Singtel calls creative pitch to enhance customer engagement

Singtel has put out tender to appoint a creative agency partner to work alongside its brand, engagement and loyalty (B.E.L) team in Singapore.

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Singtel said that the pitch comes as the company continues to embed AI across its business to better anticipate and respond to customers' needs.

A range of participants, including holding-company networks, independent creative networks, specialist agencies, embedded agency providers, AI-first production partners and technology-enabled creative specialists will be considered for this tender.

The final number of agencies to be appointed will depend on the quality of the RFI submissions and their ability to meet Singtel’s requirements.

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Core duties of the agency partner

According to Singtel, the appointed partner or partners will help redesign how B.E.L work is planned, produced and scaled, creating an integrated human-plus-technology operating model that combining Singtel's in-house expertise with specialist creative and AI capabilities.

The agency partner will also be tasked to accelerate AI-enabled ways of working, strengthen creative capabilities and streamline the development of campaigns and customer experiences, while ensuring strong governance and human oversight.

Lynette Poh, head of brand, engagement and loyalty, Singtel Singapore, said: "Serving a large and diverse customer base in Singapore has always driven Singtel to innovate and continually improve the experience it delivers. Similarly, marketing has evolved alongside technology—from print to television, digital and social media. AI represents the next major shift. By redesigning how our teams and partners work together, we're creating a more integrated way of working that enables faster experimentation, deeper collaboration and better, more personalised and timely experiences for our customers in an increasingly AI-driven world."

She added that traditional agency models were designed around sequential briefing, production and review cycles.

"As AI increasingly automates routine production tasks, greater value comes from closer collaboration between business, creative and technology teams. Embedding specialist capabilities within Singtel's B.E.L team will enable ideas to move more quickly from insight to execution, while giving both Singtel employees and agency specialists more time to focus on strategy, creativity and customer outcomes," read the statement given to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

This next phase of B.E.L’s transformation is part of Singtel’s ambition to become the world's most intelligent connectivity company which involves investing ahead, building new capabilities and applying AI across every part of its business to improve the speed, quality and relevance of the experiences it delivers to its customers.

Currently the brand uses AI to enhance customer service and applying richer data intelligence to create more personalised interactions.

Enhancing of customer engagement

Enhancing customer engagement with creative transformation partner remains core to the pitch’s focus, according to a statement from Singtel.

The statement added that beyond creative and strategic expertise, marketing teams now require specialist skills across production, technology, data and AI that can keep pace with technological advances and customer needs.

As such, having an embedded partner gives Singtel the flexibility to tap this breadth of expertise while working as an integrated extension of the B.E.L team, reducing briefing and handover time, building deeper familiarity with Singtel's business, brand and customers, and enabling faster collaboration and decision-making.

The Singtel appointed partner will work with the B.E.L team on the following:

• Creative and strategic planning;
• Content development and production;
• Application of AI tools in marketing workflows;
• Training and capability building; and
• Coordination across internal teams and external partners.

Mediasense, formerly known as R3 is handling the pitch, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands.

The latest review comes four years after Singtel appointed Leo Burnett as its lead brand agency in 2022, with additional responsibilities for social media and content marketing.

More recently, Singtel has been leaning into AI as part of its wider brand narrative. Last month, the telco unveiled its National Day film for 2026, using the occasion to reinforce its role in Singapore's digital transformation and position itself as an enabler of the nation's AI ambitions.

Titled "Beyond connection", the film traces Singapore's journey from independence in 1965 to its aspirations of becoming a smart nation and regional AI hub. In parallel, it charts Singtel's transformation from a national telecommunications provider into a digital infrastructure and services group.

The review also comes as Singtel continues to build on its creative credentials. Earlier this year, its "Singapore dreamin'" campaign emerged as the standout winner at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's inaugural Content360 Awards, taking home the Content of the Year title alongside two Golds and a Silver for its B2B content strategy, long-form video storytelling and integrated campaign work.

The latest recognition adds to Singtel’s wider marketing track record, with gold wins at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Excellence Awards 2025 for 'Excellence in B2B Marketing' and 'Excellence in Data Privacy and Security Marketing'.

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