The FutureBrand assignment came after the Government set up an umbrella branding council to bring some harmony to Singapore’s branding, and with good reason.
Last year alone saw a slew of competing global brand campaigns that positioned Singapore according to sharply divergent propositions — economic hotspot one day, tourist mecca another. On its squeaky-clean surface, Singapore is a brand in rude health. It is a prosperous, modern, Asian utopia with a motoring economy.
A flick through The Straits Times is enough to be reminded that Singapore leads the world — if not, Asia — on many fronts: economic competitiveness, productivity, living standards, cleanliness, and it has one of the world’s best airports.
There is nothing wrong with Singapore, unless you’re into drugs, a free press or chewing gum. Yet it misses a crucial brand trait: personality. It has spent serious money trying to import one, but it has tried too hard, and it shows.
Clarke Quay, Singapore’s answer to Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong, has been likened to a scene from The Truman Show. Café del Mar, the famous Ibiza bar brand, was awkwardly transplanted on to Sentosa, Singapore’s kitschy ‘island resort’, with muted success. Crazy Horse, a tame copy of the topless cabaret show from Paris, closed within a year.
In the pipeline is the Singapore Flyer, an observation wheel — and rip-off of the London Eye. Two huge casinos (sorry, ‘integrated resorts’) will arrive by 2009. More promising is the possibility of the Formula One roaring into town.
But most attempts to copy more exciting cities have been done in the spirit of George Yeo, the former minister for foreign affairs, who famously said: “We have to pursue this subject of fun very seriously if we want to stay competitive in the 21st century.”
Fact Box...
Tourism numbers are at record high — 9.7 million in 2006, up nine per cent over 2005). Direct foreign investment is close to US$300 billion.
Singapore ranks among the lowest in the world for press freedom, the ‘happiness’ of its citizens and how often they have sex.
Singapore ranks second in the world for nightlife and dining in an international traveler survey by Country Brand Index 2006.
Gavin Coombes, CEO, FutureBrand Asia-Pacific
Singapore is a nation in the midst of a very public transition. The Government has been clear that not everything that has worked for Singapore in the past will continue to do so in future. This has resulted in several decisions impacting the business, social and environmental fabric.
Some have been interpreted as visionary (Biopolis); others, less so (Crazy Horse). It is a question of selecting and emphasising the right attributes. Credibility is crucial. The Biopolis is a perfect example of the new Singapore — bold and pragmatic, two of the principles we most closely associate with this country. Crazy Horse was a failure for precisely the same reason — it did not fit the accepted parameters of the Singapore brand.
The great commercial brands never define themselves relative to their competitors, yet nations often feel compelled to. Any temptation to be seen as the New York of Asia or the London of the East should be resisted.
A nation that has evolved from a barren rock into the most remarkable city-state since Athens in less than two generations should not be chasing headlines. There is a much bigger, better story to tell and the best part is that so much is still unwritten.
David Tang, president and CEO, DDB Singapore
Maybe the Singapore Tourism Board didn’t get it right with the slogan, ‘Uniquely Singapore’, but it got the spirit right: Singapore is a state of flux — a hundred different things with the promise of more to come.
We want to be a city of the world. But the Singapore brand will not survive unless we plug into the new world of changes. Of course, we may have to slay a few sacred cows along the way: casino resorts, changes to the penal code, dual citizenship. So be it.
We’ll have to start with talent. We need marketing mavericks to turn Mp3 into iPods and Sentosa into a world-class tourism icon. We’ve got enough lawyers, doctors and engineers. We need the right-brain playmakers (and I don’t mean scam artists who can’t make the commercial sell).
When it comes to branding Singapore, an action committee of civil servants, lawmakers and economists just won’t do. Give that job to a chief marketing officer. Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed New York City’s first-ever marketing chief in 2003. Hong Kong followed suit. Don’t get me wrong. I am a patriot and I do give a damn about those cows.
But if Singapore is to transform itself into a credible world city brand, it will have to find the right kind of brains.