There is no place like this, this is where passion is made possible.

That, is the message of the new international brand jointly unveiled by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) on Aug 24.

Launched by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran,  the unified brand - Passion made Possible, will be used to market Singapore internationally for tourism and business purposes

Previous branding exercises saw various terms such as "YourSingapore","Surprising Singapore" and "Uniquely Singapore" being coined and used for the various marketing campaigns.

Emotional and Aspirational connection

To the everyday Singaporean or potential visitors, this new brand for Singapore would probably arouse some curiosity - why does it sound nothing like a usual tagline for a national marketing campaign?

Driven by the discovery that tourists and companies are beginning to want more than just enjoying their travel destinations for the usual set of activities, the unified brand launched by the two agencies stands for a new approach in attracting international visitors to Singapore - via stories and personalities.

Much like how we may travel to certain countries because we feel an emotional or aspirational connection to them, this new brand initiative seeks to do just that, through the stories of different Singaporeans that will help people remember and feel a special connection to our sunny island, even if they do not plan to travel here in the short term.

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Whose stories?

Some of these Singaporeans whose stories are now being told to the world include famous faces that best represent Singapore - but that's not all.

The inspiring stories of unsung Singaporean heroes will also be told around the world, including chef Malcolm Lee from Candlenut restaurant as well as wildlife consultant and nature guide Subaraj Rahathurai.

In addition, the international audience will also learn about Mark Ong, founder of sneaker design business SBTG , and Ang Hao Sai, one of our last surviving movie poster artists in Singapore.

With the new international brand launching globally in the next few months, we're curious if this will catalyse a new wave of interest in Singapore as a tourist and business destination.

We are all familiar with that sense of pride and optimism when we see what Singapore has to offer, we certainly hope our friends around the world can share our passion too.

Top image by Tan Guan Zhen