More than 1,700 SMEs participating in inaugural campaign so far
More than 1.1 million reached through social media
Singapore, 29 October, 2015 – Having gained steady momentum since its launch in August 2015, the 99%SME campaign moved into phase two today with the inauguration of a four day, nationwide, SME Week, to drum up more affection and business for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
This is the first time that Singtel and a collective of brands and businesses in Singapore have come together to rally consumers to use products and services offered by SMEs, which make up 99 per cent of companies on the island. More than 1700 SMEs have signed up to collectively market their goods and services through the 99sme.sg campaign website. The campaign has since reached over 1.1 million people on social media, ensuring strong support of participating SMEs.
Mr Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Group Enterprise at Singtel said, “The 99%SME campaign provides a timely boost boost to a very important segment of our economy. We are very pleased that participating SMEs, many without their own websites, are riding on this campaign to expand their market reach to a wider audience.”
Today, senior representatives from Singtel and our corporate partners, DBS Bank, MediaCorp and SPRING Singapore, kicked off the SME week together at Plaza Singapura by visiting and shopping at participating shops in the mall. Until this Sunday, consumers can check out the list of participating SMEs and the range of offers available on the 99%SME website (www.99sme.sg).
Bill Chang also added, “Through technology and social media, the campaign has given SMEs unprecedented reach above and beyond individual SME effort. We hope consumers will come out in force to shop with and to give back to SMEs, in appreciation of their contributions to our economy and our day-to-day lives. The campaign’s SME Week this year takes a modest but important step towards strengthening our local economy, by fostering closer ties between corporations, consumers, and and other SMEs.”
There are nearly 190,000 SMEs which make up 99% of the total number of registered companies in Singapore. They contributed half of the Gross Domestic Product last year and employ seven in ten of the workforce.
Mr Mok Kum Thong, Executive Director, SME Banking, DBS Bank said, “We are encouraged that the campaign has encouraged many SMEs to come forth to offer a wide range of promotions online and many SMEs we reached out to have been extremely supportive. We urge consumers to show their support to our homegrown SMEs not just for this week, but on a regular basis moving forward.”
Mr Jack Lim, MediaCorp Chief Commercial Officer said, “We are proud to be the official media partner for 99%SME and happy that this great initiative reached out to so many SMEs and their customers within a short span of time. We are also looking forward to working with the top three SMEs with the most shared promotions and most ‘voted’ videos with an advertising grant worth $100,000 each where they can use on any of our media platforms, including the use of our award-winning Creative Services team. I am confident that our advertising products and solutions will be able to help them get the word out and connect with their customers.”
In conjunction with the SME week, Singtel will be mobilising its more than 10,000 employees in Singapore to shop with SMEs closest to their work places, on Friday, 30 October 2015, over an extended lunch break. It will also organise smaller activities at various sites, to encourage employees to support SMEs.
As an added incentive, Singtel will enlist the help of its customers to support the participating SMEs, through a special offer. Each day, the first 50,000 postpaid mobile customers who submit a photo of a receipt from a participating SME to the campaign website (www.99sme.sg), will receive 1GB of free data for one-day only, on 17 December 2015.
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