SGVisionaries is proud to present to you our very first Singapore entrepreneurs success story. Meet Evelyn Chew, who was awarded the Spirit of Enterprise 2024. Spirit of Enterprise, SOE in short, is a non-profit organisation that has spent over two decades honouring Singapore-based entrepreneurs. They have plenty of initiatives for young beneficiaries, thus giving them opportunities to interact with and learn from entrepreneurs such as Evelyn Chew.
First and foremost, congratulations Miss Evelyn for winning this Spirit of Enterprise Award. What does this recognition mean to you personally and for your company?
Thank you so much. Winning this Spirit of Enterprise is definitely very meaningful to me and my team personally in MOA Digital Media. I feel that this is actually a validation of the years of dedication and hard work and it’s actually the proudest moment for me and my team.
I really want to thank my team, my partners and my clients for recognising us and believing in us. So that’s why we are able to win this award. And this will actually encourage us to move forward and do greater work to help add values to our clients.
How has winning the Spirit of Enterprise Award impacted your company’s visibility or your approach to new projects?
Winning this award has boosted our visibility, opening new doors for opportunities and partnerships. It has positioned us as a trusted player in this industry. We have more inquiries and interest from our potential clients, whom value our recognition.
With that, we are able to position our company better and also call for better pricing for our services as well. We will continue to educate our clients that service excellence is actually one of our core values as well.
Can you tell us a bit about the journey that led you to establish your current company, MOA Marketing?
My journey started from my family business which is in the steel manufacturing and trading industry. I was in the sales and marketing department. As a second gen business owner, I saw a gap in the online digital presence. After two years of convincing my management to adopt digital marketing, I realised that it has helped my family business acquire more market share, as well as attract new customers online.
So because of that, I wanted to create the same success for other traditional businesses and also help them to be able to adapt to the digital era, to share their stories to the world and connect with their audiences on a personal level. That’s how MOA Digital Media was born.
What inspired you to venture into the video marketing industry specifically?
I was inspired by the potential of how video can actually help people make meaningful connections and tell the story of the brand in an engaging way. Because I mean text and images alone are not enough.
If you are aware of current trends on social media, videos are very important because videos are able to share the story and capture attention. They build trust and credibility for brands to drive their target audience to take action. I would say this is a good time right now for us to do video marketing so that we can help more businesses to share their stories to the world and connect to a global audience.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face when you are starting your company and how do you actually overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges I think most of the service businesses have is the same problem and that is to manage the cash flow and scale it effectively.
As a service business, especially in video productions, balancing your project cost with income was actually a learning curve because our payment cycle is usually longer. So we implemented a payroll strategy to overcome this. Firstly, is to have the payment milestone. What we do is that we will collect the deposit, create the project and then collect the remaining payment before we hand the product to our clients.
We also built up our cash reserves so that we are not being impacted by the projects that delay the payments. We also focus on long term planning as well. Lastly, we give incentives for clients who pay in advance.
How does your team stay ahead of trends in video marketing and as well as technology?
Our team stays ahead by continuously learning and experimenting because this is actually a fast growing industry. Continuous improvement is very important to us. It’s part of our core values in MOA Digital Media.
We attend industry conferences, participate in workshops and also stay updated with the latest trends like AI and video making. We also have a regular brainstorming session where we explore how we can incorporate all this new technology into our projects. We will ensure that our content remains fresh, relevant and impactful. So it’s about combining innovations with our client needs. To push the boundaries to create bigger success for our clients.
The journey is not easy and things don’t always go as planned. But by staying flexible, open to changes and asking for help when I needed help me in this journey.
How do you tailor your strategies to meet the unique needs of each client?
We start by firstly understand what our clients need, our client brand and their audience goals. This will help us to craft the strategy and resonate with their specific market. For example, we might use different tones and styles depending on whether the video is on healthcare, education or even customer-related industry.
We also test different hooks approaches, adjusting based on what drives the engagement. By aligning our strategy with their objectives, we ensure that the final content is able to meet their unique needs effectively.
What strategies have you found most effective for building strong client relationships?
Building a strong relationship comes down to communication, trust and going the extra mile. We keep our clients involved and updated throughout the project, ensuring they feel heard and valued. I always prioritise transparency and setting realistic expectations which build trust over time.
We don’t just take actions based on what clients want us to do. We give our valuable insights and go with a consultative approach to add value to clients so that clients are able to keep up with the current trends in the market. They are usually very appreciative with our efforts for doing that. Lastly, I also make an effort to understand their routine goals, and not just the immediate project. This approach helps us to build meaningful and long lasting relationships that go beyond just one video or campaign.
What are some of the core values that guide your leadership style as well as your company culture?
Our core values at MOA Digital Media is simply CRIST which is Continuous improvement, Responsibility, Integrity, Service excellence and Teamwork. These core values guide everything that we do. Continuous improvement drives us in constantly learning and evolving and adapting to new challenges.
Responsibility and integrity are very important to build trust both within our team and also with our clients. Service excellence means we always aim to exceed the expectations and deliver high quality work. And finally, teamwork is very important.
It’s the heart of our culture. We succeed by supporting each other, collaborating closely to bring our clients’ vision to life. So this value actually shapes our company culture and help us create impactful and meaningful work.
So what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to break into the digital marketing industry?
My advice is always to focus on building relationships and understanding the client needs deeply. Because in the digital marketing space, it’s moving very fast. Technical skills are very important. For sure, anybody can do that, but why is ours different?
Our ability to connect with our clients and convey what they need, their ideas, their vision, correctly and authentically. So we always stay curious and committed to learning. As this industry evolves very quickly, embrace the change and be adaptable and deliver values and build trust is the foundation of successful business.
How do you see the video marketing evolving in the next few years, especially with the rapid advancement in technology such as using AI in video creation?
Video marketing can be even more personalised and data driven. When AI actually plays a big role in these changes, AI will make the video production faster and allow us to produce high quality videos efficiently. For example, repetitive or mundane task of video editing and even scripting can be supported by AI and AI is able to tailor content to specific audience segments.
While AI is able to enhance the video marketing process, the core of storytelling still remains as human. Because humans provide genuine expressions and connections, and human connects to human, not towards the algorithms.
Technology will still be there to support the creativity, but emotional connections and authenticity will still be a very important point for effective video marketing. AI will be a compliment to the creative professionals instead of replacing them.
What do you believe sets your company MOA Digital Media apart from other video marketing companies in Singapore?
We emphasises on building genuine relationships with our clients. So many people can actually do videos, digital marketing and all the technical aspects. In fact, they can probably do better than us. However, we feel that human relationships are based on genuine connections in order to build trust.
That is something that is different for each of the companies. So our approach is that we highly personalise and we take pride in our work we do, so that each video we create can resonate deeply with our clients’ target audience. Our focus is to bring results to our clients. We take care of our client experience so that they are able to understand how this marketing tool is able to help them succeed in their businesses.
Can you share some of your most memorable or interesting projects so far?
One of our most memorable projects was our recent Deepavali video. For this video, its purpose is to encourage foreigners to apply for Singapore citizenship or Permanent Resident (PR). So we actually filmed the video based on Singapore icons such as the Jewel, Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands and Mustafa Centre. We blend the local culture with the client’s message.
This project is very special because it allows us to highlight the cultural richness of Singapore while telling an inspiring story that resonates with a diverse audience. The video was a success. The client was very happy with it and it blends storytelling with our local culture.
Last question Evelyn, what are the most important lessons you have learned on your entrepreneurial journey so far?
I think the most important lessons after being through ups and downs in this entrepreneurship journey is that I learned that resilience and adaptability are very important.
The journey is not easy and things don’t always go as planned. But by staying flexible, open to changes and asking for help when I needed help me in this journey. I have been able to grow through each challenge.
I learned the value of building strong relationships with our team and our clients and even the people in the community of businesses as well. Ultimately, it’s actually the people that you work with and for who make the journey meaningful and keep you moving forward.
Connect with Evelyn: MOA Digital Media
Also read: Meet Chef Leon, Runner-up of MasterChef Singapore Season 2
