Singapore Girl

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Singapore Girls, icons of Singapore Airlines.

The Singapore Girl is an element of the marketing platform of Singapore Airlines (SIA). The branding icon personifies the flight stewardesses.^[1] This strategy has proven successful as the Singapore Girl has become an icon of Singapore Airlines which is recognised by travelers and non-travelers worldwide. Singapore Airlines' hospitality and cabin service has been recognised with awards from magazines, travel and tourism industries, which includes one of its award achievements as 'World's Best Cabin Crew Service' by the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards 2006 for 17 consecutive years.^[2]

1 Origin
2 Global Icon
3 Commercial Branding
4 Visual Impact
5 Criticisms
6 References
7 See also

[edit] Origin

The icon and branding of Singapore Girl was first established in 1968 during the era of Singapore Airlines' predecessor, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) when the airlines of Malaysia and Singapore joined together to develop and expand an intercontinental network. The "Sarong Kebaya" uniform was first introduced by MSA and worn by the flight stewardesses, which later develop to become the symbol of Singapore Airlines' corporate image. The original branding was developed by Ian Batey.

[edit] Global Icon

Malaysia-Singapore Airlines ceased operations on October 1, 1972 and Singapore Airlines took over as its successor. The term was coined in 1972 when Pierre Balmain, a French haute couture designer, was hired by Singapore Airlines to construct and update the "Sarong Kebaya" as part of the cabin crew's uniform. Since then, the uniform has gained worldwide recognition as part of SIA's recognizable signature brandings.^[3]

There are 4 colors that represent the ranking of the Singapore Girls:

Blue – Flight Stewardess
Green – Leading Stewardess
Red – Chief Stewardess
Brown – In-Flight Supervisor

[edit] Commercial Branding

The Singapore Girl has almost become a brand icon for Singapore Airlines. The Singapore Girl is said to engender "Asian values and hospitality" and has been described as "caring, warm, gentle, elegant and serene".^[4]

A wax figure of the Singapore Girl is created and represented at the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London since 1994, as the first figure to represent a commercial undertaking.^[5] This sculpture was later sent to the Delta Air Lines shuttle concourse at LaGuardia Airport in New York City in 1995.

The very first Singapore Girl doll was created and sold onboard the SIA planes in 1980s. Though this doll wasn't created by Mattel, it is extremely rare and hard to find. It was recently found on ebay.com which was bidded for a very high price. Clearly, the dolls are targeted at young girls like the sarong kebaya uniform above was. To want to role play and make believe that oneself might be the Singapore Girl again shows how much of an icon the Singapore Girl has become, and how even children are being influenced by the branding.

The uniform and Barbie both provide access to imaginary worlds based on experiences the children may have had on their flights. Role play with these items encourages reflection on the flight experience and the creation of further impressions and associations with SIA. Ironically, the young customer does all the creative brand building work him or herself through the play and can also influence her parents' and relatives' attitudes towards SIA.

Mattel was then contracted in the 1990s to make two slightly different versions of the Singapore Girl in Barbie form. The first doll was issued in 1991 in the brown box. On the box were the words "Singapore Girl" with SIA's logo. The doll was only sold onboard Singapore Airlines flights. This doll has ceased as a duty-free product and it is also hard to find.

The second doll was issued in 1994 and was packed in a slimmer pink box. However, that also ceased production to make way for 'Kristie', the third version which was created in 2001, packaged in a transparent PVC bag with pink trimmings. This doll comes with extra accessories such as hair brush, overcoat, handbag and a travelling suitcase.

[edit] Visual Impact

Since 1972, the image of the Singapore Girl has appeared in many advertisements in several media forms and promotions across the world. Recently the Singapore Girl has been seen in television commercials was seen promoting Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 300-ER Business Class and Airbus A380, which will be released as early as February 2007.

In March 2004, the Singapore Girl won the Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award for the 18th Singapore Tourism Board (STB)'s Tourism Award.^[6]

Singapore Airlines used to recruit only Singaporeans/PRs and Malaysians as cabin crew. However, since 2001, Singapore Airlines has extend the recruitment of Singapore Girls from other countries like China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to expand global services and minimise language barriers between cabin crew and travelers.

[edit] Criticisms

In recent years, the Singapore Girl marketing concept has been criticized as being sexist: apart from the political incorrectness of the term "Girl", the concept has been accused of being a stereotype of Asian women as being desirable and subservient to white males. [1] It has also spark debates online and in the media, defending the Singapore Girl has also grown into times as a modern, independent, self-reliant person. As quoted in Singapore's Straits Times, "To remove the Singapore Girl icon from SIA is like removing Mickey Mouse from Disneyland..." Nonetheless, the iconic status of the Singapore Girl means that it is unlikely to be replaced in any future marketing campaigns.