Singapore Tourism Board positions itself as shopping destination; three brands feature at Nykaaland

STB joins Nykaaland as official destination partner. We spoke to regional director GB Srithar about the objective, marketing strategies & more.

If you search “The best things to do in Singapore”, the results often show renowned places famous for their shopping and culinary experiences. To promote the culture in India, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) partnered with Nykaaland as their official destination partner.

With this collaboration, the STB brought three homegrown brands: wellness label Sage and Ylang, skincare collectables Fawn Labs, and fashion label Ginlee Studios to India by collaborating with the beauty and lifestyle festival Nykaaland which was scheduled on November 4 and 5, 2023.   

GB Srithar, regional director, India, Middle East, South Asia & Africa, STB highlights, “India is the fourth largest source market for Singapore. One of the key experiences is shopping, and through this partnership, we’re looking to engage with Indian consumers.”

With this partnership, the brand is targeting Indian consumers under the age of 35. 

The board is also currently running a campaign, Made in Singapore. The campaign delivers a message about the unique experiences that the country offers. One of the key experiences includes the offerings by Singapore’s home-grown brands. 

Through Nykaaland, the STB is not just looking to engage with the audience who were present at the event but looking to grab consumers across the country through its e-commerce platform.

The expectation from this collaboration is that Indian tourists should be aware of the brands so that when they come to the country in the future, they can then make a purchase. 

The other focus is to rediscover Singapore as a shopping haven. “In our country, it’s not just big malls but small pop-up stores which we are looking to promote,” Srithar states. 

“We’re also looking to engage with young Indians as this segment looks for something local when they visit any country. Through Nykaaland, we’re looking to target them,” he mentions.

Nykaaland hosted around 80 international and Indian brands during their flagship event. The Singapore-based brands are unknown to Indian customers, so how are they looking to stand out?

Srithar answers, “We aim to click with Indian audiences, and engage with them with these brands.”

While other brands are looking at it all from an ROI angle, the STB aims to promote Singapore as a shopping destination with these brands. “We’re looking to promote our country’s tourism through this and inform consumers that they can find more such brands in our country. When customers visit the booth, we want to plant a thought to visit our country,” he highlights.  

For marketing of these three brands, the board is solely relying on Nykaaland. In future, the strategy behind the brands to be available in the Indian market is not decided yet.

In 2020, STB also partnered with Zomato’s flagship event Zomaland digitally to bring the culinary experience of the country. 

A part of the strategy was to promote Singapore as a lifestyle capital among millennials, and it also organised a foodie-theme campaign Taste Obsession.  

Under this, it brought food tastemakers to Singapore to experience the food in the country, who went on to create Singapore-inspired flavours and food. Theobroma is one of them and it offers some food items inspired by Singaporean cuisine. 

STB also partnered with artisanal ice cream parlour, Naturals Now, to launch a limited-edition pandan-infused ice cream sundae from Singapore to Mumbai.

In April 2023 STB partnered with Little Black Book (LBB). Through this, brands like Chumbak, RSVP by Nykaa, and The Souled Store created a line of accessories and clothing showcasing Singapore in an attractivelight to potential Indian tourists.

Other Initiatives 

On November 2, 2023, the STB partnered with Scoot, a low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines which resumed its flights from Chennai to Singapore on November 5, 2023. 

In April 2023, it collaborated with MX Player for the film ‘Lost and Found in Singapore. 

Then, in March 2023, it collaborated with Tripoto to launch the exclusive series On My Own in Singapore, showcasing a young female traveller’s journey in the country.

By the end of this year, it  is looking to conduct four city trade engagement sessions as well. 

Celeb Association 

Singapore as a country is usually seen on screen by Indian viewers when they watch old-school romantic movies.

Currently, it doesn’t have a brand ambassador. Srithar says, “Something is cooking. The celebrity engagement will be revealed soon, and the star will also have a deep connection with Singapore and will be an authentic voice for us.”