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Has Singapore Tourism Board got its new branding right?
By Asiya Bakht, for http://www.media.asia
Singapore Tourism’s Board’s (STB) new destination brand “Your Singapore” launched to a mixed response from the industry at a tourism event with much fanfare last month.
Some of the key changes brought about by STB’s new lineup of agencies BBH, XM Asia and MEC include the change of branding from Uniquely Singapore to YourSingapore; a new logo, which has eight overlapping squares; a living logo, made specially for digital screens depicting different aspects of Singapore and the launch of a new website YourSingapore.com to replace “VisitSingapore.com.
The idea behind the new destination branding is based on the concept of personal travel experiences that tourists can create in Singapore due to the concentration of sights in the country with “user-centricity”. Ken Low, the assistant chief executive of STB, has said that the tourism body needs to embrace “ global trends and the shift in media consumption” and has taken the decision to “put digital at the heart of its marketing communications.”
Last year the tourism body undertook a much talked about advertising review after which it appointed BBH displacing Y&R as its creative agency of record. Many in the industry saw the choice of BBH as STB’s desire to give a new direction to their marketing strategy.
Considering the importance of this sector for the island state, expectations are high and the million-dollar question is whether the strategy will work?
Industry comments
Tim Riches, chief growth officer at FutureBrand in Asia-Pacific:
“I think ‘YourSingapore’ is great on several levels. It lives squarely in the world of the online medium, particularly as that manifests as user-generated content, as well as functionality like trip planning. Our Country Brand Index research demonstrates that this is by far the most important realm that consumers tap into for information gathering and decision-making on travel destinations.
Creatively, I think it’s vibrant in its use of imagery, and manages by using a range of images to capture important aspects of the Singapore experience. But it works really as a brand portal, not a destination brand. And some of the off-line expressions are pretty weak.”
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