Which CEO is Singapore's top media darling?

Piyush Gupta of DBS got the most attention from media outlets.

DBS's CEO Piyush Gupta received the most coverage amongst Singapore media, but this doesn’t necessarily mean positive coverage as ST Engineering’s Vincent Chong received the most favourable attention, according to a study by media intelligence agency Carma Asia.

The agency determined the prominence and favourability of Singapore CEOs using qualitative analysis which detected context in local online and offline news from July 1 to August 31, 2019. Both positive and negative coverage were included.

Gupta was mentioned in 101 articles, followed by OCBC’s Samuel Tsien with 76 and UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong with 62.

Chong has a “strongly positive” image in the media, scoring 65 out of 100 in the agency’s Favourability Rating System. SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye and ComfortDelGro CEO Yang Ban Seng both scored 63 points.

Genting Singapore chief executive Tan Hee Heck was the least prominent (51 articles), whilst Tan, BreadTalk’s Henry Chu Heng Hwee and SPH’s Ng Yat Chung were the least favourable (51/100).

Speaking to SBR, Carma Asia co-founder Andrew Nicholls said that CEOs also serve as brand ambassadors to their organisations - they are often called to comment on issues even not directly under their control. Media coverage can influence customers, shareholders, partner organisations, and employees.

“They can certainly benefit their companies if they are effective communicators,” he added.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.