EDB and Ogilvy & Mather ink 3 year deal to push Smart Nation agenda

As Singapore’s Smart Nation agenda gathers pace, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) are looking to collaborate on a three-year strategic initiative aimed at advancing Singapore's capabilities in modern marketing services. These include data analytics, customer engagement marketing, marketing automation, user experience (UX) design, and digital media.For O&M, this initiative also aims to foster Asia-led innovation from the Singapore office for its global network and to create solutions for its global clients. At the same time, the initiative will also include programmes to develop a strong pipeline of Singaporean talent in this space.This announcement follows reports on the Singapore Government calling for a record SG$2.82 billion worth of technology tenders in 2016 and the launching of the Research Innovation Enterprise 2020 Plan (RIE2020) in January which will grant SG$19 billion over the next five years to support Singapore's R&D efforts, innovation drive and technology adoption.Kelvin Wong (pictured right), assistant managing director, Singapore Economic Development Board, said, “Our goal is for Singapore to be a leading global hub where global brands partner different players in our marketing ecosystem to develop and pilot digital marketing innovations for the region and beyond. "He added to achieve this, it is important for the marketing ecosystem here to build up capabilities in areas such as creative technologies and marketing analytics. We are therefore heartened by Ogilvy’s choice of Singapore as one of its key hubs to grow its modern marketing capabilities.”O&M will be investing to build new solutions in Singapore as part of O&M’s global strategy to drive digital transformation and the advancement of modern marketing service offerings for its key clients. This will not only advance O&M's growth in Singapore but also further establish the country as one of the network’s key global hubs.The three-pronged strategic initiative will include the creation of the following programs such as Ogilvy & Mather Modern Marketing Lab to develop globally-recognised products and services such as a turnkey SME marketing solution, social media crisis program and media modelling for audience intent to address client requirements.Undertaking development work ahead of client demand positions O&M to innovate ahead of the industry’s needs and establish leadership in the areas of modern marketing solutions. Operational since 1 November 2016, the Lab team will grow to encompass at least 40 modern marketers over the next three years.The Ogilvy & Mather Singapore Affiliates Program  will also develop 20 high potential Singaporean talent for leadership roles through a secondment program to the agency’s global headquarters in New York. Participants will be assigned to globally significant client accounts, before returning to Singapore to apply those learnings to drive innovation and growth in Asia.Ogilvy & Mather Modern Marketing Training Program aims to strengthen O&M’s creative services talent pool in Singapore through the delivery of a structured marketing training program including modules on data analytics, digital transformation, marketing automation, social media and UX.