Ziang's rssSIA
Doing the wrong things, for the wrong reason
01/04/08 00:08
Photo credited to Straits Times
THIS should appear old to you, as the articles were featured a week ago. Well, there were many comments about the transition of SIA's agency from Batey to TBWA\, and those are already old news, forgive the pun.
While many people expected a new agency to inject zest and life to an established brand, sometimes, it appears that the top management themselves need some injection of new blood. SIA used to be the pride of Singapore, with the famous sarong kabaya as famous as our Singapore girl. Some might say that the girl might appear too subservient for their liking, well, I don't go into personal attacks like this
.So what did went wrong? I guess its a cumulation of several factors, most notably people's pride getting into them. Disciplinary problem start from the very top. If you have pilots with porn caught in your laptops and getting fined, that's hardly good news for your company. Looking upwards in the hierarchy, the decision to go purely business and above for some flights went off really bad, as Singaporeans can't even get to travel in their pride. Attempts to mask it up were credited to creating a premium experience, and a quality brand.
Can you imagine feeling proud of something which you can't even call your own? I would say it's really a blatant monetary move to ostracize the poorer folks, and to earn more dollars from the rich.
The decision to change agency and flexing your arm around the new agency is even worse. News travel fast that TBWA\ got their warning letters by SIA barely months into their newly formed relationship. Advertisements that came out of agencies were okay, nothing to shout about.
Why change then?
The worst part of it is having the airbus grounded. Not once, not twice. 3 times. What's the big deal about having it first, if the company has 3 groundings 3 months into operations?
What can save SIA's fate from plummeting into mediocrity? I guess somewhere out there, the bosses must stop counting his dollars and start thinking about public opinions. Anything worse can result into the same fiasco as Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport. Systems gone down, lack of manpower, tonnes of luggage to be sorted out...
They don't even dare to show theirs ads now, after this disaster.
Okay, I'm exaggerating. An airline is nowhere as big as an airport disaster. Well, you do get the idea, don't you? Is it all about the money on hand, or salvaging one's relationships with customers?
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