#AOTYAwards 2021 spills: FirstCom Solutions eyes prospect of even playing field in competitive scene

FirstCom Solutions prides itself in being an omnichannel digital marketing and development agency offering services from brand strategy and development to digital marketing, web applications, in-house production team and website development. Among the list of brands it has worked with include Wok Hey, SK-II, StarHub, Nam Kee Pau, Takashimaya, and ST Electronics.

CEO and founder Jim Giam said in his message on the website that as an SME, FirstCom Solutions truly understands the challenge commonly faced by business owners. They include SMEs not being well-versed with digital advertising and finding it tough to deliver content that sets them apart from the competition. Hence, it aims to use its expertise in content creation, production and eCommerce to help push brands forward. The agency was a finalist for Digital Agency of the Year and Social Media Marketing Agency of the Year at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Agency of the Year 2021 Awards. Giam shares with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE what makes him proud of being part of the agency and his hopes for the Singapore ad scene.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners' and finalists’ interview series for AOTY Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

Tell us what these achievements mean for you

Giam: Having assisted over 5,500 clients throughout the course of our agency, we’ve found from experience that going digital always seems to be the biggest hurdle for our local SMEs. To that end, FirstCom Solutions has always tailored our solutions according to our customers’ needs, and in many ways, they shape our business as much as we shape theirs.

Being shortlisted for MARKETING INTERACTIVE’s Digital Agency of the Year and Social Media Marketing Agency of the Year awards is an incredible honour and we take it as a sign that we're on the right track. We’re humbled to be recognised for our efforts, but nothing is more rewarding than the confirmation and reassurance that we’re truly making a meaningful impact on our local businesses and Singapore’s digital landscape.

This win motivates us to continuously hone our skills and knowledge so as to remain relevant and better contribute to SMEs.

What makes you proud about being part of your agency?

Giam: As the founder of FirstCom Solutions, I am most proud to have aligned our business mission throughout the organisation where each individual works towards the same goal - helping our fellow local businesses sustain and improve by making our services available and affordable while giving our 100%. Most importantly, I am proud to be witnessing the outcome of everyone’s hard work contributing to the many acknowledgements received from our satisfied customers.

In the course of assisting over 5,500 brands in over 10 years of business, our company has been growing progressively with the discovery of more local talents that help us move closer to our goals. FirstCom Solutions has employed over 200 Singaporean full-time employees. Our team is diverse in their backgrounds and expertise. From campaign managers to consultants, designers, production crew, advertising executives, web developers and more - we do our best to encompass every aspect of digitalisation to be a one-stop platform for our clients.

Naturally, a big team also means many moving parts. Every member plays an important role in the end product, and seeing campaigns met with approval and gratitude from happy clients is immensely satisfying. To date, we have attained countless compliments about our team members and services from our clients, and this is witnessed through our record of over 300 five-star Google reviews. We believe everyone wants to feel like they have played a part in something bigger than themselves, and as employees of FirstCom Solutions knowing we’ve set up our clients for digital success and helping their business thrive makes us proud.

What are some of the initiatives you have in place to ensure your staff feel proud to be associated with your agency?

Giam: While we’re wholly focused on the mission and results in our work. Our clients are businesses after all, and their bottom line is what we seek to improve. We share our successes and failures as a group.

We encourage communication amongst colleagues, teams and departments. Campaigns are the sum of parts, and no single group should feel entitled to success or the burden of failure.

If campaigns are done poorly, everyone working on it shoulders the blame and more importantly, supports each other to offer ideas and solutions to ensure results can recover. If a campaign is done well, we make sure to recognise everyone's efforts from the campaign manager to the advertising executive to the production team - letting them know they have played a part in the success of the overall campaign.

How are you attracting talent to your agency?

Giam: The constant efforts of each individual to maintain a good track record for the company over 10 years of establishment is definitely one of our approaches to attract talents to join our family. With outstanding portfolios and results to show on our online platforms, we have proven our expertise in the digital landscape. This in return shows that we have more experience and knowledge to share with existing or new talents.

In order to attract new talents, we also believe that our existing team members’ welfare, job satisfaction and motivation has to be met. Hence, we have attractive company welfare and incentive programs to reward each individual for their contributions and successes.

We are constantly on the lookout for passionate and driven people to join our agency. The latest openings can always be found on our website, and we maintain an active presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and recruitment sites such as JobStreet. We also work closely with government bodies, participating in professional conversion programs and traineeships.

What are your hopes for the Singapore advertising scene in 2021?

Giam: We hope to see more small local businesses pick up their advertising efforts in 2021 to start trading blows with big established companies.

We’re excited at the prospects of an even playing field, and today’s competitive digital advertising landscape is more levelled than ever before.

With the ease of islandwide outreach, content creation and new budget-friendly advertising methods - our hope is to see local companies stay ahead of the trend, sustain and grow in the ever-changing digital landscape. To take their reach locally, regionally and globally to showcase Singaporean businesses on the world stage. We have gems on our island, and digital marketing is the polish that will see that they shine bright for all to discover.

Many entities are accustomed to operating their businesses in ways where data is kept at different levels of management. Without having a unified consolidation of data, business owners are unable to grasp the overview of their online and offline business operations to make sound decisions.

As an SME ourselves, we truly understand the challenges commonly faced by business owners. Hence, we are constantly innovating solutions catered to unify their operations, providing them with valuable insights to better improve their business. We are committed to being their extended team, helping them to start right and start strong so they can direct their focus towards growing their business. With this, we hope to see the growing digitising efforts of SMEs contribute to Singapore’s overall economy.