Branding Agency Singapore: Key Trends for 2024
As a branding agency Singapore and Thailand, I feel like we are at the forefront of merging brand strategy and innovation strategy with effective and prioritized go-to-market plannings to create meaningful business impacts. After I had been on a refreshing and inspiring vacation at Perth, Australia last week, during the Songkran Thai New Year, it was time to reflect on what had happened last year and what we envision towards 2024 and onwards. There are several key trends we observed and redefine the branding and marketing, and innovation landscape in Singapore, Thailand, other ASEAN neighborhoods, and even Taiwan and Japan. Here's 6 how's for your business to stay ahead:
Sustainability through branding
Sustainability has been a keyword, evolving from a trend to a core component of global mission. Many businesses have been incorporating “sustainability” into their brand identities and product functionalities, not only in the corporate mission and vision statement. Consumers in Singapore increasingly make decisions based on environmental impact and contribution to sustainability.
When we were in Singapore for a business trip in mid-March 2024, we brought our branded corporate gift that was beautifully designed and crafted by a Thai designer called THINGG, to give away to our beloved friends, clients and partners including Greydient Lab and Nanyang Technological University. It was a decorative item that was made from recycled plastics and woods from sustainable local forest. So sustainable, right? We were so proud to present how sustainable our gift was as it was still new and thoughtful in some ASEAN neighborhoods such as Thailand. It turned out many of them were not really surprised by the fact that the gift’s materials were sustainable, because almost every brand cares about sustainability already.
At WYLD, a branding agency Singapore, we help you integrate sustainable practices into your brand and marketing strategies, ensuring your commitments are properly recognized and communicated through branding.
Digital-first brand strategies
Have you ever experienced visiting somewhere digital and did not instantly recognize the brand of it although we knew the brand before? Well, that’s probably because their brand strategies were not digitally optimized.
The shift to digital is no longer forthcoming; it has already been here. Brands need to adopt a digital-first approach, creating seamless experiences across most digital platforms. In a single word “digital”, it does not entail only your website, app and social media. There are so many platforms that you or your company can be enlisted from directory, e-commerce, etc. There are email, PDF document, webinar, and even contents to post in each social media platform are all slightly different. You can essentially have only the most frequently used brand assets but it is always best to optimize to each use case for the harmonized brand presence.
It’s not difficult or unimportant even for businesses that are non-digital. We specialize in crafting digital brand strategy that ensures your brand not only participates but leads in the digital arena. And we have a tremendous amount of scar-tissues to prove that it is the case. You can see some of our past works here.
Personalization and customization
As a minimalist, I have not really been a big fan of addition when it comes to personalization and customization because minimalists prefer continuous subtraction until there is only the most essential parts in it. But offering that to clients through businesses is just another level of challenges. Yet, personalization is key in today's market. Hence the rise of technologies for all of those advanced analytics. Google analytics, heatmap analysis, and UX optimization allow for brand and marketing strategies that cater to preferences of individual customers, enhancing user engagement and retention.
However, there is an equally effective approach when it comes to such personalizations - design thinking. For design thinkers like us, empathy is a corner-stone for everything when designing anything from branding, marketing, digital transformation, and new business/product/services. I believe it is the most proven method to come up with the best solutions that customers actually cherish and competitors often overlook. I also believe it is something that advanced analytics or even AI will never ever be able to replicate its outputs precisely. At WYLD, we leverage these empathy-led design thinking to deliver personalized experiences that drive consumer connection and retention. If you would like to know what would happen if you ignore the customer’s emotional values, you can send a request via taishi@worldwyldwork.com or WhatsApp me directly. I can share some of the case studies of businesses that only focused on performance marketing without caring about the empathy part.
Authentic storytelling
When you ask your close friends and families about who you are, they would not probably describe how you look or what you wear. They would more likely describe your personality as authentic as possible. Because personality is the only thing they can distinguish their close friends and families from one another. Brand strategy is exactly the case. And authentic storytelling is the core of brand strategy.
In good storytelling, transparency and honesty are always crucial, since forever. Humans are social animals which we coexist with based on trust. Especially in the era of information technology when information is democratized, enabling all consumers to be equipped with more necessary information to judge on their own. It’s rather overwhelming to have this much information, news and rumors. Thus, we consumers desperately crave voices of first-hand reviews or at least authentic interactions with brands that tell real stories. We help you craft brand strategy and go-to-market strategy that embody your personality in the most authentic way of yours, ensuring your narrative resonates deeply with the right target audiences of yours.
Leveraging technology in branding
In 2024, the integration of technology in branding and marketing strategy will become more crucial than ever. Emerging tools like ChatGPT, Notion AI, Tome, FireFlies, etc. are reshaping how brand strategists and innovation strategists work. Even this blog post that you are reading right now is entirely generated by AI. (wink wink) I’m just kidding. I’m pretty sure Taishi is not an AI… or am I?
As a forward-thinking branding agency Singapore, WYLD is excited to leverage these technologies to enhance strategy formulation and streamline operations related to branding & marketing, and new business design, making your brand’s customer experience more meaningful and memorable.
The balance between of data and emotion in decision making
To stay competitive, businesses must embrace both data-driven and emotional-led decision making. This involves collecting and analyzing data and facts rigorously, as well as creative at the same time, to inform brand and marketing strategies. WIthout either one, you would tend to end up with branding or marketing activities that competitors can easily replicate. If that happens, you know your competition would get ugly and bloody. At WYLD, we utilize data and exercise creative collaboration to pinpoint market trends, understand consumer behavior, and tailor our strategies for meaningful business impacts.
With these trends, your brand can leverage our discipline and strategies to excel. As your chosen branding agency Singapore, I can assure you that we can help you capture the flow of these trends through expert brand and marketing strategies. Ready to take your brand to the next level? Leave me a message, I will show you how we can transform your business approach in 2024 and onwards.
See you then.
Credits
Primary author: Taishi Hasegawa - CEO at WYLD.
Author assistant: Manusavee Sattha
Graphic by: Patsorn Arayaluck
Special thanks to Pailin Hasegawa - Head of Creative at WYLD, for foundational insights and expertise in storytelling that inspired this article.
