Republic of Singapore Navy names Mullenlowe SG creative partner

The Republic of Singapore Navy(RSN) has appointed MullenLowe Singapore as its creative agency. The appointment is for a period of three years and comes following a pitch. The incumbent on the account was J. Walter Thompson (JWT) Singapore, which was appointed in 2017. Prior to that, Dentsu Singapore was working with RSN for two years. 

Mullenlowe Singapore is tasked with a remit to develop and implement a recruitment publicity strategy for RSN's Recruitment Centre. In addition, the agency will also develop a fully integrated recruitment campaign that includes ATL, BTL, digital/social and event collaterals.

Paul Soon, MullenLowe Group Singapore CEO said over the past few years, the approach towards recruitment in the Singapore landscape has grown templatised, and added that the agency looks to change that by elevating the brand and reminding Singaporeans of all ages of what makes the Navy special.

"This is a proud moment for everyone at MullenLowe Group as we embark on a long-term relationship with the RSN. I grew up with the RSN here in Singapore, and worked on the business many years ago, so I’ve always had a strong affinity with the brand. The Navy is for a special breed of Singaporean – it requires passion and dedication – but a career with the RSN is exciting and fulfilling and we look forward to working closely with them to develop work that will resonate and deliver on that promise,” he said. 

The RSN albeit a serious unit has also shown its cheeky side on social media previously. In July 2019, it took a jab at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day ad furore in a celebratory post on Facebook. The post mimicked Coffee Bean's ad, which has since been removed, featuring a soldier wearing a Chinese military uniform and a 50% discount.

RSN said in the post that while it could not offer a promotion, it promises to give its 100% in "defending our everyday", as it has been doing since 1967. It even slipped in a fun fact that approximately seven kilograms of coffee were shipped to Singapore by sea in 2018. The Facebook post garnered over 1,300 likes and 730 shares within a day. Netizen reactions were mainly positive, with several netizens applauding the move, calling it good humour and a "classy" move. Others also thanked RSN for its commitment and commented with GIFs and memes.

RSN joins other government bodies in Singapore, which have been increasingly leveraging social media platforms to break its barrier with the everyday citizen and reach out to them.