Singapore reveals new united branding around ‘Passion Made Possible’ to evoke the country’s aspirational story
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Economic Development Board (EDB) have joined forces on new branding to combine efforts in promoting the country to both tourists and businesses.
Singapore's new branding aims to show it is about 'Passion Made Possible'
The united front aims to use the power of the two government units to work as one brand, creating more fire power under a unified message of ‘Passion Made Possible’. The new brand look also includes a new logo that labels the country as ‘SG’, which plays on the idea of trademarks, linking to Singapore’s desire to be known as a country of innovators.
Lionel Yeo, chief executive of STB, said: “With Passion Made Possible, STB is presenting a brand that can tell a fuller Singapore story beyond just tourism. This brand articulates what we stand for as a country and supports the telling of many stories about this destination and its people. It will allow us to build a deeper and more personal connection between Singapore and our fans and friends, even when they are not actively thinking about travel. This brand is in line with Quality Tourism as it will appeal to the more sophisticated tourists who are seeking more aspirational value propositions in their travel.”
Beh Swan Gin, chairman of EDB, added: “Singapore is making the shift from being primarily an investment-driven economy to one that will be led by innovation. In particular, local and international companies are seeking to create new products, services and solutions that will have a stronger impact in Asia. It is timely to send a strong and clear signal that companies can do this successfully from Singapore and turn possibilities into reality. Singapore and Singaporeans are where we are today because we pushed the limits of what’s possible, and did not allow constraints to hold us back.”
Speaking at the launch event earlier this week, assistant chief executive of the marketing group at Singapore Tourism Board Lynette Pang, said the united brand was also in recognition that human stories often resonate better with people, whether in a business or tourism context.
The overarching message of ‘Passion Made Possible’ will now be used by both government departments when promoting the country but the launch also coincides with a major global consumer campaign push from STB around the same messaging.
Pang said it marks a major shift for the strategy for its tourism marketing because it’s moving from ‘transactional’ messaging, in which it’d focus on listing things that people can ‘do’, to being aspirational and showing people what they can ‘be’ in Singapore.
“It’s beyond what you can do in Singapore. That message is important and we will still do this but we will add another layer, which is when we think about what we are being and what we are interested in and passionate about. People want to be with likeminded individuals and be part of a likeminded tribe,” she explained.
This also comes from the insight that people now want to live like locals when they travel, Pang continued, which is arguably also the insight that Airbnb has managed to monetise. STB has used this to create a campaign promoting ‘tribes’ around key aspects of Singapore and using specific stories from Singaporeans to show how this plays out in reality.
The tribes that STB has chosen to focus on include foodie, collector, explorer, action seeker, culture shaper, socialiser and progressor.
Singapore Passion Made Possible
A set of ‘tribe films’ will be slowly released throughout the year but to keep the campaign as human and story-centred as possible, another set of films around brand personalities will also be released. Each will go deeper into the story of a Singaporean that epitomises each of the ‘tribes’ but also tie back to the united brand message of ‘passion made possible’ because each have an aspirational story to tell.
For example, one film tells the story of French-trained chef Malcolm Lee who returned to Singapore to launch a restaurant based around local food. His restaurant Candlenut is now the only restaurant in the world awarded a Michelin star that serves Peranakan food.
STB also highlighted special tours around the tribes, created by local tour organisations, and is partnering with hotels to create experiences on the concept. For example, the Village brand hotels will collaborate with local arts schools to design ‘Made-in-Singapore’ rooms that people can stay in. The Parkroyal on Pickering, a hotel that is architecturally designed to be kind to the environment, will create a virtual reality app that takes tourists on an eco and architecture tour of the country.
The activity for ‘Passion Made Possible’ was the work of two agencies. A spokesperson told The Drum: “As the unified brand is championed by both EDB and STB, our respective creative agencies were enlisted to help develop the brand. TSLA Design, the branding and design practice of The Secret Little Agency (TSLA), is responsible for the creation of the new unified business and tourism brand identity and its accompanying global branding guidelines. TBWA\Singapore developed the brand campaign, 'Passion Made Possible', and helped shape the strategic and creative direction of campaign.”
The campaign and joint branding was revealed at an event in Singapore today (24 August) but a wider global roll out to key markets will soon start to launch in phases.