Singapore Airlines appoints TBWA\ and PHD for global creative and media duties, effective April

Both TBWA Singapore and PHD have naturally reacted favourably to the news overnight that the two firms have been appointed to the blue-chip Singapore Airlines account.

For TBWA it is a reappointment to the global creative duties and for PHD it’s their first taste of the global media duties, having lured the account out of Zenith.

The announcements followed a six-month pitch process handled by R3 that involved 11 agency groups.

Ara Hampartsoumian (pictured left), managing director, TBWA\Singapore, commented, “What an honour to have been reappointed as SIA’s global agency of record together with our media partner PHD. I’m extremely proud of the synergy of both teams; for us, success was an only option and our persistent passion, energy and ambition for the SIA brand won in the end.

“We are thrilled to evolve our longstanding relationship with this iconic brand, partnering with them as the airline continues to modernise and transform its business for the future. We look forward to developing innovative and integrated marketing solutions that will continue to strengthen their preeminent position as the greatest airline in the world.”

James Hawkins, CEO of PHD APAC, added, “We are delighted to have been appointed the integrated communications duties for Singapore Airlines. This appointment is a testament to the strength of PHD and TBWA’s integrated approach, which allowed us to unlock the best of media and creative, and deliver the type of fresh thinking that can ultimately take an iconic brand like Singapore Airlines to even greater heights. As one team, which we have called SQ1, we look forward to leveraging the best of both our capabilities in driving innovative and impactful communications for the airline.”

Through a new integrated agency approach, TBWA and PHD will jointly provide overall strategy, creative, media planning and content narrative solutions under one holding group, which will result in enhanced strategic marketing communications.

“As we carried out our review it was clear that our underlying branding approach, which consists of the iconic Singapore Girl and an emphasis on customer service as a crucial differentiator, remains current and continues to set us apart in our industry,” Singapore Airlines’ Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Campbell Wilson said.

“We are confident that TBWA\ and PHD will now be able to creatively execute that promise with a more modern touch, bringing about an evolution in our branding and marketing communications,” he added.

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