Singaporeans go gaga over gadgets

To understand the Singapore story, one need only look to the city-state to see why consumers make their brand choices. Singapore is a densely populated, urban nation with a highly educated and affluent workforce. With Singaporeans being notoriously tech-savvy and career driven, this has created an innate desire to be constantly connected. This also translates to a willingness to spend on the latest gadgetry.

Year after year, the Singapore rankings reflect this. The fact that the majority of the brands that appear on the list are consumer electronic brands goes to show the importance that these gadgets play in Singaporeans' lives.

Let’s take a look at social media and Internet usage; Singapore is ranked as one of the top countries in the world in terms of their usage. Increasingly, the trend is to use mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets to surf the net, play games, read the news or to simply stay connected.

Interestingly, the ownership of these mobile devices does not seem to be affected by age, so it would be quite normal to see a family whose parents are reading their news on a smartphone, while their children play games on a tablet. The point is that mobile devices have become a necessary, if not, integrated part of their lives. And the more relevant and ingrained these devices are to people’s lives, the more relevant are the brands that innovate and deliver on these needs.

So looking at the Singapore rankings, the brands that tend to do well will be those that are seen to enhance or assist in the digital lives of Singaporeans. However, a word of caution is that handheld devices are still only a microcosm of the bigger picture. Consumer electronics brands span a range of products from white goods to home electronics to audio systems.

So ultimately, the brands that stand out are those that are able to innovate and differentiate themselves in the market place, as well as communicate clearly its big idea behind the brand and what it stands for. Marketing strategies that put these elements at the core of its branding will always come out on top – especially when it comes to brand recall.