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Singtel unveils second phase of campaign to back Singapore’s SMEs with short film by Ogilvy

Singtel has launched the second phase of its ‘99% SME’ campaign in Singapore, a joint initiative with MediaCorp, DBS and others, to encourage Singaporeans to back small-to-medium size businesses.

A TV ad places the viewer in the shoes of the SME owner. “I am the uncle who runs the corner coffee shop,” begins the ad, created by Ogilvy.

This is the first time that a collective of brands and businesses in Singapore have come together to rally consumers to use products and services offered by SMEs, which make up 99 per cent of companies in the citystate.

In a press release, Eugene Cheong, Ogilvy’s regional creative chief, said: “In making this campaign, and the film in particular, our task was to ignite affection and empathy for the SME by humanising the abbreviation, and showing how the SME is, in fact, your neighbour who works very hard to make your life comfortable.”

“By catching the unsung local businessman in his element, putting in an honest day’s work with no artificial posing or ‘marketing’ for the camera, we give the small business owners of Singapore the pride, dignity and stature they deserve so that their fellow Singaporeans will be rallied to act by pledging their support for SMEs,” he said.

The campaign is running on TV, print, online, social media, direct email, SMS offers and on-ground promotions.

Singtel print ad

Singtel’s campaign is running along side activity by MediaCorp to encourage more SMEs to advertise on its platforms.

Singtel campaign

Credits:

Project title: 99% SME
Client: Singtel
Creative agency: Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
Chief Creative Officer: Eugene Cheong
Executive Creative Director: Melvyn Lim
Creative Directors: Stephen Kyriakou, Shawnn Lai
Art Directors: Andrey Danilov, Sean Liu, Diana Lee, Catherine Chow, Errol Workman
Senior Copywriters: Roger Yong, Grace Tan
Account Management: Lee Yee Hew, Andrew Boggs, Angela Chan
Production house: ​The Prosecution
Producers: Dan Li Lok, Alain Tan
Director: Roslee Yusof

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