Garuda Indonesia concludes global creative and media pitch

Meanwhile, it is believed that Spark Communications, part of Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), has been appointed as the global media AOR. Campaign Asia-Pacific was unable to confirm the appointment of the media agency before press time.

Led by Amelia Nasution, vice president of marketing at Garuda Airlines, both pitches were called in July after the airline issued an official RFP (request for proposal) in what one senior source described as “probably the pitch of the year”.

For the creative pitch, the airline shortlisted 11 agencies for the first round of presentation and later five agencies to the final round. The incumbent is Dentsu, which had held the account for more than six years.

The appointment will see Lowe Indonesia working with Garuda to create full-service campaigns, which include ABL, BTL and digital, to further build a presence strongly aligned to the local and international marketplace. 

Joseph Tan, CEO of Lowe Indonesia, noted that the pitch was one of the toughest pitches he's been involved in and that the account includes both the domestic and international markets for all areas of service, including cargo and e-commerce.

“The whole aviation industry in Indonesia is very competitive,” he told Campaign Asia-Pacific. “One of the biggest challenges will be the regional and domestic competitions against other low-cost carriers.”