Starcom wins global media mandate of Singapore Tourism Board

Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG) has bagged the media planning & buying business of Singapore Tourism Board in a global pitch that stretched over four months. The agencies in the fray for the business included incumbent Maxus, Carat, OMD and Universal McCann apart from Starcom.

The account will be managed from SMG’s Asia headquarters in Singapore, and will be supervised by Jeffrey Seah, managing director for SMG’s Regional Clients Group (RCG) in the Asia-Pacific region, who will also act as senior client liaison to the Singapore Tourism Board management.

The fallout, of course, of this development is that all local markets including India will see a change of hands in terms of media agencies. The size of the account in India is estimated to be over Rs 8-10 crore.

Incidentally, India and China are important markets for the Singapore Tourism Board, and apart from conventional media planning & buying, Starcom in India also hopes to make available its portfolio of diversified services including entertainment, digital & wireless, outdoor etc. “Entertainment is definitely one area that could be tapped,” says Ravi Kiran, managing director, Starcom (India), west & south. “So, there should be some action on that front.”

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