SGAG uses Google Workspace to collaborate with the wider team and its clients daily to deliver timely and engaging content that appeal to Singaporeans across a range of social media platforms.
SGAG is a Singaporean social media website with a mission to make every Singaporean's day a better one by creating quality content that engages and entertains. Founded in 2012, the fast-growing startup set up and run by Millennials and Gen Z has 1.9 subscribers across its platforms. Building hyper-local content that responds to a wide range of Singaporean news and current affairs, it is also known to have the largest comedy Facebook page in Singapore, with over 1M page likes. SGAG expanded into Malaysia (MGAG) in 2015, and the Philippines (PGAG) in 2018.
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Singapore
SGAG uses Google Workspace to collaborate with the wider team and its clients daily to deliver timely and engaging content that appeal to Singaporeans across a range of social media platforms.
Google Workspace Results
“As a small company, we need to keep our team lean and effective by maximizing technology wherever possible. We've been on Google Workspace since we launched. As we continue to grow, we’re not just using Gmail, we’re relying on Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, and Forms to make work happen.” - Ling Yi Chiang, Product Manager, SGAG
• Enables instant and ongoing collaboration to produce content in a timely manner
• Automates folder creation for new creative projects using Cloud APIs
• Enables employees and clients to work on the go with mobile accessibility
Most Singaporean residents or people exposed to the Singaporean media would have seen the memes and videos produced by SGAG. With 13 million active users on the platform, SGAG has a reputation for creating viral content that makes people "LOL," or laugh out loud. Founded in 2012 at the back of a university classroom by childhood friends Karl Mak and Adrian Ang, the startup releases five to seven pieces of content a day across a range of social media platforms.
Today, SGAG also works with a range of consumer brands to market their products and services through humorous content. In 2015, SGAG started MGAG in Malaysia and three years later, the company started PGAG in the Philippines. "As a small company, we need to keep our team lean and effective by maximizing technology wherever possible," says Ling Yi Chiang, Product Manager at SGAG. "We've been on since we launched. As we continue to grow, we’re not just using , we’re relying on , , , , and to make work happen and communicate with our regional teams."
Working efficiently with an integrated platform
When asked to describe how Google Workspace has benefited the business, Ling Yi ponders for a moment, then explains how it plays the role akin to Jarvis, in Iron Man. He points out that while we never see Jarvis fighting on the front line, he's the one who equips Iron Man with the right suits and gadgets to be able to do his job well.
The company's data management platform is connected to using . Most of its documents are parked in Drive, so that the company can automate things like folder creation and update Sheets with specific information and data. This saves employees time as they don't have to include these updates as part of the business process. Traditionally, when a production team initiates a new project, they would have to create a folder and manually place all the relevant documents inside it. With Cloud APIs, this folder would automatically be created with the relevant documents upon confirmation of a project, with an email sent out to everyone involved. With everything updated on Sheets, the production team doesn't need to go back to their emails for reference. They can work directly on Sheets to move pieces around as the project takes place.
Being in the social media space means that SGAG is competing with everyone else who publishes on these platforms. With the vast amount of content available online and users' lower attention span, it's important to produce quality content that engages its audience. The team needs to work fast, especially if they want to be the first to react to breaking news, so having the right tools is helpful as it means that staff don't need to worry about technicalities of getting work done.
Comprehensive, easy-to-use tools that appeal to Millennials
“We don't even have to be in front of our laptops to work on a document. Google Workspace lets us store and access documents easily from different devices, from the moment we create something to the moment we hit publish, everything can be done on the go.” - Ling Yi Chiang, Product Manager, SGAG
As a startup composed of Millennials and Gen Z, SGAG values tools that are intuitive and easy to pick up independently. The thinking is that most digital tools should be able to be understood within 15 minutes, while even the most complex ones shouldn’t take more than an hour. Employees are expected to be agile and adaptable, and learn how to use new applications without much guidance. In light of this, SGAG appreciates that Google Workspace and Google Cloud products in general are very intuitive.
Improving collaboration and teamwork
Every piece of content goes through a creation process before it gets published. This involves rounds of edits and approval from different members of the team. SGAG video scripts are all written using Docs, so that multiple people can work together to develop different parts of the script simultaneously. When the team is happy with a script, it enables access for the client to approve or make comments for further revision.
SGAG also appreciates that with Google Workspace, everything can be done on mobile, allowing them to work from wherever they are, and seize moments of inspiration on the go. "We don't even have to be in front of our laptops to work on a document," says Ling Yi. "Google Workspace lets us store and access documents easily from different devices, from the moment we create something to the moment we hit publish, everything can be done on the go."
Gmail integration and alerts are another function that has enabled the team to stay on top of workflow updates. When someone makes a change or edits a project on Docs, Slides, or Sheets, the relevant team members receive an alert and are able to better keep track of the moving pieces of a project. He also notes that, due to the unlimited storage of Google Workspace, the team no longer needs to consider the size of files when sending emails.
So how much more productive is the team with Google Workspace?
According to Ling Yi, there's no real need to measure productivity. "With Google Workspace, we already know that our team is working efficiently. We can trust Google Cloud to create that efficient and intuitive working space for us, and that allows us to spend more time adding value to our business."
Getting creative in a work from home environment
At SGAG, having an open and welcoming culture has always been a priority. The team thinks of one another as family members, having fun, sharing knowledge, and helping each other grow. In line with the family analogy, SGAG also values the need to give everyone equal opportunities, and stay agile and adaptable by pushing each other out of the comfort zone.
Before COVID-19, employees at SGAG would often participate in social events where they would have the opportunity to bond and get to know each other better. However, when they were required to start working from home, Lingyi was challenged by the company's co-founders to keep employees engaged. He used to run activities such as karaoke sessions and talent shows, bringing together colleagues from the different offices, even when physically apart. Meet was also useful for organized workout sessions such as calisthenics and HIIT sessions, which were conducted by SGAG employees themselves.
On a day-to-day basis, the team has been relying a lot more on . It has chat groups set up for each department, and they can easily communicate and even run quick meetings on the platform when they need to. The SGAG team knows that certain things are easier explained on a call or face to face, and with Chat, staff can switch to a video call mid-conversation if they need to quickly clarify a detail.
A platform to rely on
“With Google Workspace, we already know that our team is working efficiently. We can trust Google Cloud to create that efficient and intuitive working space for us, and that allows us to spend more time adding value to our business.” - Ling Yi Chiang, Product Manager, SGAG
When it comes to ensuring that data is securely saved and backed up, SGAG places its trust on Google Cloud. As a creative company, it depends on being able to retrieve a script or idea in history if it is accidentally deleted, or the team decides to revive an old idea. The reliability of Google Drive gives a sense of security to team members across its different offices when sharing information.
The unlimited storage is also a win for the team, especially for Ling Yi who manages the IT side of the business. "If tomorrow the bosses decide to hire another 10 people, I can just open a new account for them, and they'll have access to everything instantly. There's no need to worry about the data storage capacity, and we won't have to manually onboard them to all the different platforms they need to work efficiently."
As a tech-savvy team, Ling Yi says the team doesn't really need much technical support from Google Cloud in terms of setting up and general use of the platform. "The relationship we have with Google Cloud is more of them keeping us updated with the latest features and updates, and sometimes of us requesting for specific features that we feel would improve the way we work even more. It's really a partnership, as we work to make things better, together."