Tag: GOVT Singapore

Singapore – Creative agency GOVT Singapore has announced new key appointments to drive growth to its senior management team.

GOVT Singapore has named Phang Mei Jeng as its managing director, Kevin Poh as executive creative director (ECD) and Khoo Kai Qi as client services director.

Phang joins the agency from Ensemble Worldwide/Mediabrands Content Studio in Malaysia, where she spent 7 years in the company until she rose to the position of managing director. She has also served as BBDO Proximity China’s business director, working with brands such as PETRONAS, Pizza Hut, Visa, OPPO, Ford, Gillette, Braun, and Toyota.

Phang takes over from former managing director Alvina Seah, who remains as GOVT group of companies’ partner.

Meanwhile, Poh was promoted from his previous role as group creative director, having spent 7 years with GOVT. Poh has worked with brands such as Sentosa, Julie’s Biscuits, Puma, and Asahi.

Poh steps into the ECD role following Tim Chan’s appointment as chief operating officer in The Betterment Group, the agency’s parent company.

Khoo, on the other hand, has gained over 13 years of experience in agencies such as Publicis, JWT, Tribal DDB Worldwide, and Moon Rabbit Singapore.

“Change is the only constant in life, and even more so in our industry. Our move to bring in new blood and elevate stalwarts like Kevin to bigger leadership positions is all about keeping the agency’s energy fresh and dynamic. At the same time, it allows the Co-Founders to spend time pursuing new opportunities for the Group and its agencies. And there’ll be more exciting ventures in the pipeline we’ll share in the coming months,” Leon Lai, CEO of The Betterment Group, said.

Singapore – The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) is celebrating Singapore’s 60th year of independence in its latest campaign with independent agency GOVT Singapore.

In line with the SG60 celebrations in 2025, the campaign honours the nation-building, multiculturalism, and resilience that has molded the country over the years.

Directed by Freeflow Productions’ Roslee Yusof, the campaign film highlights Singaporeans’ refreshed spirit as they contribute to the country’s growth.

The campaign also features key visuals displaying Singaporeans from different walks of life, in conjunction with interview videos telling their stories. These include multicultural band yIN Harmony, community volunteer group Kampung Kakis’ Mae Tan, Will & Well fashion designer Elisa Lim, artist with disabilities Gary Chong, local start-up Commenhers’ Nuryanee Anisah, and mental health and disability advocates Lino Felix and Zoe Zora.

The campaign video is available across Singapore government’s social media platforms and can be viewed on select television channels until the end of January.

Aaron Lye, director of Campaigns and Production Department at MDDI, said, “The celebration of our nation’s 60th birthday is an opportunity to build on the Forward Singapore exercise in refreshing our social compact. In commemorating SG60 together, we hope that Singaporeans can step forward and partner with one another to make the lives of fellow Singaporeans better. Let’s contribute to building a stronger Singapore together as we chart the journey of our future Singapore together.”

Tim Chan, executive creative director at GOVT Singapore, commented, “It’s always an honour to be involved in a campaign like this. As the country celebrates its 60th birthday, we wanted the work to be a reflection of a Singapore that has evolved towards a new chapter of togetherness, boldness and progress.”

Singapore – The Sentosa Development Corporation has launched a sensorial wallscape to stimulate the appetites of MRT commuters at the Dhoby Ghaut NEL and Bugis DTL stations.

Sentosa collaborated with GOVT Singapore, Starcom Worldwide, and Moove Media for the activation.

The wallscape allows viewers to immerse in the sight, scent, and sound of barbeque, inviting them to visit Sentosa GrillFest 2024.

The scent of smoky barbeque was made in collaboration with Oo La Lab while the ambient audio was created in collaboration with Massive Music. The activation aimed to recreate the feeling of dining beside a beach.

Sentosa GrillFest 2024 is the seventh edition of the beachfront grill festival where visitors can try local and international cuisine. Besides dining by the beach, visitors can also indulge in an exclusive tepee dining experience, which offers a three-course dinner.

Running from Nov. 14 to Dec. 8, the grill festival will be held at the Siloso Beach.

“With this year’s GrillFest returning with exclusive dishes and new experiences, we wanted to showcase the uniqueness through a campaign that is equally novel and distinctive. We hope the activation will surprise and interest commuters to join us for the tasty grills on Siloso Beach,” Chris Pok, divisional director of marketing and guest experience at Sentosa Development Corporation, said.

Alvina Seah, group managing director at GOVT Singapore, commented, “We saw an opportunity to create a sensorial experience that would give commuters a proper taste of all the thrills, grill, and beachside chill that they can discover at Sentosa GrillFest.”

Singapore – PUMA Southeast Asia has launched a new campaign celebrating everyday runners. The campaign, titled ‘See The Run Like We Do,’ aims to inspire every runner to embrace their own unique journeys.

With the rise of runners in Southeast Asia, PUMA highlights their challenges, including extreme humidity and lack of community support. The campaign emphasizes that running is for everyone, regardless of skill level or experience.

The campaign also encourages runners to celebrate their victories such as overcoming personal obstacles and improving health.

PUMA’s commitment to supporting runners is reflected in its new Deviate NITRO 3 shoe, which provides comfort and support.

Local initiatives will also be organised through the PUMA NITRO Run Club in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. These initiatives aim to foster community engagement and create a supportive environment for runners.

“At PUMA, we believe that running is for everyone. With the Deviate NITROTM 3 and our commitment to local initiatives, we’re dedicated to supporting and celebrating the diverse running community across Southeast Asia. By connecting with runners on a personal level in this film, we aim to inspire and empower them to define their own running journeys,” Eleanor Wang, marketing director at PUMA Southeast Asia, said.

Kevin Poh, group creative director of GOVT, commented, “We wanted to make a film that resonates with everyday runners. That meant going beyond the tropes of performance and professional athletes breaking their limits so often seen in sports commercials. Instead, we celebrate everyone and anyone who’s ever thought they weren’t made to run. We want to encourage the running community to embrace the ‘bad’ runners in them, and engage with running the way it should be enjoyed—inclusively, joyfully and without judgment.”

Singapore – The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) has released two new official music videos for ‘Majulah Singapura’, the national anthem of Singapore. Broadcasted on free-to-air channels every morning, the previous version of the film was created in 2011. This marks its first change in over a decade. 

The two new films, titled ‘Bersatu’ (Unite) and ‘Majulah’ (Onward), focus on different aspects of the nation’s story. While ‘Bersatu’ celebrates our racial and religious harmony as well as our intergenerational rapport, ‘Majulah’ highlights our national achievements, and the coming together of one people to build a future we all aspire towards. 

The two films were a result of discussions and planning that began in late 2023. The goal: To resonate with as many Singaporeans as possible, and to chart a collective path towards a progressive future. 

Led by GOVT, the films were jointly conceptualised with Freeflow Productions, and co-directed by Roslee Bin Yusof and Leroy Lim. The project represents the coming together of two homegrown independent creative companies for a single national cause. 

Together, they share a common creative vision to build the films from scratch, and not rely entirely on archival footages. This allows the scenarios and stories portrayed in the work to be current, inclusive and authentic; a nod to the changing times of Singapore— and Singaporeans—today.

To that end, the films feature personalities never before seen in previous national anthem films, like a female firefighter as well as a blind dragon boater. It also includes new iconic landmarks such as Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi Airport and Sentosa Sensoryscape.

Lastly, the film is set to the re-recording of the National Anthem, performed and released by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on 3 December 2019. 

Aaron Koh, co-founder of GOVT and creative lead on both films, said, “Growing up as a kid singing the national anthem, this has to be by far the most sentimental piece of work I’ve done and I’m extremely proud I did it with a team that pulled in the same direction.”

He added, “The new renditions build upon the timeless melody composed by Zubir Said while bringing a fresh, contemporary perspective through everyday triumphs, resilience and hopes for generations to come.” 

Meanwhile, Leroy Lim, co-director of the films, commented, “We wanted the two pieces of film to be a celebration of progress. But more importantly, of a sense of connection between our people, communities and nation. Just like the lyrics of the anthem: “Let us unite in a new spirit (Dengan semangat yang baru),” we hope that these films will be a rallying cry and inspiration for all Singaporeans, now and in the years to come.” 

Singapore – OCBC has unveiled a new brand campaign across its core markets, solidifying its One Group approach to capitalise on wealth and business opportunities in ASEAN and Greater China.

As a follow-up to 2023’s launch of the bank’s brand refresh, GOVT Singapore has developed a new campaign that spans 5 markets across the region.

The campaign kicks off with two films shot by Desmond Tan from Atypical Films, supported by Fuse. Both “Perfect Fit” and “Greater Heights” tell different, human stories about one’s purpose in life. Both stories were developed to support the bank’s purpose to empower aspirations all across ASEAN and Greater China. 

It is also supported by ATL visuals that will run as an integrated campaign in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, including Hong Kong SAR.

Koh Ching Ching, head of group brand and communications at OCBC Bank, said: “Through the two films, we hope to share that as OCBC helps to realise your aspirations, our solution is perfect only if it perfectly fits for you, and that we will walk the journey together with you to achieve greater heights. This is OCBC’s Purpose. GOVT Singapore has successfully created a compelling campaign that brings it to life with OCBC’s capabilities and the strengths of our connectivity across ASEAN and Greater China weaved in.” 

Meanwhile, Tim Chan, executive creative director at GOVT Singapore, commented, “We’ve been working with the bank for almost 8 years now. This long-term partnership is one that we value deeply, and this year’s campaign is another one that we’re massively proud of. Kudos to the team and our external partners.”

GOVT Singapore has been the lead creative agency for OCBC Bank since 2017, and has been responsible for some of the brand’s iconic campaigns including Stay True, The Financial Wellness Index, Simply Spot On, Imperfect Journeys and more. 

Singapore – Asahi Super Dry has launched its latest brand activation ‘AMPLIFIED’ via its sponsorship of one of Singapore’s food and lifestyle festivals ‘GastroBeats’.

Designed, conceptualised and executed by GOVT Singapore, the activation features various interactive installations of Asahi Super Dry’s multiple products, as well as an Asahi Super Dry hospitality zone with masterclass sessions.

Drinks being served at the Asahi Super Dry hospitality zone
Asahi’s interactive installations

Going into detail, the activation is built upon 4,000 sq ft of real estate space in the iconic Marina Bay precinct, highlighting Asahi Super Dry’s multiple SKUs including its dark lager variant ‘Asahi Kuronama’, its latest product innovation ‘Asahi Namajokki’, and the evergreen Asahi Super Dry.

Talking about the activation, Meryl Ho, head of marketing at Asahi Beer Asia, said, “We are proud to partner with GastroBeats for its 2024 iteration. GastroBeats has grown from strength to strength over the past couple of years, and is a key component of Singapore’s i Light Festival.”

“Together with the exciting variety of food and entertainment happening at GastroBeats, we hope to be able to complement the festivities with a refreshing mug of Asahi Super Dry,” she added.

Additionally, this activation by Asahi and GOVT Singapore follows their latest collaboration on Asahi’s ‘Draught Anywhere’ campaign, which encouraged consumers to enjoy draught beer from the convenience of their homes.

Singapore – After 4 years of development, Asahi Breweries has created the world’s first canned product that allows consumers to enjoy the same taste as a mug of draft beer. With this, it has launched a new spot alongside creative agency GOVT Singapore.

In an ultra competitive beer category, Asahi Super Dry has truly managed to set itself apart from its competition with the launch of the Asahi Super Dry ‘Nama Jokki’. This product aims to enhance the take-home beer experience by creating a luxurious, creamy foam on top of the can when opened, mirroring the sensation of a draft beer served in a bar or restaurant.

Meryl Ho, head of marketing at Asahi Beer Asia, said, “Lift, hold and enjoy. It’s as simple as that. Our latest campaign aims to democratize draft beer. We are proud of our Japanese roots and innovativeness, and wanted to showcase that in our latest campaign, and the agency has managed to deliver the brief in a manner that’s not only easy to understand, but insightful via the delivery of the scenes.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Koh, chief creative officer at GOVT Singapore, commented, “It’s a universal insight that when one has access to his or her first mouthful of draft beer, it ranks up there as one of the best feelings in the world. Especially more so if you’ve had a long day at work, at the beach, or just anywhere that’s hot, sunny and humid. But more often than not, draft beer is not the most accessible. Namajokki has changed that rhetoric, and that’s what we wanted to portray in our spot, the consumer’s exclamation of awesome-ness when taking the first swig of Namajokki.”

After more than two years since the mandate was first awarded to them, GOVT Singapore has recently announced that Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has extended its existing creative and digital mandate with them for three more years. In this extended mandate, part of the agency strategy for the brand as well is working with WE Red Bridge for social and communications consultancy covering the China market.

For our latest Top Story feature, we spoke with Timothy Chan, executive creative director and partner at GOVT Singapore to learn more about this extended mandate, reflections on their past works with SDC, and what this three-year extension means for them as an agency.

Reflecting on past work and the future ahead

One of the key works GOVT Singapore had with Sentosa was its brand refresh, done within a span of six months. In said work, the agency endeavoured to change the tagline from ‘State of Fun’ which has been in use since 2014, to ‘Where discovery never ends’. For GOVT back then, the new brand identity draws inspiration from the island’s many unexpected sights, sounds, and experiences at every turn.

“When we refreshed the Sentosa brand to go from “fun” to “discovery”, it was a pivotal moment. We had one chance to hit the nail on the head, and we’re pretty proud of the end product. More importantly, the brand positioning of ‘Where discovery never ends’ was also a result of intense collaboration between all the agencies and the clients. So it was satisfying to see it come to life,” Chan stated.

Another campaign GOVT Singapore did with Sentosa was ‘SentosaLand’, a fantastical version of the island in the metaverse on Roblox, a popular sandbox game. The experience, launched in part of the brand refresh effort, takes existing elements from its counterpart’s physical attractions and gives them a more fantastical twist.

“One where virtual discoveries led to rewards on the island. Niche as it may seem, we still got 87 million impressions and 5,000 hours of playtime,” he remarked.

When asked why as part of their extended mandate, focus on the Chinese market was taken into consideration, Chan stated, “To be a world-class brand, brand Sentosa needs to be famous globally. So yes, to that end, giving international visitors great experiences is crucial. And of course, this includes visitors from China.”

He further added. “Plus, the time is right to ramp up our efforts too. In February of this year alone, more than 327,000 visitors arrived in Singapore from China. Which is about 96% of pre-COVID levels in 2019. So while other parts of the world are still waiting for Chinese travelers to return, Singapore is well-positioned to capture them. 

On learning curves and demands

For Chan, given that SDC’s status as a world-class destination for visitors globally, marketing a destination brand proved to challenging from the get-go–and that there are three over-compassing learning curves and demands that GOVT Singapore has learned: radical collaboration, stakeholder management, and the work being the proof of a successful agency mandate partnership.

“We’ve always practiced this with all our clients, so SDC is no different. And it’s a formula that works. We spend an unreasonable amount of time building relationships with the entire marketing team, and beyond. It helps us prepare sharper briefs and as a result, better work. Like any organisation, SDC has stakeholders from different backgrounds and demands. Helping our clients manage them is another important ingredient to our partnership. It’s how we can feel like an extension of SDC’s marketing team, instead of just a vendor,” Chan explained.

He added, “When we look back, I’d say that the work has been good, but it can be even better. Especially with the foundations we’ve laid. Single-mindedly, that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Chan also notes that this renewed mandate must give the agency a rejuvenated vigour to be even better for Sentosa.

“The pitch win was important mentally for the agency. It helped us prove to everyone (and even more so, ourselves) that we’re the right long-term partners for the brand. It was a crucial test for us to pass. But it’s definitely not business as usual now. We’re working on ways to strengthen the relationship, refresh the team, plug the gaps and ultimately, make the work even better. A world-class brand like Sentosa deserves world-class work,” he concluded.

Singapore – Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has retained GOVT Singapore as its creative and digital agency partner following a pitch process managed by R3. Under the new appointment, WE Red Bridge will also be working with GOVT Singapore as a social and communications consultant covering the China market.

Under the appointment, GOVT Singapore will be tasked to bring to the brand a strong digital first approach, covering functions such as providing strategic counsel and advice on brand strategy, creative and digital strategy. This includes China in its scope of work.

The appointment will be valid for a period of two years with the option to extend for another three years. GOVT Singapore has been its creative agency since 2021.

The agency also has to be able to plan execution, manage client servicing, provide market intelligence, and other value-added services such as new opportunities evaluation, strategic partnerships and tie-ups with non or existing agency clients.

Over the past years, GOVT Singapore has developed campaigns for the brand as it continues to upgrade its attractions and offerings. This includes the metaverse-driven SentosaLand, the launch of its 50th anniversary celebrations, revamping SDC’s membership programme Sentosa Islander and most recently, a campaign that launched the island’s latest attraction, Sentosa Sensoryscape.

Alvina Seah, group managing director of GOVT Singapore said, “We’ve spent almost three years working with SDC hand-in-hand, in a pursuit to build a world-class brand and destination. This win affirms that we’re on the right track, but we’re also hungry to do even more for the brand, building on the momentum of Sentosa’s brand promise ‘where discovery never ends’.”