Singapore – In its continued quest to honour the rich and diverse food hawker culture in Singapore, DBS has relaunched its ‘DBS PayLah! Hawker Awards’, which aims to encourage Singaporeans to support their hawkers in this challenging time, by reminding them of all the love that hawkers show us—from verbal affirmations (hello sayang) to actual physical gifts (of extra rice and curry).
The campaign, done alongside The Secret Little Agency (TSLA), the focus of the awards will not be on the food but instead the people behind the delicious hawker fare we enjoy. While most food hawkers would rather not raise prices or reduce their portions, the realities of rising inflation, rental costs and an increasingly volatile market, leave them with little choice, with them being sandwiched between higher cost and unhappy customers.
Speaking about the campaign, Lim Bee Bee, executive director and head of marketing for consumer banking group at DBS Singapore, said that the hawker culture has been an intrinsic part of the way of life for Singaporeans and Singapore residents, whether in good and tough times. For them, the dedication that our hawkers put in their food have brought people together.
“We thought there is no better way for everyone to bond and share our love for food than through this public voting in the Hawker Awards, which is already in its third-year running. At the same time, we can also spotlight the many hidden gems and interesting hawkers of all ages and backgrounds in our community to show how the hawker trade has evolved with the times to cater to the tastes of different generations of Singaporeans,” she said.
Bee Bee also added, “At DBS, we have been championing and celebrating our hawker culture. Through our 5 Million Hawker Meals subsidy programme and Adopt-a-Hawker Centre initiative, we really hope to get everyone to go to our hawker centres and keep our hawker centres bustling.”
In order to get this message across and reach the hearts of Singaporeans, the campaign ‘Hawker Nation’ hijacks the media landscape of August 2023, giving hawkers the ‘Presidential’ treatment they deserve.
This is followed by out-of-home buys, which feature past winners paired with statements reflective of relatable everyday experiences and interactions with the hawkers.
A spokesperson for The Secret Little Agency said, “We decided on this unorthodox strategy in order to really capture the attention of the public. Our hawkers serve us – quite literally – and they’ve represented Singapore on the world stage. They may not qualify to run for office, but they are every bit as important as the people who do. Because let’s be real – our nation would fall apart in no time without their hawker fare. Our hawkers rally Singaporeans from all walks of life, so we created a very different kind of election to ensure DBS’s place at the forefront of this cultural conversation.”
They added, “Marketing metrics aside, the real intangible measure of success would be for Singaporeans to recognise and sayang (show love in Malay) their hawkers. It’s no easy task being a hawker in this climate, and they deserve to be celebrated just as much as we need that warming fish soup on a cold rainy day.”
