Social Samosa takes a look at major content partnerships initiated by the Singapore Tourism Board to nudge Indians to keep planning travels for after the pandemic.
Singapore Tourism Board's efforts to attract Indians has been two and a half decades in the running. Several strategies have been used by the board to connect and communicate with people here. Familiarity with the help of Bollywood movies has played an important role in the process. Due to COVID-19, a lot has changed for the content and marketing strategy of the Singapore Tourism Board.
It is no longer about highlighting reasons to visit for leisure but also make travellers feel the efforts they put into taking the trip (with respect to safety and stringent protocols) are worth in when they reach there, explains G B Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board.
He further tells us about their communication strategy during the lockdown: "We didn't want to stop engaging with our audiences. It was relevant for us to stay in touch in the lockdown. So, we leveraged the tech space April 2020 onwards to create online edutainment series, highlight Singapore voices and run virtual events."
Zomaland For Food Lovers
A 10-city tour collaboration was in the works between Singapore Tourism Board and Zomato when COVID-19 hit, making it a bit difficult for the team to work on the last few episodes. The initiative was later converted into a series of at-home experiences featuring international chefs, mixologists, DJs, comedians and more.
It was a mobile-first initiative targeting food lovers. It helped the Singapore Tourism Board garner a reach of 7.5 M with 2.24 M engagement and 29.3% engagement rate. Here, the focus was on food and lifestyle content.
Microsite With Tripoto
In the case of the partnership with Tripoto, a microsite was created in August 2020. "It enabled us to communicate what is evolving and how. The site became a one-stop guide for Indian travellers, where our message was — Discover now, travel later," Srithar tells us.
With this campaign, the board was able to generate 6 M impressions with a reach of over 20 M. The initiative gave them a chance to put across content with a wider scope, giving people more information and flavour of the experiences.
Cultural Connect Over BookMyShow
A 4-episodes series with BookMyShow, My Singapore Connect saw Indian and Singapore talents come together. Zoya Akhtar, Ranveer Brar, Varun Thakur and Prateek Kuhad were roped in to share their experiences in conversation with their Singaporean counterparts in their respective domains.
Srithar tells us, "The idea was to connect with the Indian audiences and bring Singapore close to them." The overwhelming sentiment highlighted in this campaign was of friendship and camaraderie between Indian and Singapore with artists sharing passion stories parallelly.
Communication Strategy
While the board has been concentrating on pan-India initiatives, efforts are also being put to step up regional communication in places like Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Tamil Nadu. They are also working to increase their digital presence in the country in a mobile-friendly manner.
"India and Singapore have shared experiences. So how do we leverage the familiarity Indians already have with the place but also introduce them to what Singapore offers now? That's what we are working on."
G B Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board
Influencers are also becoming increasingly important for the board when it comes to social media communication. They consider two factors while picking influencers to ensure credibility: They should be engaging and entertaining and that they must have a connect with Singapore (could have travelled there earlier or have a personal connect).
"Pictures aren't that impactful. It's the people and happy faces that help us better engage with people online," he says, adding how the in 2021, two key communication buckets for the Board would be to address safety and health concerns of travellers and depict how they can safely enjoy in Singapore despite these concerns and the experiences there would be worth the hassle if any.
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