What It Does: TheSmartLocal is a private media publishing company that's into creating hyperlocal content regarding lifestyle and travel activities inside and outside Singapore.
Size and Presence: TheSmartLocal has a single office building housing about 135 employees. The office is in Chutex Building.
Best Known For: TSL media content has the largest readership and viewership in Singapore. In 2018, it won Mumbrella Asia’s Media Brand of the Year. It’s widely regarded as one of the most influential media publishers in the country.
The Good Bits: TSL has a conducive and healthy working environment. The company is also known as an ideal employer for bright, young, and enterprising media talents. The company has a great culture and a good work-life balance.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The management can be tough on employees.
TSL has a modest origin. Bryan Choo created its website in his bedroom in August 2012. The website experienced unprecedented growth as it grew to 100,000 unique visitors monthly by early 2013. Later that year, TSL expanded its operations to Malaysia. In early 2014, TSL started its YouTube channel, which it named TheSmartLocal TV. In late 2014, the company launched MS News, its news platform. In January 2015, TSL’s website hit another milestone - 1 million unique visitors monthly. The following month, TSL expanded its operations to Australia.
In mid-2015, the company launched Eatbook.sg, its food site. In December 2015, TSL’s Facebook page hit a reach of 10 million people weekly. In January 2016, its YouTube channel hit 1 million views monthly. In 2017, there was further growth in its media channels as the website achieved 4 million pageviews monthly, and the YouTube channel achieved 2.5 million views monthly. In mid-2018, the company launched InsightsRN, its data analytics platform. In mid-2020, TSL launched several eCommerce brands that achieved profitability in its first month of operation. In 2021, TSL created a page on TikTok and built it into a network across eight countries within a year. In late 2022, TSL launched One Week Love, its pioneer reality TV show.
TSL has a great culture that's further reinforced by the positive working atmosphere in the office. The employees are surrounded by friendly and helpful co-workers. New employees, including interns and freshers, are welcomed warmly into the firm and shown the ropes as they gradually adapt to life at the firm. The most refreshing about the company is its use of digital technology and social media and the fact that young people make up the entire workforce. The working culture is inclusive, as different nationalities, worldviews, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds are treated equally.
TSL has subsidiary firms, including MS News, Zula.sg, and Eatbook. The company offers an internship program to budding media talents in its firms. These young talents are placed in the editorial, creative, production, social media marketing, strategy, and many other departments through the internship. The working experience it provides during the gap semester gives these youths insights into what they want to be when they finish university. As for the full-time positions, the company offers them to fresh graduates who have completed the 6-month internship program.
The company screens the applications it gets, shortlists the suitable candidates and subjects them to a series of assessments. The successful candidates are then offered the job and onboarded into the firm.
Entry-level employees at TSL earn an average annual salary of about SGD 24,000.
TSL has made several sizable monetary donations to charities across Singapore.
In October 2016, allegations were made against TheSmartLocal for ruining Deepavali for Singaporean Indians with a culturally insensitive video. This caused TSL to restrict the video from public viewing.