Scoot picks Essence for global media duties, retains BLKJ for creative

Singapore Airlines’ low cost carrier Scoot has appointed GroupM’s Essence as its global media agency. This comes following a pitch initiated in October 2019.

The appointment is for a period of two years, with an option to renew for a further two years to March 2024. Essence will provide Scoot media strategy, planning and buying services for its global business, including in Mainland China which makes up a significant part of Scoot’s network.

According to Scoot’s vice president marketing, Jacqueline Loh, Essence demonstrated a knack for proposing innovative solutions to address current gaps, and strength in utilising data-driven insights for analysis and planning. “Scoot warmly welcomes Essence which possesses superior platforms and technological tools that will help us improve efficiency and lower operational costs. We are confident that Essence will be the right media partner to propel us to the next stage of our growth,” she added.

Essence’s global CEO, Kyoko Matsushita, said the team is looking forward to applying its expertise in analytics, data science and technology to further advance Scoot’s rapid growth, in close collaboration with both Scoot and BLK J. 

Meanwhile, Scoot also reappointed BLK J as its creative agency of record for another two years. The appointment is effective from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2022.

The independent creative agency first started working with Scoot in January 2018. Prior to that, Publicis was overseeing creative for Scoot since 2013, and terminated the contract days after the airline called for a creative pitch in September 2017. 

Loh said BLK J has worked closely with Scoot through an intense period of rapid growth and the airline has seen strong results from the agency’s work across its global network in both creative brand campaigns and social media strategy and management. “We continue to believe in BLK J’s ability to complement Scoot’s marketing agility and drive the Scoot brand and business forward,” she added. 

Loh explained that the current operating climate is extremely challenging and Scoot looks forward to working together with both Essence and BLK J to plan ahead for when the global economy recovers from COVID-19. 

BLKJ’s CEO and co-founder, Rowena Bhagchandani, said from proving that travel is in its blood scientifically, to turning Scoot’s signature yellow into an international currency, the last two years with Scoot have been anything but ordinary. "This is the result of a truly dynamic and collaborative brand-agency relationship, one of mutual trust and understanding of what represents the brand and our travellers. And we are delighted to be continuing our journey with Scoot, to keep pushing the boundaries together," she added.

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