Singapore Tourism Board (STB)’s Oceania bureau has gone with international social media and influencer marketing agency Komodo to launch a new marketing platform called The Journey.
The travel-centric platform aims to redefine tourism marketing in partnership with TikTok, Revolut, and luggage brand Samsonite.
STB executive director for its international group and Oceania Oliver Chong said of the initiative: “We’re excited to partner with Komodo on the inaugural edition of The Journey, which is a novel and innovative way for us to connect with visitors and highlight the unexpected experiences Singapore has to offer. Showcasing what the destination has to offer through the lens of these six content creators is also a fantastic way for us to reach new audiences, and hopefully inspire them to come and experience Singapore for themselves.”
What's The Journey all about?
The campaign centres around a gamified TikTok mini-series featuring six Australian content creators with a combined global following of over 34 million.
These creators will participate in audience-driven, location-based challenges designed to highlight Singapore as a premier travel destination.
Through engaging storytelling, the series aims to build credibility while inspiring increased visitor interest.
Aside from focussing on each creator’s activities in Singapore, the programme also features the TikTok LIVE Diary Room, a space that offers behind-the-scenes insights and personal reflections.
By doing so, audiences are given an insiders’ look into the experiences and challenges the creators encountered throughout The Journey.
A revolutionary concept
The Journey’s creators feel that this unique concept is in keeping with the way social media has revolutionised marketing, particularly in the travel sector.
For Komodo co-founder Nick Seymour, co-founder of Komodo, the debut of The Journey is timely, given how tourism boards and local tourism organisations have needed to undergo a paradigm shift where marketing, especially to younger audiences, is concerned.
Seymour opines that many would-be-travellers base their decisions on social media posts or content featured by prominent creators or celebrities.
In many cases, this has made traditional ad campaigns less visible and much less effective when it comes to capturing and sustaining the market’s interest.
Seymour said: “With The Journey, we wanted to create a platform that could organically showcase a destination through gamified content while also integrating our brand partners, TikTok, Revolut ,and Samsonite together with their products and services in an engaging and entertaining way that doesn’t seem like an ad. As social media and influencer experts who’ve been planning travel activities since we launched eight years ago, we’ve seen first-hand the power that influencers, social media and particularly TikTok can have on a destination and how creator partnerships are revolutionising marketing strategies, breaking traditional rules and delivering superior results.”
