveraging those routes more effectively.
“I’m not sure a creative pitch is the right thing to do. SilkAir has a positioning problem that cannot be solved by advertising alone.”