SIA on same track as F1

Singapore Airlines (SIA), in its inaugural year as title sponsor of the 2014 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, announced several initiatives yesterday.

Two weeks after hosting the "Light Up The Night" carnival at the Pit Building of the Marina Bay street circuit, SIA unveiled the winner's trophy for this year's night race, from Sept 19-21, at the RISIS outlet at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands yesterday.

Measuring 52cm by 18.5cm, the 5kg trophy is inspired by the iconic Singapore Airlines logo, custom-designed by SIA's creative agency, TBWA, and hand-crafted by RISIS.

"The trophy symbolises speed and motion, lightness and agility, with an understated touch of elegance and sophistication - some of the characteristics that Singapore Airlines is synonymous with," said Foo Chai Woo, SIA's divisional vice-president of sales & marketing.

This is the second consecutive year that RISIS has been chosen to hand-craft the coveted winner's trophy.

SIA also revealed that the iconic Singapore Girl will make a debut appearance at this year's grand prix.

For the first time, around 50 Singapore Girls will be featured at the starting grid as well as on the podium for the prize presentation ceremony.

Speaking to The New Paper, Sheldon Hee, SIA's vice-president of marketing communications & development, said the airline's initiatives for this year's race are focused more on hospitality.

Apart from the "Light Up The Night Carnival", where the public took part in a variety of motorsport-related activities free of charge, SIA has also been offering travel packages for the Singapore Grand Prix since April.

The packages include airfare, hotel accommodation and race tickets.

ACCESSIBLE

"We want to focus more on making things accessible to everyone," said Hee, who added that limited-edition Formula 1 merchandise are on sale at the airline's flagship KrisShop.

"The carnival we hosted is an example of that. It's not about being bigger or better, but more about hospitality, which is what Singapore Airlines stands for.

"There will, of course, be a range of upcoming activities which we will be collaborating with (race organisers) Singapore GP."

Jonathan Hallett, director at Singapore GP, said that SIA's global reach offers a fantastic platform to promote the 2014 Grand Prix.

He said: "Since the announcement of the partnership in April, both organisations have collaborated in joint-marketing efforts as well as specially tailored travel packages, with the aim of promoting Formula One and Singapore around the world.

"Singapore Airlines has also been active in partnering us on our Rev Up Singapore! activities - through school visits which reached out to more than 11,200 secondary-school students, library road shows as well as the upcoming behind-the-scenes tours.

"This partnership dovetails perfectly with Singapore GP's efforts to share the thrills of Formula One with the wider community."

SNAP & WIN CONTEST

Win race tickets and exclusive SIA F1 collectibles in the Singapore Airlines SNAP & WIN contest.

Snap a selfie with the Formula 1 trophy or at any SIA F1 event and share on social media with the hashtag #RacewithSIA.

Details are available at www.SIAnightrace.com.

aakasim@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Aug 29, 2014.
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