http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/St...ry_686955.html

Jul 4, 2011

Sound Choice

Luxury developer SC Global recruits famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma for ad

By Aaron Low, Economics Correspondent


LUXURY property developer SC Global has taken the unusual step of recruiting world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma to front a new advertising campaign.

The musician appears in both print and television advertisements, in what is understood to be the first instance where a local developer has tapped a celebrity.

The print ads started running last week. They show Mr Ma holding his cello at SC Global's The Marq with the Marina Bay skyline behind him, and run in newspapers including The Straits Times, Financial Times and Forbes magazine.

The television campaign began in May. The one-minute TV commercial features the cellist playing the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 against the backdrops of SC Global's The Marq on Paterson Hill, Hilltops at Cairnhill and Seven Palms at Sentosa Cove.

In the commercial, Mr Ma talks about what he thinks makes a masterpiece as he plays the cello.

The commercial ends off with SC Global's tagline 'Own the Original'.

SC Global said it had carefully considered the 'appropriate means or personality to covey the value of our brand' before working with Mr Ma, who was born in France but is now an American citizen.

Likewise, it said that Mr Ma is a 'very selective' international celebrity, whose manager checked out SC Global before he agreed to star in the commercial.

SC Global chairman and chief executive Simon Cheong said Mr Ma's values resonate with the company's own corporate philosophy.

'His passion for his craft and his strong belief in the importance of innovation and original thought, whilst challenging traditional boundaries, are values that resonate with our own corporate philosophy,' he said.

SC Global declined to reveal the amount paid for Mr Ma's services, but said 'a world-class talent of his stature would command a significant premium'.

Still, the ads may not yet have translated into actual sales.

Singapore's luxury market has been lacklustre, partly because SC Global and other developers of luxury projects are known to hold their prices.

While an apartment at The Marq recently fetched a record price of $5,842 per sq ft, or $17.5 million in total, the project is still not fully sold.

Advertising agencies and property consultants reckon the ad worked well with the type of luxury brand that SC Global is associated with.

Mr Eric Yeo, creative director at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Singapore, said the association with Mr Ma 'is an interesting one, because you wouldn't normally associate a property developer with a world-renowned cellist'.

'But the pairing is compatible through shared values between the two: the drive for perfection, creative freedom, and the desire to always break new ground,' he added.

'Overall, the commercial looks good. It's very polished, although some moments do come across as being a little too dramatic.'

Property consultancy company Cushman & Wakefield Singapore vice-chairman Donald Han said that it was a 'unique move' for a property developer.

He said that pairing itself with Mr Ma, a figure associated with the wealthy, 'puts the company up there'.

'They have regional aspirations, and this should allow them to attract the attention of international investors,' he added.

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