DBS Paylah! wants you to vote for our hawkers

Local banking application DBS PayLah! has launched a new initiative to support hawkers during this period of rising inflation, rental costs and an increasingly volatile market.

In partnership with The Secret Little Agency, it has launched its very own “Hawker Awards”, with the aim of reminding hawkers that they are appreciated. The campaign was also helmed by a film which celebrates Singapore’s hawkers as the country’s unofficial leaders. The video replicated Singapore's presidential election speeches but instead, put hawkers front and centre. 

This was followed by out-of-home buys which feature past winners paired with statements reflective of the everyday experiences of hawkers.

According to The Secret Little Agency, the focus of the awards was not on the food but instead, on the people behind the delicious hawker fare that consumers enjoy daily. 

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To drive the concept home, a campaign truck inspired by the classic trucks of general elections was also brought to life. Parked alongside hawker centres and roving around heartland neighbourhoods, the trucks served as a cheeky reminder for Singaporeans to get out and vote for Singapore's future president who has now been named as Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Lim Bee Bee, the executive director and head of marketing of consumer banking group in DBS Singapore, said that hawker culture has been an intrinsic part of the way of life for Singaporeans and Singapore residents. “We thought that there was 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, Lim added that with the awards, they can spotlight hidden gems and interesting hawkers of all ages and backgrounds in the community to show how the hawker trade has evolved with the times to cater to the tastes of different generations of Singaporeans.

“At DBS, we have been championing and celebrating our hawker culture. Through our five 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,” she explained.

A spokesperson from The Secret Little Agency added that the unorthodox strategy was used in order to capture the public's attention. "Our hawkers serve us - quite literally - and they’ve represented Singapore on the world stage. They 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, explaining that the main metric of success would be the recognition hawkers received. 

DBS’ attempts to do good are not limited to its Hawker Awards. Just a few weeks ago, DBS launched a new concept for its metaverse, DBS BetterWorld, where it used gamification in the virtual space for good. With that, players can enter the metaverse and roam a fantasy world created by the bank, after which they will be faced with challenges focused on sustainability and the eradication of food wastage, as well as engage with other players.

As part of the experience, players had to complete a series of activities which inspired by the five “business for impact” initiatives that were supported by the DBS Foundation’s approach to mitigating food waste.

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