Thirst for personal content drives second wave of STB’s 'passion' campaign

Last week, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched the second wave of its ‘Passion Made Possible’ campaign to promote Singapore as a leisure destination. Incepted last year with seven ‘passion tribes’ for visitors to identify themselves with, the new wave of the campaign adds three ‘tribes’ and will see its brand collateral being staggered between now and December 2018.

The three additional tribes this year are 'Culture Shapers', 'Socialisers', and 'Action Seekers'. Personalities in the three new ‘tribes’ will be involved in local activities, be featured in short films for marketing campaigns, and participate in promotional events overseas. Personalities include indoor skydiver Kyra Poh and mixologist Vijay Mudaliar. 

This time around, STB is showcasing home-grown talent in the production of the short films as well as formed a partnership with online video platform Viddsee. What sets the second wave apart is that local directors—including Wee Li Lin and Jacky Lee—were roped in to conceptualise the campaign and create the films. Previously, the production of campaign films was led by STB and TBWA.

When asked about feedback from the first wave, Lim Shoo Ling, brand director for STB, said that it’s been largely positive as there had been a “thirst” for the “authentic and personal” side of Singapore. The short films from last year’s ‘tribe’ films collected 300 million views accumulatively.

“One of the questions that people always ask is what’s so different about Singapore behind all the typical attractions and this is where they can see and feel the other aspects that they might not have been in touch with,” Lim said.

“Through the people and their stories, that’s where we wanted to bring the emotive side of what Singapore is about. We’re not just a business city full of buildings running like clockwork. There are actually a lot of people behind it.”

Gauging from the encouraging reaction of China from the first wave, Lim cited China as the city-nation's biggest tourist market alongside India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Japan. “I think Singapore as a destination resonates with the [China] market. They definitely see us as a safe and enjoyable destination,” she said.

Because the campaign was also found to be popular among Chinese millennials, Lim said experiences in this wave’s Socialiser ‘tribe’ includes more nightlife and music festivals as “there’s a lot of interest in these kinds of offerings”.

She added that the celebration of Singapore talents through the campaign has helped to foster overseas collaborations especially with foreign KOLs.