Singapore Government pitches draw equal agency interest and scorn

State briefs dominated the country’s new business channels and the lack of big brand pitches - especially creative - was more than offset by the Singaporean Government, one of largest spenders in the country (although it never releases actual figures for tender wins).

Apart from the few high-profile government businesses such as Singapore Navy, Singapore Police, or Economic Development Board (EDB), government accounts were previously seen as the bastion of local agencies. But last year’s recession seemed to change this, with more and more international agencies vying for a share of the action, even the smaller government accounts and one-off projects, As the process becomes more sophisticated, so does the Government’s resources - pitch consultants are used for the bigger accounts, such as the Singapore Tourism Board pitch, which was handled by R3.

Stephen Mangham, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, agrees that the international network agencies have become more interested in government tenders. He attributes this change to “terrific briefs”, which give agencies a chance to engage in influencing social behaviour or provide fascinating insights into the ambitions for Singapore with bodies like EDB.

“I have been pleasantly surprised by just how many government bodies are progressive in their thinking, embracing new channels and ways of changing behaviour,” adds Mangham.

Though agencies in Singapore see government accounts as a stable source of revenues and a solution to the problem of bloated overheads, not everyone is a fan. Dan Paris, managing director of TBWASingapore, calls the process “rigorous and fair” but feels that the drawback is the lack of opportunity to present credentials.

A typical tender consists of three stages. The first is when agencies submit their credentials . The second is the shortlist - usually not revealed, - of three to four agencies. The third stage is the final pitch, resulting in the winner.

“In the initial stages there is no room for presenting, debate or discussion,” says Paris. “One is not given a chance to explain the work at all. As an agency, we put in a lot of energy and passion, and we expect some kind of a discussion. There is no human touch to the whole process.”

Theodore Khoo, CEO of local agency Gosh Advertising agrees, saying that most government tender involve “shooting in the dark.”

“Most government bodies do not list their criteria for selection and will not entertain your call if you want further information,” he says. “Private clients are much more willing to discuss such things.”

International agencies have met with varying levels of success in trying to win government accounts. In the 1980s and 1990s, McCann was called “the tender factory” of Singapore owing to its huge success in snaring government accounts. Today the title could be given to DDB, which is known to have a high success rate. HPB, Spring Singapore and Ministry of Manpower are just some of its present accounts.

“It’s about creating a niche,” says Paris. “There are agencies who pursue government businesses single-mindedly and they also attract the same kind of people.”

Industry comments

Stephen Mangham, chairman at Ogilvy & Mather in Singapore:
“There are some terrific briefs - from the chance to engage in influencing social behaviour (for example, anti-smoking) to fascinating insights into the ambitions and plans for Singapore (with EDB). The Government is one of the largest spenders in Singapore, and it tends to be ‘recession resistant’; that is, its budgets are less susceptible to recessionary cuts (in fact sometimes the opposite). It is, on aggregate, one of our most important clients. However, sometimes there are too many agencies, and too much upfront work for too little return, and those are the tenders we give a miss. But overall, government business is worth it.”

Patrick Stahle, CEO at Aegis Media APAC:
“Government tenders offer good business, good clout and good network opportunities. Government business in Asia specifically is quite important for networking opportunities. But sometimes the tender process can become a bit faceless.

Advertising must also be a relationship matter where effective work is produced in partnership with the clients. Sometimes government tender processes are carried out for minor projects and are not very cost effective, but I presume it is hard to change these policies. My view is everybody has failed to focus on advertisers’ ROI well enough, hence the focus on media prices. It’s a lost opportunity.”

Jonathan Sanchez, regional director Asia Pacific at Edelman:
“On a basic level, government tenders have become more appealing to network agencies in the past few years as the economy has evolved. During times of fiscal tension when consumer and corporate brands might pull back on communication, the cogs of government must keep turning.

International agencies bring with them wisdom, knowledge and scale that can add value to government civic communication agendas by delivering credible trust - a central tenet of the business of governing. In our experience, tenders come in all shapes and sizes. Some government tenders can look complex - and that is the nature of the beast.”
Read Jonathan's blog on Media.

Torie Henderson, CEO Singapore at Omnicom Media Group:
“Traditionally, government-related projects appeal because they are high-profile and often large pieces of business. As with most agencies, we try to develop dialogue with prospects during the process so that we have a better grasp of the core objectives and success metrics. Therefore the key drawback is that the tendering process doesn’t give agencies that opportunity to do that. However, it does create an even playing field.

It is up to the agency smarts to consider how much work is sufficient to get to the next stage of the tender process. The key difference between government tenders and regular pitches is in the dialogue: there is less.”

Got a view?
Email [email protected]

This article was originally published in the 25 February 2010 issue of Media.