Singtel takes a jab...at itself (and subtly fires back at competitor Circles.Life)

Singtel has dropped a report card in the form of a rap video, reflecting on the teething issues it faced with its all-digital mobile product GOMO. Shared on Singtel's Facebook page, the spot features “Ah Boys to Men” actor and local rapper, Tosh Zhang.The rap reflects on the teething issues faced by GOMO customers and the new measures Singtel has implemented to counter problems. Launched in March, GOMO faced network issues and delay in SIM card delivery a week into its roll-out. Netizens were seen expressing their frustration on social media platforms. Majority also raised the issue of not being able to contact the customer service team or chat with the live agents on the app as promised by the telco. A Singtel spokesperson initially responded that the team was working on resolving the teething issues and ironing out the kinks.Now with the rap, Singtel addresses that it has been a month since GOMO's launch and that the telco can "do better" and that it will. In the video, Tosh is seen rapping:You had to wait, we won’t downplay, some of your SIM cards came late. We understand the inconvenience that you had to face.The Facebook post which accompanies the video also says:"GOMO. GOMO. We know. We know. It’s been 30 days. We know we can do better, and we will. We know we are not perfect but we thank you from the bottom of our hearts ❤"The video also gave airtime to GOMO characters called “Zenmo”, “Nomnomo”, “Showmo” and “Globo” and took an  an unconventional route of appeasing customers. The rap talks about how Singtel tripled its chat support, enabled iMessage and "beefed up" SIM card deliveries in accordance with its promised same-day delivery.Meanwhile, in a subtle dig at competitor Circles.Life, which wrote an "open letter" and launched a microsite targetting Singtel's GOMO, the rap lyrics read:Some other telco dissed us for relevancy. We think that they should go and get a L-I-F-E.The video was conceptualised by social media agency GOODSTUPH, and was also shared on Singtel's Facebook page. At the time of writing, the spot had garnered over 30,000 views in 24 hours.In an exclusive statement to Marketing, Gan Siok Hoon, vice president, mobile marketing & sales, Consumer Singapore at Singtel said this social media campaign addresses some early teething issues experienced by customers. She added that the telco has since addressed these issues by tripling the number of its live chat agents and implementing iMessage and Facetime to further assist them.According to Gan, it's been a month since GOMO's launch and the telco wanted to tell its customers that it heard what consumers had to say and it wants to do things right. When asked by Marketing why rapper Tosh was picked for the campaign, Gan said as many of its GOMO customers are Millennials, they would be "appreciative of someone fun" such as Tosh.Meanwhile, the rapper has also put up an Instagram post on his experience working with Singtel. He said the experience was "especially meaningful" to him because in his seven years being in the entertainment industry, he has "never ever encountered a client like [Singtel] who is courageous enough to publicly own up to their mistakes and address their customers honestly without beating around the bush or trying to cover up."Tosh added:"Singtel faced [the issues] head on, did all it could to make things right and have since thoroughly improved its services for its customers, and I am honoured that I got the opportunity to do a song with them that addresses this and also...fire back at another telco which dissed them during the fray ?? I’ll let y’all guess who that is..?? ." His post on Instagram has over 15,000 views at the time of writing. Singtel has clarified to Marketing that Tosh's Instagram post was not paid.