Secret Lives of Singaporeans issue #24: AI chatbots, unmasking and Budget 2023

SECRET LIVES OF SINGAPOREANS

Issue #24 – Week commencing 20 Feb 2023

Authored with pride by Lavone Loh and Lim Rui Qi

Secret Lives of Singaporeans is an ongoing collection of marketer-friendly briefs on the fascinating people of the little red dot, by planners and PR consultants from the big red agency. It’s not “thought leadership”, it’s “inspiration to DO”.

Each issue comprises

• One thing people in Singapore are talking about

• One thing people in Singapore are searching for

• One thing that’s in the news in Singapore

One thing people in Singapore are talking about:

NO MASK NEEDED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

As Singapore steps down from COVID-19 restrictions, mask-wearing is no longer mandatory on public transport from 13 Feb. The new guideline was announced by multiministry taskforce co-chair Gan Kim Yong in a news conference held on 9 Feb.

Following the announcement, online news websites such as Mothership and SGAG took to their social channels to reshare the news in lighthearted and entertaining lo -fi memes and videos. This made the formal announcement more authentic and relatable to Singaporeans.

This really isn’t about masks at all. It’s about the rising trend of social media users preferring lo-fi content over conventional polished pieces.

Lo-fi content also delivers higher ROIs with lower budgets and shorter lead times. Beauty brands’ lo-fi videos enjoy an effectiveness rate of 164.5% compared to 32.6% for hi-fi videos*.

There’s a great opportunity for brands to explore how lo-fi content can play into their content mix. Brands can also consider working with content creators and leverage their unique style of communication to resonate more authentically with their audiences.

SO WHAT

Image source: SGAG, Mothership

Source: Verb Brands

One thing people in Singapore are searching for:

2023 BUDGET STATEMENT

At the beginning of each year, Singapore’s Minister of Finance addresses the nation to give a review of the past year, and the outlook for the coming year. It gives the public insights into our country’s growth benchmarked against the global economy and is also a key event where new policies and government initiatives are unveiled. Highlights that pique the interest of Singaporeans typically revolve around –

• Housing

• Child-raising support measures

• Central Provident Fund (CPF)

• Tax systems

• Financial schemes

An annual event that Singaporeans pay close attention to, the budget statement can spark wider conversations for personal finance and family planning.

As consumers reassess their spending behaviour and priorities in 2023, companies in the banking and finance sector can play a meaningful part in this process through –

(1) Informative and/or educational content that decodes policy announcements

(2) Products that supplement government schemes or bolster consumers from looming economic uncertainties

Source: Mothership (2023)

Image Credits: Xero

One thing in the news in Singapore:

THE RISE OF AI CHATBOTS

Big tech companies Google, Microsoft, and Baidu have successively rolled out AI chatbots, taking Singapore (and the globe) by storm. The functionality across the various platforms is similar; users will input a request, prompt, or question, and the bot will return a human-like response.

Some of the interesting outputs are as listed: composing music, writing plays, solving student exam questions, and playing chess.

The most prominent being ChatGPT by OpenAI (a Microsoft-backed company), where the prototype is available for public use.

While factual accuracy is currently a drawback, AI task performance can open up a realm of automation in the near future.

Benefits such as shorter lead times across customer service platforms with AI-crafted responses. This also allows for immediate past data referencing for up-todate situational context and maintaining impartial consumer empathy.

Unifying brand tone of voice across brand channels for more effective consumer engagement, such as community management and marketing assets. Nonetheless, brands looking to incorporate AI automation in their marketing processes should ensure that there are human gatekeepers in place to screen content for tone and credibility.

Source: Mothership (2023), Lifestyle Asia (2023)