Although there were initial protests in some Western quarters in what was perceived to be sexist overtones in the advertisements, not everyone took offence at the advertising image. In a 1979 Fortune magazine article, “Flying high with the Singapore Girls”, it was noted that “far from being repelled by the notion of becoming a ‘girl’, about 7,000 young Singaporean women applied last year for 347 openings in the hostess ranks of SIA” (Harvard Business School, 1989b). In the West, its acceptability in recent years had changed quite appreciably. In 1997, it was noted that:
Her popularity in the West is such that it would be quite risky for SIA to attempt to change the image at a time when people there are getting used to her (Analyst, Goldman Sachs, The Sunday Times, 1997a, p. 3).
BA has its “The World’s favourite airline” and other airlines their own catchy slogans, but none of these has been able to capture the imagination and the unaided advertising recall to the extent that SIA had with its Singapore Girl and associated slogans.
Only BA came anywhere close. In April 1983, BA introduced a widely publicised global advertising campaign to boost its corporate image worldwide. The campaign included the well-known 90-second Manhattan Landing TV commercial created by the Saatchi & Saatchi (S & S) advertising agency. The results of research following implementation showed increases in unaided awareness and recall of BA in almost all markets, especially the USA. The campaign improved consumer recognition of BA’s size and passenger volume. BA’s image also improved as a modern, progressive company performing better than it had in the past. However, recall of the slogan “The world’s favourite airline” was poor. Negative perceptions of BA, especially regarding poor customer service, were not corrected. Research results suggested that the campaign did not convey any feeling of warmth or caring (Harvard Business School, 1993).
For 1984-1985, BA developed a follow-up commercial to Manhattan Landing called Lunar Landing. The 1983-1984 campaign was then re-rationalised as the first part of a multi-stage programme to rebuild BA’s image, indicating that the Manhattan Landing commercial was designed as an attention-grabber. As part of the overall image programme, BA began changing the livery on its entire fleet in 1984 (Harvard Business School, 1993). In 1997, it again unveiled a new corporate identity representing a major makeover and rebranding of itself with another change of its livery on its fleet.
Some 25 years or so on since its first introduction to the world, the Singapore Girl, far from being a fashionable passing fad, has become even more popular and entrenched. In 1994, the year she celebrated her 21st birthday, the Singapore Girl became the first commercial figure to be displayed at the famed Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London, which had unveiled the waxwork of the SIA’s global marketing icon that year to reflect the ever-growing popularity of international travel. Today SIA cabin hostesses enjoy a social status and glamour comparable to Singapore’s entertainment stars and models. It is an extraordinary and singular success story for an airline product/service differentiation strategy. No other airline can boast of such a successful product/service differentiation strategy that spans 25 years, and which still shows no signs of letting up.
Customer focus, innovation, creative service and service excellence
On an SIA flight in 1996, a Chinese couple travelling in first-class with their children and nanny had refused the food served. When asked, the man of the family replied: “We are just not used to these and would prefer a bowl of instant noodles.” Since then, every SIA flight carries a supply of instant noodles for those customers who find in-flight cuisine not quite to their taste (Asian Business, 1996, p. 40). In addition, first-class and business-class passengers flying out of Singapore can now pre-order certain Singapore local fare prior to their flight to be served to them onboard. These are just some examples that illustrate the constant drive by SIA to introduce new ideas to improve customer service, in its customer focus to win customer satisfaction and even delight.
There is of course nothing high-tech or sophisticated about instant noodles nor Singapore local fare, but these examples highlight the creative customer service even in simple things that has won SIA wide praise (Asian Business, 1996, p. 40). This has become a hallmark of SIA’s service excellence. In 1972, SIA was the first airline to introduce free food and alcoholic drinks on its flights.
SIA has recognised that in this highly competitive market, any advantage gained by one airline over others will be short-lived, and ideas that are new will become commonplace in a matter of months. However, it noted that the important thing is to always stay in the forefront both in service and in technology (Asian Business, 1996, p. 40).
This strategy of SIA focuses primarily not on reducing costs, but on enhancing quality or service and preventing customer problems from arising. SIA has succeeded most uniquely with this type of strategy in the airline industry, a strategy commonly employed in service businesses that command premium prices with high margins, businesses in which there is a high degree of repeat business, with word-of-mouth praise by customers as a most important marketing channel.
It has been argued by some that an organisation should be conservative in its promises regarding service excellence to prevent customer expectations becoming too high. High expectations, so that argument goes, increase the potential for customer dissatisfaction. Such prescriptions, however, serve only companies with modest ambitions. In SIA’s case, it was very different. It had a bold strategic vision and aspiration of being a top airline, not just any ordinary good airline. Through its careful market positioning and delivering its service promise, SIA could be said to be the very first airline in the international airline industry to have succeeded in developing such a powerful and enduring image of quality service that has resulted in its acquiring a sustainable competitive advantage. Its ability to sustain this advantage, even as its competitors seek to develop comparable service capability, had been buttressed by the fact that it was the first to earn and attain the quality-service position and image in the market and in customers’ minds.