Businesses and brand Singapore in a post-Covid world

DESPITE the disruptions of this pandemic, brand Singapore is in a position of considerable strength, and enterprises and enterprising individuals here have a strong nation brand in the backdrop to "plug into".

Businesses can seek new opportunities by aligning better with the nation brand, for example, riding on Singapore's Green Plan 2030 to promote their own messaging in sustainability.

"Passion Made Possible", Singapore's current nation branding concept, is the best so far, because it is expressed essentially by profiling actual persons with real-life stories, showcasing citizen ambassadors instead of hired actors re-enacting scenarios.

Similarly, Singapore-based businesses can take a leaf from this much more authentic approach by featuring real-life staff members and partners, and also customers, highlighting attributes such as determination, ambition, resourcefulness and optimism.

The "Made With Passion" sub-branding campaign was launched to promote Singapore-based lifestyle brands mainly to a domestic audience. Passion was what these brands all had in common - expressed in love for experimentation, commitment to tradition, or a drive to innovation.

When the pandemic eventually subsides, this "Made With Passion" sub-branding can also be extended to overseas markets. If businesses continue to align with this branding, this could see Singaporean enterprises "hunting in a pack", as part of the Singapore "mother brand".

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This kind of coordinated brand building would be something that observers had said for years was lacking in overseas expansion efforts.

In earlier decades, Singapore's reputation for state-imposed order earned it what I call the nation "brand keloid" of being a "nanny state", always interfering in, and influencing, even aspects of private life.

A "brand keloid" - a term coined in my book Brand Singapore - refers to a persistently negative perception that lingers like a flesh keloid, a scar that is difficult and painful to remove, and thus, best left alone, to be safely ignored in time to come.

Today, the brand keloid of being overly controlled has become a prized asset, with competent and trusted governance, and the ability to marshal citizen cooperation, the keys to managing the pandemic. In a world devastated by Covid-19, a government that acts like a nanny to look after its citizens would be much preferred to one that left its people to fend for themselves.

Those nations that manage the pandemic best will also be well-placed to be first to recover from the economic setback. Thus, a major reset of perceptions of this particular aspect of Singapore could well be in the making.

The Asian emphasis on discipline as the foundation for flair is exemplified by examples such as Singapore Airlines' (SIA) crew, whose poise and elegance became a hallmark of consistent brand delivery. What SIA earned for Singapore in worldwide recognition is something businesses can piggyback on, to promote similar attributes in their own staff, services and products.

During these times, Singapore has also built on its brand attribute of reliability further in other aspects, such as strengthening its hub status in supply chain efficiency and diversification, not only for ordinary goods but also for pandemic-related supplies.

Another nation brand attribute that has come to the fore is social cohesion. What enabled some countries to keep Covid-19 infections and fatalities low, and to minimise the resulting economic impacts, is the willingness of citizens to trust the authorities, make some personal sacrifices, and rally together for the common good.

Such social capital is the fruit of multiculturalism, the X factor of brand Singapore. This quality has become even more precious in a world that has seen rising protectionism and nativism.

Multiculturalism is part of Singapore's cultural DNA, fostered in unique ways such as the ethnic quota policy in public housing that prevents the formation of racial enclaves. Multiculturalism will also be a springboard for post-Covid-19 recovery.

DEFICIT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Rebuilding economic ties will move most smoothly wherever there is already a foundation of trust and familiarity, that cannot be so easily forged over Zoom meetings, but is the outcome of decades of socialisation.

Businesses can tap into this reservoir of goodwill to find new opportunities for brand-building, in pursuit of growth for the domestic market, and to attract audiences overseas.

In earlier decades, Singaporean companies and business people were clearly not known to wear their nationalities on their sleeves - certainly much less than, say, their American counterparts, who wave the Stars and Stripes everywhere, figuratively, and often literally.

The private sector has traditionally played less of a leadership role in building brand Singapore. Singapore Airlines is still the torchbearer as a leader in this space, but the two other most prominent Singapore brands - Raffles Hotel and Tiger Beer - have been sold in recent years, and direct branding control was thus lost.

There is, therefore, a kind of brand deficit in the private sector. To take one example, one Singapore enterprise overseas used to have a logo that looks like an old-fashioned coat of arms, and was happy for the misperception to persist that it was a European company. This aspect of diffidence towards identifying with the national brand has "improved" a lot in recent years, as national self-confidence has increased in tandem with the growth of brand Singapore.

Taking the food and beverage sector as an example, Singapore has always been known for its good food, but this only applied for inbound business, that is, food available in the country. By contrast, overseas, Singaporean restaurants are few and far between, and hardly heard of, leaving Singapore far, far behind the international presence of, say, Japanese or Thai cuisine.

Once again, the situation is changing. The inclusion of Singapore's hawker centre culture on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage is a big boost for confidence, a vital ingredient for success and growth.

Old Chang Kee is an example of a Singaporean F&B company that has physical stores not only in Indonesia and Malaysia, but also Australia and Britain. With the greater rise of e-commerce driven by the pandemic, Singapore-made products such as Irvin's salted egg fish skin can now be ordered and delivered online as far as the US.

The way ahead may still be uncertain post-Covid-19, but Singapore's enterprises and enterprising individuals who can connect with the nation brand can feel surer of themselves as they move forward.

• The writer is a country brand adviser, and author and editor of more than 30 books, including Brand Singapore (third edition, 2021). This is an abridged version of an article in the latest issue of Singapore Management University's magazine, Asian Management Insights.