The four-minute video shows top MDA officials rapping to lyrics such as ‘Nothing but the best service for our customers; fees and fines, we make it all easier’.
Cassandra Tay, director of communications, MDA, said the video had been made for an internal staff conference. It was then sent to stakeholders with the organisation’s annual report and posted on its website before finding its way on to YouTube. “The video showed a lighter side of the management; a mindset that is important for an agency which champions creativity,” she said.
The video has been watched 100,000 times on YouTube, where it has been ridiculed for its attempt to make Singapore a ‘vibrant media city’ by using dancing, rapping middle-aged executives. It was also picked up by foreign news agencies like Washington Post, New Zealand Herald and UK’s The Times.
Andrew Thomas, MD, OgilvyPR Worldwide Singapore, noted that the video has shown how pervasive new media is. “MDA has shown that it is willing to engage consumers using different channels. But does the video really reflect the personality of the organisation? What is the underlying message? Who are they targeting?” he said.
The video may have been effective, he added, if it was followed by a series of communications plans to “crystallise the message”.
A source from a creative agency noted that the video, produced by production house Threesixzero, was poorly executed. “The rap is a rip-off of an old song and their mouths don’t sync to the lyrics. MDA should spend its time making Singapore a more conducive centre for creative excellence through business and tax incentives - and leave creativity to the real professionals.”
However, Augustine Pang, a lecturer from Nanyang Technological University’s mass communications faculty, believed that MDA has succeeded in using the new media to update its image. “It’s an organisation that’s trying to shake its staid and conservative persona. They promote creativity, so credit to them for putting their money where their mouth is.”
MDA was formed in 2003 to develop, manage and promote the growth of the media scene in Singapore.
It also plays a regulatory role, overseeing the TV, film, radio, print and new media industries in the city-state.
