You’re enjoying a peaceful family dinner at a local restaurant when, suddenly, an explosion shatters the calm. In seconds, the tone shifts and spirals into sudden terror.
These dramatic scenes were part of a recent campaign by VML Singapore for the Ministry of Home Affairs, presented through a series of short social media videos to help raise public vigilance against the threats of terrorism. The films simulate different terrorist situations and feature well-known Singaporean influencers who were kept in the dark about what would happen. Their raw, unscripted reactions were captured and shared widely, sparking broad public engagement.
“We put influencers in real-life simulated crises on camera, capturing how chaos impacts memory and judgment,” explains Nimesh Desai, CEO of VML Singapore. “The authenticity of their experience gets through to viewers far more effectively than prescriptive advice.”
This innovative approach is reflective of the modernisation of government campaigns, which increasingly need to be, what Desai calls, more “un-government” in style: less formal, more relatable, and akin to private sector marketing.
“Some government topics are inherently serious, but that doesn’t mean they have to feel dry. The key is finding a way to engage the younger generation without relying on fear or authoritarian tones,” Desai says. “We don’t just talk at citizens; we talk with them. Live, immersive social experiments create genuine engagement. They don’t just broadcast messages, they invite citizens to experience what it feels like and learn through empathy.”
Creativity in public sector campaigns is advancing rapidly, now rivalling private sector work in both ambition and impact. Desai highlights the effectiveness of empowering citizens by recognising what they already do well and encouraging a gentle “nudge” to do a little more, rather than resorting to scare tactics or directives.
“We made terrorism a topic people would actually watch and discuss, not by lessening its importance, but by presenting it in a way the younger generation could relate to,” he says. “We moved from a directive message to one that asks ‘What’s your role?’ inviting everyone to see their own capacity to contribute.”
For Desai and his team, government work is a vital priority, spanning multiple public sectors with long-term contracts that allow ongoing engagement and evolution of messaging. But beyond the professional satisfaction lies a personal pride.
“I have two boys, and when they see the work we do, often at a national level, they come home excited, saying, ‘Papa, they showed your work at school,’ or we might watch a movie and see it featured,” Desai shares. “It fills me with immense pride. Being involved in critical campaigns, whether it’s about saving water or raising awareness around terrorism, makes me feel like I’m truly contributing to the nation. And as a Singaporean, that gives me double the satisfaction.”
Citizen-centred campaigns
Across the region, government work plays a similarly pivotal role. In Australia, for example, R/GA’s Public Practice operates across federal, state, and local levels year-round, delivering everything from public brand reinvention to behaviour change campaigns and major digital transformations.
“For us, winning a government contract is about forming long-term partnerships that deliver enduring outcomes. It’s never just about filling a pipeline,” says Tish Karunarathna, executive director and public practice lead at R/GA. “We design campaigns as experiences, not just messages. That means co-designing with the communities we’re trying to reach, especially those most impacted by the policy or service, and segmenting creative so ‘the public’ isn’t treated as a single audience.”
In many governments across APAC, marketing and public communications are split between in-house teams and external agencies. Hong Kong’s Information Services Department (ISD), for instance, acts as a bridge between the government and diverse local, Mainland Chinese, and overseas communities.
“The focus of our promotion content is to highlight Hong Kong’s development of ‘eight centres’ as outlined in the National 14th Five-Year Plan,” says Terry Wong, ISD’s chief information officer. “We hope to attract entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, world-class talents and their families to come to Hong Kong to invest, work, live and study.”
ISD also runs the popular ‘Immersive Hong Kong’ roving exhibition, an interactive art and technology showcase inviting visitors to explore Hong Kong’s unique opportunities for tourism, education, business, and investment.
Immersive Hong Kong roving exhibition.
Similar engagement models exist in tourism departments, such as Thailand’s TAT and Singapore Tourism Board, where close partnerships with external agencies fuel blockbuster campaigns targeting diverse segments, from business travellers to families and seniors.
For Tourism Thailand (TAT), whose current priority is to reinforce Thailand as a secure and reliable destination, these partnerships extend throughout the year, with particularly intensive collaboration during key campaign development and launch phases.
“We typically engage external agencies for comprehensive branding initiatives and high-production content creation, especially when developing visually compelling campaigns and video content that require specialised production expertise and creative direction,” says Nithee Seeprae, TAT deputy governor for marketing communications. “We’ve also cultivated strong, long-term partnerships with leading global media networks, which allow us to maximise campaign reach and effectiveness while maintaining cost efficiency.”
Meanwhile, TAT’s internal teams focus on implementing digital strategies and procuring media across international platforms. “The most successful campaigns result from combining external creative expertise with our internal market knowledge and established media relationships,” Seeprae explains. “This collaborative approach leverages the strengths of both internal and external resources.”
Similarly, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), whose campaigns currently target five distinct segments—Active Silvers, Early Careers, Established Careers, Families with Young Kids, and Business Travellers—relies on external agencies for an ‘outside in’ perspective. This helps them identify opportunities and address both short and long-term challenges.
“We work closely with our agencies on creative conceptualisation and campaign development for major initiatives, alongside media planning and public relations support,” says Kenneth Lim, assistant chief executive of the marketing group at STB. “For example, our Made In Singapore (MIS) campaign required multi-market coordination. Through our agencies, we leveraged their established networks to ensure optimal reach and consistent messaging across different markets, resulting in cohesive campaign execution region-wide.”
For Tourism Australia, working with external agencies is a daily practice, recently highlighted by the launch of chapter two of their global Come and Say G’day campaign.
Susan Coghill, chief marketing officer at Tourism Australia, notes the importance of balancing global and local perspectives. “External agencies are trusted partners who collaborate closely with my internal team across almost every project. We work with a global creative agency and take a global–local approach to media, combining central strategy with local implementation.”
Creative risks vary by market
Despite growing creative opportunities, government campaigns still face inherent challenges, especially around innovation within strict regulatory and ethical boundaries.
“The main challenge is to innovate within the lines,” Karunarathna explains. “In Australia, those lines are clear: political neutrality, accessibility, privacy, security, procurement compliance. They exist for good reasons. We see the constraints as a creative brief in themselves.”
The appetite for creative risks varies widely by market. Campaigns in Australia, particularly in the corporate sector, can incorporate edgier content and innuendos that might not be suitable in more conservative markets like Singapore.
“If I look at the work in Singapore and compare it against the corporate sector work in Australia, then you can see that Australia is ahead of us,” Desai observes. “You can do more risky campaigns with innuendos and stuff like that in Australia that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to do in Singapore. I think it’s also a journey that we are going through in Singapore. We came from a very traditional top-down approach. But I think we’re starting to take those steps.”
Artificial intelligence is adding a new dimension to these dynamics. Governments are exploring its potential to accelerate workflows and personalise creative output, even as concerns about trust, transparency, security, intellectual property, and fair remuneration persist.
“That’s why we use transparent, rights-respecting AI tools, align with the Commonwealth’s AI ethics principles, and always keep human oversight at the core,” Karunarathna says. “The goal isn’t to replace creativity. It’s to enhance it, safely and respectfully.”
Taken together, these insights reveal a strategic and creative transformation sweeping government marketing across the region. The shift is towards citizen-centred, engaging, and continually refined storytelling, eschewing old top-down broadcasts in favour of genuine connection.
“If I had to call our framework something, I’d say it’s un-government. Work that looks and feels less like the government and more like the people it’s meant for,” Desai says. “At least for Singapore, the journey is from the traditional top-down to something bolder and citizen-first. We’re halfway there now. The next generation will embrace it fully.”
