Analysing A Powerful, Elite Brand: Singapore Airline
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Eye On Singapore on October 5, 2007 , trackbackWhen Singapore Airlines (SIA), the world-renowned multi award-winning airline, announced that they were opening up their account for other advertising agencies to tender, it created a pitching frenzy in the industry. After all, SIA have been with Batey Ads for 35 years since they first started the airlines.
And the inevitable question predictably came up: Will the Singapore Girl, the icon of SIA, stay or will she go?
Personally, I found even the slightest idea of dumping the Singapore Girl… erm… Dumb! Below is my raw, politically incorrect, heavy-dose-of-reality, might-piss-you-off opinion on the issue. If you are easily offended, skip this. Read at your own risk.
1. The Singapore Girl has become synonymous with SIA. It is one of the airline industry’s most prominent figures. In fact, it is also one of the most recognizable icons for Singapore. It has even earned a place in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London. When was the last time you heard about an icon for a service industry immortalized there?
Several months back, in an article about branding Singapore, several foreigners from various countries (including USA, China, India, etc) were asked what came to mind when they think of Singapore. SIA came up tops, due mainly to the Singapore Girl, I believe. The Singapore girl is more than just SIA’s brand, it is Singapore’s brand too.
Now, would you then scrap away such a powerful brand? Would you take away the swoosh icon from Nike? Would you scrap the stallion marquee from Ferrari? Would you dump the apple logo from Apple?
Of course not! “Retire it gracefully” an ‘expert’ suggested. That’s just plain stupid.
2. The Singapore Girl was born 35 years ago. When other airlines were focusing on displaying the aircraft and safety features, Ian Batey (the genius behind this icon), went in the opposite direction and focused on service. That was just brilliant! By doing that he created a powerful differentiation and gave birth to the icon of the brand.
Give the customers what they aspire to have (their emotional wants). We make any decisions, including buying decisions, with our emotions. We use our logic to justify our decisions. Aircraft and safety features appeals to logic. Exceptional service appeals to the emotions.
The result? Other airlines have been playing catch up and trying to portray their service to be just as good, if not better. Not many have succeeded. When it comes to the perception of receiving top-notch, luxurious service, SIA is still at the top. In fact it is seen as the benchmark of exceptional service, even in other industries.
In a similar scenario, Creative Technology (another famous Singaporean brand renowned for its sound card and MP3 players) focused on features and logic when marketing their MP3 players. In contrast, Apple focused on the emotional wants (being hip) of their prospects. And we know what happened.
In the Singaporean newspaper, someone commented that SIA should change to more ‘thought-provoking’ ads, instead of the emotion-based Singapore Girl ads. Question: Would Steve Jobs change Apple’s cool and hip advertisement to ‘thought-provoking’ ads?
Nahhh….!
3. There were several comments that said that the Singapore Girl is stereotyping the ‘subservient Asian woman’. Guess what? Stereotyping is powerful because people connect with them. In fact, many of the most famous brands and icons are built from stereotypes.
Donald Trump: The stereotypical business mogul who wheels and deals to get to get what he wants. Is there something more to his character? Of course.
James Bond: The stereotypical hero who kills the bad guy, saves the day, gets the girl(s) and still enjoys his martini. Is there something more to him? Of course.
The Samurai: The stereotypical Japanese warrior, always full of honor and wears layers of clothing… Is there something more to him? Of course.
The point is: When used correctly, stereotyping is an excellent tool to create a powerful brand. Too many brands died an early death because they were not stereotyped soon enough. A strong brand stands for certain specific values. Trying to represent everything (like many start up brands) only confuses the market. The market will eventually ignore what they can’t figure out.
But is representing the ’subservient Asian woman’ a good stereotype/position to have?
4. As Ian Batey wrote in his book, the Singapore Girl is supposed to be the embodiment of “natural femininity, natural grace and warmth, and a natural, gentle way with people”. Many will agree that that is the appeal of the Asian women, in contrast to the strong, hard, independent Western women (stereotypically speaking). I know this is not politically correct. But let’s put aside political-correctness ideology for a while…
Would you rather be served by a friendly, polite and constantly smiling young lady, or a strong, hard, independent woman? The answer is obvious!
Notice that I didn’t pit the Asian against the Western. It is because it is NOT the race or the country, but rather the attitude that is critical. The right attitude projects the right impression (exceptional service) to the prospects. The rest; the Pierre Balmain kebaya, the make up, the bun-up hair, the stringent requirements, etc, are there to support and ensure the brand image is congruent.
Just take a look at those Asian spa ads that feature the spa hostess. They will most probably be in the ’subservient Asian woman’ role. Why? Because it gives the impression of “natural femininity, natural grace and warmth, and a natural, gentle way with people”.
An interesting note:
One of the biggest, best selling drama serial in recent years that has been distributed all around the world including in the US (it is a huge hit there) is the Korean drama Jewel In The Palace. What is it about? It is a story about a traditional, gentle, graceful lady who is full of warmth.
Princess Diana is such an icon because she was perceived as a gentle, graceful lady who was always full of warmth.
Mother Theresa left such a legacy largely because she was perceived as a gentle, graceful woman who was full of warmth.
The Singapore Girl is such a huge icon because she is perceived as a gentle, graceful lady who is full of warmth, and able to provide wonderful service. I’d say she is in great company.
5. Another comment suggested for the Singapore Girl to change her attire and wear a business suit, just like the other airlines. This suggestion is even more dangerous than scrapping the Singapore Girl itself!
The kebaya is so tightly linked to the Singapore Girl. If you remove it, it is effectively removing the Singapore Girl. With the help of the Singapore Girl, SIA became a leader in the airline industry with many others trying to follow and emulate it. It is ridiculous for SIA to then turn around and follow their followers.
Here in Singapore, we have this chain of famous bakery shop (similar to the Krispy Kreme donut shops in the West) called BreadTalk. This chain became the talk of the town because of one signature bread—the ‘Floss’ bread that consists of a fluffy bun topped with light cream and meat floss (you can call it the Asian version of beef jerky but much much fluffier). It also featured a breakthrough, modern shop interior that defied what the normal décor of bakeries.
In no time, all the rest of the bakeries (even those in the ‘rural’ areas) tried to follow (read: copy) their success. Many even renovated their shops’ interiors so that they looked similar to a BreadTalk shop. Would it be wise for BreadTalk to turn around and try to follow them? (And by the way, the company is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.)
In an extremely competitive market, with terrorist threats, fluctuating oil prices, the emergence of budget airlines, SIA has managed to carve out strong niche in the high-end luxury market. It is also one of the few airlines that has managed to remain profitable thus far. There is no doubt that their icon, the Singapore Girl, played a huge part in that success.
It would just be plain ridiculous to discard such a powerful icon.
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