Secret Lives of Singaporeans issue #43: The case of a royal, a label and a holiday destination

SECRET LIVES OF SINGAPOREANS:

THE CASE OF A ROYAL, A LABEL AND A HOLIDAY DESTINATION Issue #43 – Week commencing 13th November 2023 Authored by Glenn Koh and Aditi Anand

OGILVY

Secret Lives of Singaporeans is an ongoing collection of marketer-friendly briefs on the fascinating people of the little red dot, by planners and PR consultants from the big red agency. It’s not “thought leadership”, it’s “inspiration to DO”.

Each issue comprises • One thing people in Singapore are talking about • One thing people in Singapore are searching for • One thing that’s in the news in Singapore

Image Credits: People, The Straits Times, AFP

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OGILVY

One thing people in Singapore are searching for:

DRAGON BOATING BY A ROYAL

Image Credits: People

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WHAT

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Earlier this November, Prince William made a visit to Singapore to attend the Earthshot Prize Awards. These awards were also being held in Asia for the first time. Prince William first launched this prize in 2020 to recognise and scale solutions to tackle environmental challenges, including climate change.

The Earthshot Prize Awards haven’t really received much visibility or talkability since inception, especially in Asia. The combined factors of these awards being held in Singapore, the oomph factor of a royal and his participation in a local sport, managed to garner this event significant traction for the first time.

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Here are some learnings for brands from this event:

But that’s not all his visit to Singapore consisted of.

While he was here, he also took part in dragon boating with the British Dragons Dragon Boat Racing Team. Dragon boating is a popular sport in Singapore that is nearly 2,000 years old. This fun competition consisting of a mix of locals and expats, on the Kallang River, managed to garner over 10K searches on Google Trends, as his team came out tops in the race.

Source: AsiaOne, People, Google Trends

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In a world where money is increasingly on microinfluencers, star power can still contribute significantly to brand awareness and consideration, if used correctly.

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Going the extra mile to localise yourself never goes wrong while connecting with different audiences.

SO WHAT

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One thing people in Singapore are talking about:

NUTRI-GRADE LABELING FOR SODIUM INTAKE

Image Credits: The Straits Times

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WHAT

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The latest data by Health Promotion Board (HPB) highlights that 9 in 10 Singaporeans are consuming too much salt, and the rate of hypertension has almost doubled since 2010. In Singapore, the main sources of sodium intake come from added salt and sauces and seasonings, such as soya sauce, dark sauce, fish sauce and chilli sauce. In a country that loves to eat out, it’s to monitor sodium intake.

Therefore, the government is looking to roll out a labeling measure to indicate the level of sodium in food, in an approach similar to the "Nutri-grade" labels it uses to indicate sugar levels.

Apart from labelling measures, the government is also encouraging hawker centres, restaurants, caterers and chefs, to promote the adoption of lower-sodium ingredients along with stepping up their public education campaign through HPB.

While it’s great that HPB is pulling both demand and supply levers to address sodium overconsumption and the overall health of Singaporeans, reactions suggest its communications may be too complicated.

Discussions on Reddit show consumers feel all nutrition labels should be combined into one making it easier to process nutrition information.

What brands can learn for situations that demand behaviour change:

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Incentivise or reward your audience for the conscious decision they make to change their behaviour.

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Use loss-aversion as a technique to tell them what is at stake if they continue down the path of their current behaviour.

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Most importantly, people can’t adhere to what they don't understand. Keep it as simple as possible.

SO WHAT Source: Mothership, The Straits Times, Reddit

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OGILVY

One thing that’s in the news in Singapore:

JAPAN’S TOURISM NUMBERS HAVE REACHED PRE-COVID LEVELS

Image Credit: AFP

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WHAT

OGILVY

Despite being one of the last few countries in the world to reopen its borders in 2022, Japan’s monthly tourism arrivals have already returned to pre-COVID levels. The influx in tourists in the current quarter as well as the increase in spend per tourist could help the country avoid falling into a technical recession.

With the weak Japanese Yen, alluring experiences and the reestablishment in airline connectivity from Asia and around the world, the Japanese government is optimistic that travellers from around the world (and of course Singapore) will be descending on Japan during the upcoming holiday season.

Source: xx

Japan as a tourist destination has been one of the world’s or even the most attractive destination for international travellers.

According to the 2022 ISEAS State of Southeast Asia survey, Japan is the most preferred country to visit among Singapore respondents, with almost a third of them choosing it. A separate survey

by YouGov yielded similar results, with 49% considering Japan as their next travel destination.

What brands can learn from the Japan context:

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Brand-building is a long-term investment with long-term returns.

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Even when travel was restricted, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JTNO) had invested in numerous brand-related activities to build up the anticipation of visiting Japan when borders reopened. This resulted in Japan being one of the few countries that has reached its pre-COVID levels within a year.

SO WHAT

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Hungry for more?

Talk to us at secretlivessg@ogilvy.com