Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Singapore Brand Conference 2011, 31 March 2011

Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade & Industry, at the Singapore Brand Conference 2011 on 31 March 2011 at 9.00 am at Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning

I am glad to join you for the Singapore Brand Conference 2011.

What is a brand? Can you define it? Can you explain it? Can you enjoy a brand? Does a brand have a shape and size, or is it a concept?

There are many questions we can raise in our discussions of the subject. As we discuss branding and its applications, I am quite sure we will touch on the many interesting aspects of this subject.

Some 15 years ago, I happened to be based in Chicago. The Mid-West region of USA, as many of you know, was famous or infamous for its long and bitterly cold winters. If you were from Singapore like me then, you could easily feel home-sick with hallucinations of satay, mi Siam and laksa.

One day during my travels to St Paul (near Minneapolis), I discovered a restaurant called “Singapore Chinese Cuisine”. I was very excited for two reasons. Firstly, there was a Singapore name. Secondly, it was a joy to discover another Singaporean in the less-travelled, lesser known mid-western part of the USA.

When I met the owner cum chef of the restaurant, he told me he was actually from our neighboring country. I was curious to know why he didn’t name his restaurant after his country. He said that his friends did not know the location of his country. But as soon as he said his country was next to Singapore, everyone said they knew Singapore. Hence he named the restaurant: “Singapore Chinese Cuisine”.

Fifteen years later, the name “Singapore” has grown to be even more valuable. A recent issue of Taiwan’s business magazine “Global View (远见) ran a cover story: “The Secret of Singapore Being Number 1 – Number 1 in GDP growth, Number 1 in Competitiveness and Number 1 immigrant destination”. It says: “Singapore is very small, but full of charm. In order to enhance competitiveness, it has invested heavily in education and adopted a liberal immigration policy. It attracts talents from India, China and SEA to strengthen its team. These people come to make Singapore their second home” 

The Economist (17 Mar 2011) had an article entitled “Go East, young bureaucrat” suggested “Emerging Asia can teach the West a lot about government”. It says: “Singapore is important to any study of government just now, both in the West and in Asia. That is partly because it does some things very well, in much the same way that some Scandinavian countries excel in certain fields. Singapore provides better schools and hospitals and safer streets than most Western countries—and all with a state that consumes only 19% of GDP”.

In fact, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), the government consulting arm, received 57 delegations from 14 countries in the last 12 months. These delegations comprising mostly officials were curious about why Singapore works, and how we did it without the endowment of natural resources.

These examples illustrate that Singapore as a brand stands for some desirable qualities. Applied to a specific product or circumstance, the brand can also add value, or command a certain premium.

The fact that our companies in urban planning, infrastructure development, Tech Park design, water resource management and township building are being sought after in China, India, Russia and the Middle East is a great testimony of the relevance of Singapore’s developmental experience.

From these examples too, I believe the Singapore brand has been built on a solid foundation and track record. More marketing may help more people appreciate the brand value and attributes of the Singapore brand, but the Singapore brand must first be founded on something concrete, measurable and tested. It is therefore my belief that building a strong product or service is the prerequisite of branding.

Similarly, for our firms to have strong brands, they must first have strong products. Products that excel in quality, design and ergonomics. Services that differentiate from the competition in terms of proprietary knowhow, superior delivery and reliability. Strong brands cannot be established on weak products.

Firms achieve strong branding through consistency in making good promises made to customers. Strong brands cannot be built on haphazard or inconsistent customers’ experiences. Behind strong brands are hard work that ensures process robustness and product integrity.

This is why our firms hoping to build strong brands must continually enhance their product designs and production methods.

Consider the example of Haley wood, a Singapore-based furniture company. Haley wood seized the opportunity of the last downturn to revitalize its brand. It invested heavily in design, and production methods that ensure quality finishing, packaging and customer service. It re-positioned its brand to emphasize dynamism and innovation.

Haley wood's revitalization efforts paid off. Responses to their products in high-profile trade shows such as IMM Cologne 2010 (Germany) and Furniture China 2009 (Shanghai) was tremendous. Sales went up exponentially. New orders came in from leading European importers and retailers. Haley wood was honored as the recipient of the “Asian

To build design capability, our firms can tap on the Design for Enterprises (DFE) program. A joint program administered by Design Singapore Council, SPRING Singapore and IE Singapore, DFE seeks to help our firms adopt design as a strategic differentiator for business competitiveness and growth. Under DFE, firms could attend design-related seminars, workshops, clinic sessions, business networking events, and also how related grants and tax incentive programs could benefit them.

One of our surveys found that two in five SMEs intend to build a competitive differentiation by strengthening their brand. Recognizing firms’ need for branding capacity building, IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore jointly manages a program called Brand Pact to help local firms define their product branding strategy. Since its launch in 2005, more than 9,000 participants have participated in Brand Pact training workshops, conferences and clinics. Some 400 firms took their branding efforts beyond learning to realizing them.

Conclusion

Finally, let me conclude by encouraging you to take design and branding seriously in charting out your growth strategies. We cannot create strong brands overnight. But once a strong brand is created, it will protect our margins and customer base for a sustained period of time. It is this sustained competitiveness that we are seeking in the Singapore Brand. Thank you.