Move over, ‘YourSingapore’, it’s now ‘Passion Made Possible’

SINGAPORE — The Republic will now be marketed overseas to potential investors and visitors as “Passion Made Possible”, under the “first unified brand” for the country launched on Thursday (Aug 24) by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Economic Development Board (EDB). 

The brand was the result of “qualitative and quantitative research with close to 4,500 respondents on what Singapore stands for”, involving residents, industry stakeholders and international audiences in Singapore and across 10 countries, the agencies said in a press release. 

According to STB and EDB, the respondents felt the themes of “passion” and “possibilities” best reflected the Singapore spirit. “While ‘possibilities’ was strongly associated with Singapore as a destination, the ‘passion’ to strive was what drove these possibilities,” they said. 

“Passion Made Possible was thus derived to capture the spirit of the nation in a way that builds affinity, affiliation and top-of-mind recall for choosing Singapore as a destination to visit and invest in.”

Reiterating that the brand is the “embodiment of the country’s track record and tenacity to fulfil passions and continually create new possibilities”, STB and EDB said: “By capturing the spirit of the nation, the brand will speak to Singaporeans and residents alike to build affinity and affiliation. For potential visitors and businesses, it will also help entrench stronger top-of-mind recall for choosing Singapore as a destination to visit and invest in.”

The push to refresh the nation’s brand positioning —  beyond its strong reputation as a safe and stable global business and tourism hub supported by top-notch infrastructure  —  comes amid intense global competition to attract tourists and investments and a much more complex media landscape, STB and EDB said. 

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (MTI) S Iswaran said the new slogan “epitomises what Singapore stands for”. 

“It can be used to describe the journey over the last 50 years. It is also about the attribute that makes Singapore what it is today. It is also about what Singapore wants to be and what Singapore offers to the rest of the world,” he said. 

The economic agencies and the MTI are looking at how they can adapt the slogan for their use. The Ministry of Communications and Information is also exploring how it can be used in the “larger government messaging”, said Mr Iswaran, who added that the logo was simple and “very adaptable”.

The tourism authorities’ first branding exercise was launched in 1984 under the tagline “Surprising Singapore”. Other past slogans included “New Asia Singapore” and “Uniquely Singapore”. The most recent brand, “YourSingapore”, which was launched in 2010, underpinned “Singapore’s strengths as a destination; that is, an experience which can be easily personalised”. 

Latest figures from the STB showed that between January and March, international arrivals to Singapore increased 4 per cent compared with the same period last year to reach 4.3 million, while tourism receipts grew 15 per cent to S$6.4 billion.

STB and EDB noted that visitors have become more discerning in their travel choices, “seeking to immerse themselves in cultures and build deeper connections with destinations”. International businesses, on the other hand, “want to create new solutions that make a difference”. 

The unified brand is aimed at helping Singapore stand out on the international stage, the agencies added. 

As part of the brand, a new logo was also unveiled. It features the “SG Mark” from the Republic’s “SG50” golden jubilee logo which was widely used in 2015. The logo is “an emblem of Singapore’s attributes as a place that is always trusted to deliver, and can be applied as a trust mark or a trust stamp to connote quality and trust”, STB and EDB said.

STB chief executive Lionel Yeo said the unified brand supports the telling of many stories about Singapore and its people. 

“With Passion Made Possible, STB is presenting a brand that can tell a fuller Singapore story beyond just tourism ... it will appeal to the more sophisticated tourists, who are seeking more aspirational value propositions in their travel,” he added.

EDB chairman Beh Swan Gin described the launch of the unified brand as a well-timed move, given Singapore’s shift in strategy from being an investment-driven economy to one that will be led by innovation.

“Local and international companies are seeking to create new products, services and solutions that will have a stronger impact in Asia,” he said. “It is timely to send a strong and clear signal that companies can do this successfully from Singapore and turn possibilities into reality.” 

The Passion Made Possible global campaign will be unveiled across cities around the world through consumer launches, trade events, industry partnerships and marketing initiatives featuring visuals and films that showcase individuals and groups pursuing their passions in various fields. 

The campaign will kick off in Japan on Friday with Singapore: Inside Out Tokyo, which brings Singaporean and Japanese contemporary creative talents together. It will be rolled out across Asia-Pacific and longer-haul markets such as Europe and the United States from next month. 

The unified brand will also be adopted by other statutory boards and agencies under the MTI.

FILM SERIES PART OF GLOBAL MARKETING PUSH

A key feature of the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) global marketing campaign is a series of films that “share how Singapore is Passion Made Possible”. 

Featuring almost 100 Singaporeans, residents and prominent personalities, the films will be broadcast on various media channels, social media platforms, and on VisitSingapore.com. 

STB has also worked with tour operators to refresh and come up with new trips, such as a hawker food trail and a journey through Joo Chiat on a Vespa sidecar. STB said on Thursday that there more than 20 tours to “enable visitors to discover Singapore based on their lifestyles and interests”. 

The tours are curated around the theme of “Passion Tribes” to incorporate deeper storytelling elements, in line with the new unified brand launched by STB and the Economic Development Board. 

Apart from the hawker food trail and Joo Chiat tour, the other new tours are visits to Kampong Glam and trips to trace the history of Singapore, among other things. 

STB said the films aim to appeal to the aspirations of visitors by “showcasing the depth of offerings and how Singapore ignites these passions”. They feature Singaporeans and residents who have “persevered and achieved their dreams, constantly striving for progress amidst challenges, whom potential visitors might be able to personally identify with”. 

For a start, STB has unveiled three personality-driven films, on Candlenut head chef and owner Malcolm Lee, designer Mark Ong and wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai.

STB is also partnering hotels to enhance visitors’ stay in Singapore, Some of these hotels include Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, Parkroyal on Pickering and the various Village Hotels at Changi, Katong, Bugis and Albert Court.

Parkroyal on Pickering, for example, plans to offer a curated architectural and eco-tour via an augmented reality app, to “showcase how they pioneered the concept of green hospitality in Singapore”, STB said.