I read journalist Terrence Voon’s blog article on straitstimes.com about how the SIA sponsored the New Zealand team at the recent World Dragon Boat Championship instead of the Singapore team, which subsequently caused a furore.
The article and the comments that it attracted made me realise once again that sometimes, it’s hard to separate the objectivity of business from the subjectivity of people’s perception and emotions.
State-owned or state-related businesses, like SIA, carry the national flag, and evoke a sense of nationalism. It is thus understandable why Singaporeans get upset seeing the SIA logo on a foreign team’s blazer, and not on our own.
I’m sure SIA has their valid reasons. But where national identity, pride and emotions are concerned, reasons (especially commercial ones) alone may not be sufficient.
Though I still like to think that sports sponsorship is a commercial decision, I believe that companies whose branding is synonymous with the state’s branding, must consider more than just Returns Of Investment.
Or face the awkwardness of managing a public relations crisis.
Terence Quek is director of a strategic creative think tank who can’t stop creating possibilities. He loves travelling and adventure and believes he was a nomad in his past life. While he sets out to obtain the cliché five C’s like some, he would rather not have them than to live without camaraderie, contributing to worthwhile causes, meaningful conversations, challenges that stretches his limits, and decent cups of black Nanyang coffee – the last being of paramount importance to his sanity. A romantic idealist saddled with a practical mind, Terence has been accused of thinking too much about the future and too little about the past. Little do they know that he’s favourite time, really, is now.