Malaysia Airlines announces pitch process
Kuala Lumpur (MALAYSIA AIRLINES) - Recognising the importance of aligning the brand's communication needs to its network growth strategies, Malaysia Airlines will appoint 2 separate agencies to handle communication channels and creative.
Media and creative agencies will be first required to submit their credentials by September 29 and this will mark the beginning of the pitch process. Agency partners will need to be part of an international network and should not be working with any competing full service carrier currently.
Into the second round, 3 agency partners each will be short listed for communication channels and creative. They will be required to present a proven case study based on their past experience with an international brand. The short listed agencies will be announced in early October with presentations taking place in mid October.
Said Indira Nair, Senior General Manager, Communications, "In turning around Malaysia Airlines, we started by focusing on getting our network right. Similarly, with this process we need to start with getting our distribution channels right. So we have taken a conscious decision to split our requirements between communication channels and creative, with channel planning taking the lead and setting the strategy.
"This year was a consolidation exercise and the start of the business turnaround process provided the right platform for us to relook everything we were doing. This included all facets of communications. Into next year, we will look at new ways of reaching, converting and retaining customers. And to do this well, we will need to be innovative in our channel planning.
"In an agency-client relationship, the team is extremely critical. In round 2, the short listed agencies will be required to present the potential team that will work on our account. As part of the presentation process, the team will be given a scenario which they will have to discuss and present their ideas on. This will give us the opportunity to evaluate how the team works and their thought process."
Results and final selection of both agencies is slotted to be announced in mid to late November.
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