Singapore Maritime Foundation’s latest campaign a bid to change perception on sector

Singapore – The Singapore Maritime Foundation has launched a new campaign called ‘Own Your Future’, which aims to refresh the industry’s talent attraction and branding efforts by raising awareness of the myriad of purposeful and exciting careers in the maritime sector.

Inspired by real-life maritime professionals, the campaign seeks to attract fresh graduates and mid-careerists of all backgrounds to the sector, which is an integral pillar of the global logistics and supply chain, and an enabler of world trade.

According to Tan Beng Tee, executive director at the Singapore Maritime Foundation, through this campaign and with the support of the maritime industry, the foundation seeks to elevate the sector’s standing as a source of meaningful and diverse careers, where Singaporeans can make an impact in the world, through frontier domains such as technology, sustainability, and decarbonisation.

“Singapore is a maritime nation. Our maritime heritage dates back 700 years, and today we compete at the top of the league. However, not many Singaporeans are aware of the purposeful and diverse careers in the sector. Much of the activities — automation at the port, harnessing data analytics on board ships, or embracing more sustainable business practices — are ‘invisible’ to the public. Yet, without talent, there can be no transformation,” Tee said.

Central to the campaign is the “Own Your Future” Career Purpose Quiz — a fun, interactive quiz that users can take to learn more about the different jobs in the sector. The quiz also matches users to roles they could potentially consider, based on responses to questions that delve into personality traits, talents, and career purpose. Apart from the quiz, Own Your Future also engages Singaporeans through storytelling across rich media platforms such as videos and comics.

In addition, the campaign is fronted by five real-life professionals in the maritime sector — data scientist, crew executive, ship financier, asset management executive and shipping lawyer. Using creative techniques such as cel-shading art commonly seen in popular culture, the campaign transforms real-life professionals from different parts of the maritime ecosystem into action characters.