Singapore, Brand That Nation!
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 09.10.07 | 3:26 PM ET
Photo by Alex.ch via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
The latest focus of Brand That Nation!—our tip sheet for countries that may or may not be considering new branding campaigns and that just might want to improve their image in the U.S. travel market, where simple, easy-to-remember slogans are key: Singapore.
Location: Southern tip of the Malay peninsula in Southeast Asia
Capital: Singapore City
Noteworthy factoids: Durian fruit is not allowed on public transportation. Also, Singaporeans hold the world record for the most people exercising simultaneously while wearing green.
Quick travel take: “Singapore has traded in its rough-and-ready opium dens and pearl luggers for towers of concrete and glass, and its steamy rickshaw image for cool efficiency and spotless streets, but you can still recapture the colonial era with a Singapore Sling under the languorous ceiling fans at Raffles Hotel.”—Lonely Planet
Nearly random quote from travel blogger in Singapore: “Singapore is so freaking SMALL and so easy to travel around in, it is impossible to get lost in Singapore.”—YumiOntheCoast
The problem: Singapore is known among Americans almost exclusively for two things. It’s the place where an American teenager was once caned for committing vandalism, and it’s the nation that famously banned chewing gum. In fact, Calvin Trillin is not far off when he wrote in a fine story about Singapore’s food in the Sept. 3 New Yorker (abstract here): “If Singapore tested a nuclear device tomorrow, the stories in American newspapers would mention the gum ban by the second paragraph.”
Important overlooked gum-ban factoid: The government loosened the gum ban three years ago, as Trillin points out. You can now buy prescription nicotine gum.
Branding strategy: When the government gives you branding lemons, make branding lemonade.
Potential slogans:
* Singapore: Your Prescription for Fun
* Stroll Singapore: Only Memories Will Stick to Your Shoes
* Follow the Rules and the Only Cane You’ll See is Sugar
* What is Singapore Banning? What Do You Got?
* Singapore: So Freaking Small, Only an Idiot Would Get Lost Here
Now get out there and Brand That Nation!