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Eddy: Today, we're going to talk about the unique aspects of the Singapore market. This is part of a series that also looks at other Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Let me introduce our guests for today: Jeanette and Andy. Jeanette leads growth, marketing, and customer relations at Circles.Life, a digital telecom company in Singapore. Andy is also from Singapore and is the general manager at MSQ Asia, a marketing agency that offers various services.
I'll now ask Jeanette and Andy to introduce themselves. When you do, could you also tell us about a marketing campaign you really liked? It doesn't have to be one you worked on - it can be any campaign that stood out to you.
Andy: Hi, I'm Andy, the general manager at MSQ. Our company is a global network agency. We work in areas like data, technology, creative services, and media.
In Singapore, we have a team that creates integrated brand campaigns. Our main goal is to make communication more effective for our clients by focusing on their brand. I'm really happy to be here today talking with you all and meeting Jeanette.
As for my favourite campaign, I'm loving the recent Yeo "brat summer" campaign. They have been quick to trend-jack and show what a strong brand and an agile marketing team can do.
The campaign feels genuine and moves quickly. It's a bit more daring than what you usually see in Singapore. It has gotten a lot of positive attention and press coverage. It's a great campaign that just came out in the last two weeks.
Jeanette: Hi, I'm Jeanette. I work in customer relationship management, but I've also done a lot of growth marketing. I really enjoy clever marketing campaigns that use smart strategies.
I recently saw an interesting campaign by Netflix. They used a tennis match at Alcatraz to promote their brand. Usually, tennis players sign the camera after a match. But Netflix partnered with one of the players to do something different. The player created a mystery for the people watching the match.
They wrote "N see you soon" on the camera. People were confused, wondering if it meant Nike or something else. This turned into a big online discussion, which was great for Netflix.
Another campaign I liked was by Coinbase. During a big event, they just showed a QR code on TV screens. People were very curious about what the code meant. These campaigns were clever because they grabbed people's attention and showed a good understanding of their audience.
Have you encountered any unique challenges in Singapore that have shaped your view of its market?
Eddy: Great, let's start with our first question. You've been working in Singapore for a long time and have experienced different generations and media channels.
During your time in Singapore, have you faced any unique challenges that have changed how you see our market?
Jeanette: Yes, I can think of a challenge. It might not be unique to Singapore, but it affects many developed markets. There's a big gap between what people say they want and what they actually do when given choices.
For example, let's talk about environmental issues in business. In Singapore, about 75-80% of young adults say they care about the environment and want to be environmentally friendly.
But when they have to make real choices, they often don't pick the more environmentally friendly option. This gap exists because developed markets offer more options to choose from.
When making decisions, people have many factors to consider. Many say they want to be environmentally friendly, but then complain that the eco-friendly options are too expensive.
This happens with things like plant-based meat alternatives or healthier food options. People like the idea of being environmentally friendly, but the reality is different.
As markets develop and people have more choices, they often end up making decisions that don't match what they say they care about. This gap between intentions and actions is a challenge for businesses and marketers.
Andy: I really like this question. It made me think a lot. I've been in Singapore for over five years, coming from London. Both cities are very multicultural, like a melting pot of different cultures.
I talked with some people in our office who work with clients every day. We noticed something interesting about Singapore. It's quite Westernised, with many global and local brands. But it still keeps its own identity.
Singapore is in a unique position where East meets West in the best way possible. The challenge we face is about expectations versus reality. People don't expect high-quality work like in London, Europe, or America from this small country.
But actually, this mix of East and West allows us to do amazing work. We have a diverse group of people with local knowledge. This is both a challenge and a big opportunity. As a marketing and creative industry in Singapore, we can create world-class work right here in Asia.
How does cultural diversity impact media consumption habits and marketing preferences?
Eddy: Let's move on to our next question. We'll talk more about what Andy mentioned earlier about Singapore's cultural mix. I'd like to hear both of your thoughts on this.
Singapore has a very diverse population. We have about 6 million people living here, but less than 3 million are citizens. The government recently released a report about this.
This means that when you meet two people in Singapore, there's a good chance one will be Singaporean and the other could be from anywhere in the world. This diversity creates some challenges in understanding media use and consumer preferences.
People have different habits and likes. How do you think this diversity affects your current work?
Andy: Singapore is definitely a multicultural society. As Eddy mentioned, only one in three people here are citizens. The rest come from all over. This creates a challenge for marketers: how do we effectively communicate with such a diverse group of people?
One thing that connects us all is technology. About 94% of people in this region have smartphones. This allows us to communicate with different cultural groups in a more personal way, based on their individual profiles.
Singapore is very tech-savvy. We're leaders in digital adoption. We spend about $3.3 billion US dollars on advertising each year, with most of it going to digital TV and video. The key challenge is making sure our content makes sense locally and respects different cultures. We need to be careful not to offend anyone or make mistakes. This is crucial when planning campaigns and creating content for Singapore.
Eddy: Can you tell us about a marketing campaign you worked on that used different channels to reach Singapore's diverse audience?
Andy: I have an example from Cambodia, but the same ideas apply to Singapore. We made a TV ad for a big alcohol brand there. Our challenge was to appeal to both older and younger customers at the same time.
The older audience still watches regular TV. But younger people prefer smartphones, social media, and YouTube.
We had to think about driving results for both the big and the small screen to address both audiences where they are. Our approach drove us to developing what we coined ‘side quests’.
To win on the small screen, you simply can’t just cut down a 30 second anymore. So, instead, we told the stories within the story that were more relatable to our younger audiences. It was way more effective and hit all the right beats.
This approach works well in Singapore too. It's about putting the right content on the right channel at the right time. If you do this, you'll reach all your audiences effectively. This method works especially well in Singapore because it's so digital-focused.
Eddy: Jeanette, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Circles.Life is a relatively new telecom company in Singapore, but it's now well-established. From what I've seen, you mainly target younger people.
How do you reach different age groups in Singapore?
Jeanette: For a long time, we focused on the digital generation — people who are active on social media and similar platforms. We targeted a specific age group because that's how our product was designed.
Our service is based on digital contracts. Customers mainly interact with us through our app. In the past, around 2016-2017, older people like our parents weren't very comfortable with digital technology. That's changed now.
These days, older folks are more tech-savvy. They're even recommending apps like Trust Bank to others. This shift happened partly because the Singapore government has been teaching older people to use digital technology. They're learning about different apps and how to use them.
Family members have also been teaching older relatives how to use apps like WhatsApp. They're showing them how to send photos and messages. Older people are using these apps in their own way, often on the platforms their younger family members introduce to them.
However, when it comes to making purchases, older people still prefer offline methods. They feel more comfortable talking to someone face-to-face. They trust human interaction more than online transactions.
Older people prefer face-to-face interactions when making purchases. They feel more comfortable talking to a real person and find it more trustworthy than online transactions. They're hesitant about entering credit card details online, showing a different level of trust compared to younger generations.
I'd like to add a point about cultural diversity in Singapore, especially regarding different races. We're fortunate in Singapore because we learn about our multicultural society from a young age. We're taught that everyone has equal rights and opportunities, which is a good foundation for discussing race.
In Singapore, we're also clear about which cultural celebrations belong to different groups. For example, we learn to respect Ramadan as a Muslim tradition. Even if we don't practice it ourselves, we're taught to understand its importance and details.
This multicultural education affects how marketing works in Singapore. Many companies organise their campaigns around these cultural seasons. For instance, during Ramadan, we make sure our marketing considers Muslim behaviours and traditions. We might create specific campaigns, either small-scale or larger brand campaigns, that cater to this season.
Companies in Singapore manage cultural diversity well in their marketing. This is unique compared to other countries. Even though Singapore has a majority Chinese population, we understand different cultures from a young age.
As more foreigners come to Singapore, the mix of cultures changes. But our understanding of diversity stays strong. This affects marketing because young people who grew up with this mindset are now working in marketing roles. It's an interesting aspect of Singapore's marketing landscape.
As we look toward the future, what emerging technologies or innovations do you believe will have the most significant impact on marketing in Singapore?
Eddy: Let's move on to our final question about the future. We all know AI has become a big part of our lives recently.
As marketing leaders who have managed many teams, what new technologies do you think will change marketing the most in Singapore?
Jeanette: AI is definitely one of them. It's now part of both how we do marketing and what we produce.
AI helps us work faster, which is good. But we're not sure about the quality yet, or how much humans need to be involved. AI might replace some human work, but it probably can't do everything on its own.
Faster production is helpful, especially in Singapore where we focus a lot on getting things done quickly. This is important for marketing because we often need to try new things.
AI helps us learn, fail, and start over faster. This is great for small experiments. However, for bigger projects like brand videos, AI isn't as valuable.
Creating a brand video needs storytelling and a good feel for the brand, market, and production. These skills come from human experience. I don't think AI will ever be as good as a trained human at this.
But new marketers are using AI from the start. My worry is that marketers might lose their ability to be creative on their own. This could have a negative effect in the future. We might rely too much on AI tools, which could be a problem. More experienced marketers may need to balance this out.
On the other hand, AI is useful for operations and project management. It has helped automate many processes. So, I see value in using AI as part of the overall marketing team setup.
Andy: I agree with Jeanette. We put people first, but AI is a useful tool. It works best when humans are involved. We use AI to help us think, not to do everything for us.
For a while we have been using generative AI to design storyboards for video. Before, a storyboard took us a few days to craft. Now it only takes a few hours. It’s way more efficient, which allows the team more time to be creative.
And who doesn’t want better ROI? We're focused on using generative AI to drive efficiencies, these efficiencies in turn will allow us to deliver more content, which will mean we can target more consumer groups with more personalised content and therefore make our clients media investment work harder.
So AI is very valuable, and we're investing in it. Another important point Jeanette mentioned earlier is sustainability. I think this will become more important for Singapore's market.
As European rules start requiring businesses to report on their carbon emissions, companies in Singapore will need to do this too. Sustainability in how we create content and ads will become more and more important.
When we think about making marketing more environmentally friendly, we need to consider several things like how and where do we film, when we film, how we travel (this creates the most carbon emissions in production), using local teams who understand the area and culture (this can improve creativity), the possibility of remote filming.
We also need to think about how to use our budget wisely. This means creating more content, making content more personalised, and getting better returns on our investment. Being smart about these things will greatly affect marketing in Singapore over the next 2-4 years.
As creative leaders, our job is to meet consumers' needs. Creativity is key to this. We should keep coming up with great ideas as humans and use technology to make these ideas even better.
However, there's a risk if we start relying on machines to come up with ideas and handle the emotional aspects of marketing. This could cause problems in the future.
Jeanette: I think AI affects how marketers work, but we also need to study how consumers feel about AI-created content.
We talked earlier about being scared by deepfakes. This shows the human side of things. People worry that AI might become so real that we can't tell it apart from humans.
Consumers aren't as worried about AI taking their jobs. Instead, they find it creepy on a deeper level. We need to research how people react to AI-made content. We should also look at how to control AI use and help people feel safe as we use more AI in marketing.
What's the best way to learn about the landscape and understand consumer behaviour?
Eddy: We have a question from Anisha in the chat. The question is: For someone new to marketing and branding in Singapore, what's the best way to learn about the landscape and understand consumer behaviour here?
Andy: I can share my experience. I moved to Singapore from London five years ago, knowing very little about this red dot beyond how amazing Changi Airport was. To learn about my new home and find a job, I talked to as many people as possible.
What surprised me was how many people in Singapore were willing to give me 30 minutes of their time. This might have been partly due to COVID, but it was amazing.
During lockdown, I set a goal to have two virtual coffee meetings every day. I spoke with people I thought could help me learn - marketing managers, directors, and people from brands and agencies.
By talking to these people, I started to understand Singapore's culture and how it relates to the wider region. Another important thing was travelling.
Singapore is a great place to travel from. You'll notice differences in other places. For example, Bangkok has much more outdoor advertising than Singapore. Understanding these differences across the region is important. So, my main advice is to talk to people - they'll give you their time - and to travel.
Jeanette: From a local perspective, I'd like to share some advice. The most important thing for anyone in our team, local or not, is to remember that we are not the target audience.
This mindset helps us talk to the right people. I agree with Andy about talking to people to understand the details. Ask your target audience about their life in Singapore and their experiences.
If you have a specific target audience in mind, that's a good starting point. Also, I mentioned earlier that Singapore has a big socio-economic gap. Instead of relying on market research, I believe in doing experiments, especially in a tech-savvy country like Singapore.
I suggest that the best way to understand how people will react to a product or message is to test it in the market. However, before taking action in Singapore, remember that it's a highly regulated country. You need to know what you can and can't say, and understand cultural sensitivities.
There are two ways to learn about this. First, as Andy said, talk to many different people to get a broad understanding. Second, take a more academic approach by reading the regulations and understanding how they affect life in Singapore. For example, we're more conservative than European countries, so some ads that work in Europe might not be acceptable here.
Eddy: Thank you, Jeanette and Andy. Thanks for staying with us. Have a good evening.
