According to sources close to the process, agencies believed to be on the shortlist are Arc Worldwide, Blue and XM Asia-Pacific.
A tender for the Governmental department’s digital account was called earlier this month, and according to the tender document, presentations are expected to start on 22 September.
A tender for the Governmental department’s digital account was called earlier this month, and according to the tender document, presentations are expected to start on 22 September.
The EDB additionally aims to have an agency in place by 1 October and the contracted agency will hold the account for 22 months with the option to extend the contract an additional year.
The agency-call is in line with the EDB’s overarching goal of presenting the city-state as a premier business hub and compliments its recent appointment of JWT and MEC for a large-scale integrated marketing campaign.
However, the knowledge that the ECB’s digital duties will reflect its creative goals has deterred some digital agencies that would otherwise participate in the process. One Singapore-based source said his agency did not enter the tender because there was an unspoken assumption that only agencies that align with JWT and MEC would be considered for the business.
“It leaves us to think that a lot of this was pre-decided,” the source said. “With JWT being the creative agency, it makes sense that only a couple of agencies would participate in this and have a chance to get the account.”
