EDB tells ‘impossible story’ of SG globally, while positioning SG as a 'preferred location’

The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) has rolled out a new global campaign to promote Singapore as a preferred location to start and grow a business. Told through what EDB claims to be “the impossible stories of Singapore”, this is its first campaign based on the new SG nation brand that was launched last year – alongside the Passion made Possible campaign by STB.The campaign was designed specifically for global businesses, investors and entrepreneurs. The campaign is brought to life through stories of driven, passionate individuals who are building fast growing businesses in Asia and beyond, from Singapore. These stories are expressed in long and short forms on both B2B and B2C touchpoints that span in-flight films, magazines, newspapers, digital and social formats in Asia, Europe and America. In Asia it runs in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.“In today’s competitive business climate, the campaign shines the light on Singapore as the place where entrepreneurs and businesses defy the odds to achieve success and progress in their fields. This is very much the story of how Singapore went from third world to first, when few gave the country much chance of survival. This campaign is an invitation to like-minded individuals and companies all around the world to discover new possibilities in, and with, Singapore,” Beh Swan Gin, chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board said.The campaign launches with a new anthem film that champions those who ‘love proving the world wrong’. It features the real success stories of brands such as Singapore Airlines, Razer, ONE Championship, Grab and The Asian Scientist Magazine; and cameos from their respective leaders including Chatri Sidyodtong (founder of OneFC), Anthony Tan (founder of Grab) and Lim Kell Jay (country head of Grab), as well as Juliana Chan (editor-in-chief of The Asian Scientist Magazine).The campaign was conceptualised by The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) under the creative directorship of Hanyi Lee & Nicholas Ye, with insights and market intelligence provided by TSLA’s global creative network partner, Mother, in London, Shanghai and New York. Global media planning and buying was handled by Zenith Optimedia Singapore.“As a country with humble beginnings, Singapore has harnessed an infinite resource of passion, tenacity and ambition to achieve what many others thought was simply impossible. This campaign is a true coming-of-age story and a huge source of pride for a Singapore-founded agency like ours,” Hanyi Lee, partner and executive creative director at The Secret Little Agency said.In an interview with Marketing, Ye said the campaign will run for one year and took nine months to complete. He added that given Singapore was born from a "slab of granite" and recreated "something out of nothing", and "created value when there was none [to start with], it is an amazing story"."We felt a ton of pressure to do this justice. We wanted the stories to speak for themselves, we did not want to sugarcoat it. We wanted people to recognise it. If you're a Singaporean and you recognise it, it's great. If you don't, it gives you a sense of what the country and its people are capable of. That is the kind of fighting spirit and proving the world wrong which we really loved, we were trying to bring it out," he said.When asked about the budget of the campaign, Ye declined to comment.Here are the individual short films:ONE Championship's Chatri SityodtongThe Asian Scientist's Juliana ChanGrab's Anthony Tan