Singapore Manufacturing Federation picks agency

The Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) has appointed VML as its lead agency following a competitive pitch, with the agency tasked with developing and executing an integrated marketing communications campaign to reframe perceptions of Singapore’s advanced manufacturing sector.

The campaign, supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the Economic Development Board (EDB), Enterprise Singapore and A*STAR, aims to position manufacturing as a high-value, innovation-led industry while addressing longstanding perceptions of the sector and strengthening its talent pipeline.

VML will spotlight the technologies, companies, people and career pathways behind Singapore’s advanced manufacturing sector, with a particular focus on creating clearer links between career interest and employment opportunities for those with STEM backgrounds.

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The campaign will seek to shift the narrative around manufacturing from operational processes to the impact of the sector’s work, highlighting how Singapore-based manufacturers develop products, solutions and technologies used across industries and markets.

It will also run as an always-on programme, with phased activity through May 2028. Activity will be aligned with recruitment cycles, key decision points and peak periods for career exploration.

To support this, VML will bring together an integrated consortium of partners across media, research and platforms, taking audiences through a journey from awareness and inspiration to engagement and job application.

“Addressing this challenge requires more than a traditional communications campaign. It demands an integrated ecosystem,” said Nimesh Desai, CEO, VML Singapore.

“We have brought together partners with complementary expertise to create a seamless journey, from reshaping perceptions of manufacturing’s role in the world to connecting interested candidates with real opportunities in the sector. Our ambition is to make visible the highly advanced, globally consequential work that has, for too long, remained behind the scenes," he added. 

Wayne Yap, CEO of SMF, said the campaign is an industry and talent effort undertaken with MTI and its partners, adding that manufacturing now offers careers spanning engineering, technology, R&D, data and advanced production.

“Manufacturing today offers careers across engineering, technology, R&D, data and advanced production, but perceptions have not always kept pace with how the sector has changed,” Yap said. “Through this campaign, we want to make those opportunities more visible and give people clearer ways to explore and pursue them.”

Founded in 1932, SMF represents the interests of the manufacturing and manufacturing-related industries, with approximately 5,000 member companies spanning multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Manufacturing contributes approximately 20% of Singapore’s GDP and remains a strategic pillar of the country's economy, supporting supply chains, resilience and global competitiveness.

Photo credits to 123RF. 

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