Singapore Tourism Board reaches decision; switches creative to JWT

The creative, media and digital agencies will now partner with STB for its brand-building efforts for two years, effective from 1 May.

The agencies will be expected to work closely together in a bid to deliver “holistic marketing solutions” for the Singapore Tourism Board—one of Singapore’s most sought-after clients.

BBH said in a statement that it was proud of the thinking and body of work it has produced with STB.

“[We] maintain an excellent relationship with the individuals and the organisation as a whole,” said John Hadfield, CEO, BBH Asia Pacific. “STB have moved to a new stage of their organisation's development, and we wish them the very best in this endeavour.”

An open tender exercise was undertaken from November to December 2012, and saw a substantial number of submissions received from creative, media, digital and digital production agencies.

Sophia Ng, assistant chief executive, marketing group, Singapore Tourism Board, said the exercise had been “thorough and fruitful”.

“The appointed agencies are the ones which have provided the most compelling proposals, shown their strength as a team and best exhibited the required combined expertise that can support the full range of STB’s brand building and marketing needs across our key markets,” she said.

Tom Doctoroff, JWT Asia Pacific CEO, said JWT will now pull out all the stops to help establish Singapore as Asia’s premier travel destination.

As part of its remit, the agency will now create campaigns for markets in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Paul Soon, XM-Asia CEO, said the fighting spirit during the pitch process was "bordering on the apocalyptic". 

"I can only sum it up with two words: heart and soul," he said. "Those were the key differentiating factors for us...We have learnt that where there is unity, there is always victory."

Ng described BBH as key partners that helped build the YourSingapore brand, noting that the agency had “set a high bar” in its model for its global agencies.

“Still, the rigor of the tender process accorded fairness and transparency in providing a level-playing field to all shortlisted agencies, and the evaluation of the tender is an independent process based on the merit of the agencies with the most compelling proposals," she added. "We now look forward to our appointed agencies to build and strengthen the partnership in STB’s brand-building and marketing efforts.”