The Republic of Singapore Navy has launched a new campaign to position the Navy as a career option for women, developed with McCann Singapore. Titled ‘There Was a Time (When Nothing Was too Crazy for Her),’ it targets female students across JC, ITE, polytechnic, and university levels.
According to the agency, research found that 82% of young women rule out a Navy career because it does not align with their perceived passions, while 58% believe it to be too physically demanding.
Rather than confronting these barriers directly, the campaign draws on the premise that young girls begin life without self-imposed constraints and that those constraints develop over time.
The creative work features out-of-home, social, and direct mailer activations depicting young girls in uninhibited play — commanding the room, taking charge, and deciding for themselves what is fun. “Over time, girls are told that some behaviours – and career choices – were not meant for them, and women begin to define themselves in ways that limit their capabilities,” said McCann Singapore.
“We believe that the most effective recruitment work does not just showcase what’s on offer, but shifts how people see themselves in relation to it,” said Daniel Kee, Chief Creative Officer, McCann Singapore.
“Guided by McCann’s ‘Truth Well Told’ philosophy, this idea is powerful because it is rooted in a simple truth – that there is a version of every woman that existed before society placed limits on her ambitions. We wanted to reframe not only how women perceived the Navy, but the beliefs they hold about themselves.”
Kee added that the campaign was designed to feel personal rather than fact-driven, with visuals styled to resemble childhood photographs — “grainy, intimate, like old photographs from a family album.”
“We wanted to meet women in a place that existed before any of those limits were learned, and encourage them to remember who they already are,” he said.
“It is also worth noting that this campaign idea was developed by an all-female creative team, which could explain why it feels less like an advertisement and more like recognition.”
The campaign is the latest work under the agency’s six-year recruitment platform for the Navy, It’s Not Crazy, It’s the Navy.
