STB’s marketing chief on the need for Global Conversations to spur rethinking

Marketing campaign shares actionable thoughts for compact enterprises to adapt to Covid environment

THERE are some who may problem the will need for Singapore Tourism Board’s hottest campaign “SingapoReimagine World wide Conversations” at a time when journey firms in the region have been hammered by Covid, with its borders even now closed to inbound. Who requirements additional speak when we need to have much more dollars, some may well say. Lynette Pang, STB’s assistant main executive, marketing and advertising group addresses this question as well as shares suggestions on how corporations, significant and little, can leverage insights unearthed into reimagining their business enterprise.

Q: Why the need to have for Worldwide
Discussions at this time? How will it include worth to an business
that’s been hammered by Covid?

With tourism and travel at a crucial
crossroads owing to the pandemic, it is important that world wide gamers address the
advanced needs of new travellers, reimagine the position quo by way of new small business
types, and recapture mindshare among world
audiences.

SingapoReimagine Global Conversations was as a result envisioned as a important system and voice for field – to come collectively to exchange suggestions and spur new collaborations across the market and beyond, to reshape world vacation collectively.

Q: Why the 4 tracks that were being explored in the sequence? What was the pondering powering the improvement of these themes?

The traveller is at the coronary heart of all the
themes produced for SingapoReimagine International Discussions – which we feel would
stay essential for corporations as they form
their offerings and encounters centered on shifting or new wants and
interests. Subject areas such as the new travellers’ personas, phygital encounters as
very well as unconventional partnerships that give
rise to reimagined experiences spotlight the key shifts
to address their requirements. The series
further more spotlights new business enterprise products, partnerships and ways that can
modify the long run of travel.

For example, “A Whole New (Phygital) World” discusses how models have integrated electronic and virtual components into their physical businesses to engage and arrive at out to far more audiences, even though “A Handshake of Possibilities” illustrates how organizations from both vacation and non-vacation industries have banded jointly to examination-bed ground breaking concepts and new income streams, to cater to individuals in a new Covid-19 ecosystem.

Q: How will these insights gain lesser corporations who have struggled to make ends meet up with and proceed to do so with the recent ongoing limitations? Can you share one instance of how a smaller business can faucet into Episode 1 where you profiled the a few kinds of travellers?

The message boards are meant for all vacation-linked and way of life companies, both equally large and tiny. When this is a tricky time for a lot of
of them, they ought to put together for the upcoming as the small business of journey and customers’
needs have essentially improved.

For more compact companies, the insights and frameworks in just the WGSN report will present actionable insights that can assistance them critique if their current segmentation, item range and internet marketing can help them appeal to the new traveller profiles.

• To target the Mindful Explorer, organizations can promote their locally owned position and deepen their engagements with the regional community to produce much more hyper-localised encounters.

  Instance: Neighborhood encounter curator Tribe launched a series of interactive ‘Behind-The- Scenes’ livestream excursions to share genuine stories of Singaporean neighbourhoods, and their classic craftsmen. These involved an personal search into how Killiney – one particular of Singapore’s oldest coffeeshops – tends to make their regular coffee and toasts.

• To goal the Sluggish Pacer, enterprises can offer you items and providers that respond to the physiological and psychological lifetime stages of prospects. These mindful experiences can be more well-rounded and delicate to their perfectly-being.

  Illustration: Journey and way of life corporation Blue Sky Escapes shifted its focus on assisting other individuals to travel inwards and empower them to far better navigate these times. It curated a sequence of 3D2N wellness retreats named An Emergence of Self, established in Labrador Mother nature Reserve, with classes these types of as active meditation, the practice of silence, audio therapeutic, as well as nourishing plant-based meals.

Q: Prior to Covid, what share of the 19 million holidaymakers who arrived to Singapore would have fallen into these a few buckets? Since Singapore was by now pushing toward these variety of knowledge holidaymakers with its Enthusiasm Designed Probable campaign, was not it?

The a few new traveller profiles
give a good commencing place for
our sector to think about
how their offerings can be reimagined centered on progressed traveller demands
and pursuits.

These profiles are also carefully aligned with how we tackle our
audiences by way of their interests and passions. For example, the Tradition
Shapers who like heritage stories and neighbourhood hidden gems as effectively as
Explorers who enjoy nature, share equivalent traits with the Aware Explorer.
Protection, a person of Singapore’s strongest characteristics which we spotlight by means of
endeavours these types of as SG Clean up, also resonate with the Slow Pacer.

It is significantly critical, nonetheless, to
deepen our narratives and broaden our array of ordeals to attractiveness to these
travellers and their desires.

For case in point, our thrust in the direction of getting to be a
sustainable city vacation spot is in line with the Mindful Explorer’s values. We
intention to be a Town in Nature, where by large experiences appear with little footprints.
This is reflected in the work performed by partners this sort of as Sentosa, Wildlife
Reserves Singapore and our two integrated resorts,
as properly as the roadmaps
for sustainability we are
building collectively with the different tourism
companions.

Wellness, another new development space, is also in line with the requires of the Slow Pacer. Singapore is perfectly-positioned to build by itself as a vacation spot that prioritises holistic well-remaining and features available and “must-do” encounters to assistance visitors leave feeling far better than when they arrived. We are already viewing some excellent get the job done being completed in this location: ClassPass and STB introduced a a single-year partnership and far more hotels are also building or partnering with life-style and wellness manufacturers. For instance, Oasia Resort Sentosa delivers an all-rounded wellness encounter which includes health and fitness routines, mindfulness routines and healthy ingesting.

Q: Evidently volume’s not likely to return whenever soon – some quarters are expecting entire recovery by 2023/2024 – how will Global Discussions and STB change the needle to higher generate tourism? Share one case in point of how you will be marketing and advertising Singapore in a different way submit- Covid as opposed to pre-Covid?

In a COVID entire world, our advertising will have to be even
much more hyper-localised and agile. Market- specific SingapoReimagine campaigns
will be timed based on border guidelines and the readiness of the nearby market to
journey. We will execute quick and cater to sector nuances, though highlighting
regions like security, technologies, ordeals and sustainability for each key
sector. These strategies will also consist of related in-industry media and trade
partners, as well as influencers, to generate anticipation and bookings for Singapore.

A further shift is the increased emphasis on basic safety. To enhance
self-assurance in vacation to Singapore, we will proceed
to teach and reassure travellers on Singapore’s complete COVID-19 measures this sort of as our SG Clean Top quality
Mark, harmless administration actions, and electronic
applications.

Q: For you individually as a marketer, which episode do you obtain most exciting in terms of unearthing new nuggets?

I imagine each and every episode is different and has unique
takeaways, but for me, it will be episode 2 “A
Total New (Phygital) World”, which is on the convergence of digitalisation and
experiences to tackle small business needs of today and tomorrow. I also liked
episode 1 “Understanding the New Traveller” as I assumed the investigation was effectively
executed with crystal clear synthesis of the significant driving forces fused with significant world
traits and behavioural changes emerging from the
effects of COVID-19, to arrive at the profiles.

Two of the SingapoReimagine World-wide Discussions discussion board shared insights from industry gamers by themselves – from museums to sporting and business enterprise party organisers – on how they have adopted technological innovation, using Virtual Actuality (VR) and Augmented Fact (AR), to relook their business types and fulfill the desire for hybridisation.

I strongly believe technological know-how will participate in an increasingly vital role, in a earth the place some physical encounters will be difficult. From adopting virtual/hybrid formats for situations (e.g. The Entrance Row Manner Competition) to employing call-totally free technology for ticketing (e.g. at Snow Metropolis), the clever use of technological innovation will help to lessen friction and suffering details alongside the traveller journey – devoid of compromising on the practical experience or the personalized contact that good hospitality necessitates.

Q: Will World-wide Conversations be an ongoing campaign? Or will it conclude immediately after the 4 episodes?

The discussion board series commenced in September 2021
and will operate till 2022. It contains a few essential message boards anchored on the themes of
experiences, journey journeys as perfectly as sustainability and wellness.

The initial discussion board – titled “Reimagine
Experiences” – has just been produced and is accessible on Singapore Tourism Board’s YouTube channel and website as a 4-part movie collection.

There are two additional impending discussion boards, titled
“Reimagine Travel Journeys” and “Reimagine Sustainability and Wellness”, which will target on insights
and remedies to reduce friction in travel journeys and
the rising want to vacation responsibly.

There are also ideas for localised discussion boards in our key marketplaces, so do glance out for them.

Q: It appears in this pandemic, a lot of organisations are turning into media organizations by themselves and Worldwide Discussions, in the variety of Television set episodes, is a go in that way. Would you endorse far more journey brand names develop into media/written content-led firms and transfer in the direction of subscription versions this kind of as what Jazz at Lincoln Heart is accomplishing?

In a Covid entire world, there wants to be more pull advertising and marketing than press advertising and marketing in the branding and consciousness-creating phase. For this reason, storytelling and information will be critical, though it will have to be a mix of owned and compensated – it is about discovering the suitable harmony.

For SingapoReimagine World-wide Conversations, we aim on insights and
content that give value, although leveraging virtual formats to increase our get to. Every single company will have to figure
out what their strengths are, what resonates with their audiences and irrespective of whether
digitalisation can unlock new income streams or channels of engagement.

Some illustrations consist of:

Combining the very best of theatre, technological know-how and hospitality, Raffles Singapore partnered Double Confirm Productions and Sight Lines entertainment to produce a very first-of-its- sort virtual interactive engage in titled “The Curious Scenario of the Missing Peranakan Treasure”. Participants knowledge mystery through a pure digital sport perform selection, or participate in distinctive offerings on-web site by a staycation bundle.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore’s “Hello from the Wild Side” is an expansion of its at the rear of-the-scenes written content. Lovers can pick from a series of programmes to interact nearly with animals and zookeepers, and tour again-of-residence animal enclosures, wherever proceeds will go toward the care of animals and assistance wildlife conservation initiatives.

Q: What variety of traveller are you? And which place does the very best position of desirable to your persona?

I am a cross in between the Aware Explorer
and Sluggish Pacer. Specified the hectic speed of do the job, I would think about that when I can travel for leisure in the long run,
I would like to both
entirely unwind and have time to heal the body, or discover genuine
local sights and appears that are not the
normal places and sites holidaymakers go to.