Winning Singapore: What global brands need to get right

With the Singapore Grand Prix just around the bend, the city transforms into an arena of sights, sounds, and experiences. F1 fans buzz with excitement, creating a prime opportunity for global brands to engage meaningfully with Singapore’s diverse audiences. Capturing this connection often begins with tuning into the local pulse. To uncover how brands can do this effectively, Telum Media spoke with three local PR experts, who shared insights on crafting campaigns that are not only attention-grabbing, but built to last.

Root your message in the city
For Joscelin Kwek, Founder and Managing Director at Muse & Motif, the key lies in crafting campaigns that feel homegrown rather than imported. “Our audiences, while globally connected, are proudly local with discerning cultural preferences. Momentum is harnessed from excitement, and excitement is generated when we reflect the pulse of the city and make audiences feel something real,” she says.

Danielle Chow, Country Lead, Singapore at Mad Hat Asia echoes this view, noting that the Grand Prix has transformed into a cultural moment that spans racing, lifestyle, entertainment, and community. “Brands should connect with Singaporeans using passion points such as food, music, innovation, and sustainability, and weave them into experiences that feel naturally rooted in local life,” she explains.

Trust the local teams
Often, the role of local PR teams is central in shaping this authentic experience. Joscelin points out that campaigns only reach their full potential when local teams are treated as co-strategists rather than executors. “By empowering locals to design concepts unique to Singapore, brands gain more than market access - they gain campaigns that resonate deeply.”

Autonomy is equally crucial, says Rajiv Menon, Head of Singapore at Sling & Stone. “Give local teams the budget, freedom, and trust to co-create campaigns. Ask them what will work here rather than trying to retrofit a global idea. That’s how you make a campaign authentically Singaporean.”

Danielle highlights how local PR teams, together with their partners, bring cultural intelligence that global playbooks often miss. “They understand the nuances of language, audience sentiment, and timing. Co-creation is key, so by working with local partners and involving homegrown creators and communities, brands can reflect Singapore’s diversity authentically and create experiences that resonate on a deeper level,” she explains.

Beyond the surface
Even with local insight, brands sometimes stumble when localisation is treated superficially, a pattern Joscelin observes: “Sprinkling in cultural symbols or a phrase in Singlish doesn’t cut it. Local audiences can tell when it’s performative. Brands need to approach localisation as a cultural strategy, not cosmetic adaptation”. Rajiv echoes this, recalling infamous missteps like KFC’s early Chinese translation of “finger-lickin’ good” as “Eat your fingers off” when the brand first entered the Chinese market. “Don’t try to retrofit a global idea. Lean on your local team to understand the unique challenges, passions, and true moments of joy for Singaporeans. With these hyperlocalised insights, you can build a campaign from the inside out that is authentically Singaporean,” he explains.

Scaling campaigns across markets
With Singapore positioned as a communications hub for Southeast Asia, it also means global brands face the challenge of designing campaigns that balance local authenticity with regional scalability. Danielle points brands to the way forward: adopting a Singapore-first, region-ready mindset. “Campaigns should be deeply anchored in the Singapore context, then adapted for scalability across Southeast Asia with modular assets. Each market has distinct cultural identities, so regional consistency should come from shared brand values while execution flexes to reflect local flavour,” she suggests.

Rajiv offers his perspective: “Focus on perfecting the regional story first, and then build a framework that allows the core idea to be adapted with local flavour for each market. It's about owning a consistent narrative, with different chapters for each country. Think of it as Star Wars - the core story of good versus evil remains the same, but you get to see how it plays out in different worlds with different characters.”

For Joscelin, she underscores the importance of core ideas that travel. “Singapore’s Grand Prix provides a regional stage across Southeast Asia, so the most effective campaigns establish central concepts such as innovation, sustainability, and community, while giving each market the freedom to express these ideas in its own cultural language,” she notes.

Keeping the momentum
Brands have the opportunity to keep the F1 energy alive by turning the excitement into meaningful, long-term engagement that extends beyond the main event. Joscelin observes that the racing event has come to symbolise precision, innovation, performance, and sustainability, and she emphasises that brands can carry these values throughout the year. “In Singapore, this might mean linking F1’s speed and innovation to Smart Nation initiatives or tying its global stage to sustainability conversations that resonate locally,” she suggests.

Danielle adds that these efforts can be through community partnerships, creator collaborations, or ongoing storytelling. Building on Danielle's points, Rajiv highlights the power of audience-first storytelling. “What Netflix did with Drive to Survive is a brilliant example. They didn't just show the sport; they showed the human stories behind it. They made the sport a year-long conversation. Brands need to do the same. Focus on turning passive spectators into active participants and fans of the brand,” he observes, illustrating how emotional connection and local relevance can sustain interest well beyond race weekend.