Getting around in Singapore is quite different from Taiwan, China, and even Hong Kong. The effort to create an efficient and organized system that is also foreigner friendly is evident. Not only is the public transportation system well integrated, the integrated marketing efforts fully take advantage of the system. In this episode, James and Clyde look at the different ways to get around and examine some examples of integrated marketing efforts.
The priority in Singapore seems to have been to build an efficient and fast road system. In the late 80s, car ownership was still low, and a number of controls strongly discourage car ownership, with some unexpected results in impacting consumer aspirations. Walking is easier as sidewalks tend to be clear, and clean, while motorcycle lanes, as in Taiwan and China, are non-existent. The MRT system has been under serious construction and expansion non-stop since the early 90s. Certainly the speed of expansion is much slower than cities in China, but the stations in Singapore are of a much higher quality. Most obvious is the interesting and creative advertising campaigns executed in the MRTs and often linked up with buses and taxis.
Everyplace in the MRT car will become one marketing message.