1. What are the core values of the organization?

According to st701.com's parent company, Singapore Press Holdings, the corporate philosophy is:

Mission: To Inform, educate and entertain

Coporate values:
Partnership, Teamwork, Innovation, Meritocracy, Customer Orientation, Profit Orientation, Corporate Citizenry

(from http://www.sph.com.sg/aboutus/corp_philosophy.html)

This holds true for st701 as well.

2. Examine the online branding elements (eg logos, colour schemes, url, buttons,
screensavers etc) in the chosen website. What do you think is the overall image which the site is trying to project? Do they reflect the core values of the organization effectively?

According to the website, "ST701 carries the initials of The Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings' flagship newspaper and Singapore’s national English broadsheet. The numbers “701” convey what the user will experience: 7 days a week search at the 01 place that matters"

Having the initials of The Straits Times would convey a reliability that users associate with the print version of the Classified Advertisements. The logo of st701 are also in accordance with the name: "7 days a week search at the 01 place that matters"

CATS, the acronym associated with the Classified Ads, is cleverly used in cat graphics and even in the logo of ST701, there is an eye in place of 0 and a pointed red oval depicting a cat's face. A cat head is also used for the print CATS logo and this again would link the two together. There is heavy emphasis on the cat graphic, much like a mascot, displayed in various positions on the front page of ST701, for the various sections Jobs, Cars, Property, Shops.

The color scheme is minimalistic, borders and menus in unobtrusive grey so as to not detract attention from the main contents. Color is selectively used for the 4 sectios as color code, and this conveys an impression of professionalism. Information is also clearly available and one does not have to look through the site to find it. This is a online classified ads website, so it fulfills the mission of 'inform', 'educates' people on the choices available, and also consists of services (under the shops) posted that may 'entertain' users.

Partnership: There is a 'contact us' page where users in need of help may contat the staff.
Teamwork: The 'Just Ask' forum promotes helping between consumers and staff.
Innovation: From the print version, SPH has harnessed the growing force of the internet, moving with the times.

Hence I feel that they do reflect the core values sufficiently.

3. What do you think are some of the existing strategies which the chosen website uses to publicise and generate awareness of the website among its key audience segments?

ST701 is based on the print version(CATS) included with The Straits Times . Naturally the online version of The Straits Times would also display st701 on its webpage and it does, although below the fold. Also, asiaone, another subsidary of SPH displays st701 on the main page.
With a reputable big name CATS to back st701 up, it is very likely to be a success. Most advertisers in Singapore already advertise on CATS, and it is only a small step for them to take to publish their ads on st701 as well.
There have also been advertisements broadcast on local TV which I feel is aimed towards users and less toward advertisers.

4. What additional branding strategies would you recommend to this site to:
(a) Strengthen its online brand identity
(b) Promote greater awareness of the website to its various audience segments?
As it targets the local market, there should be emphasis on local advertising. Popular websites such as hardwarezone.com, where (mostly male) Singaporeans gather to discuss various topics, should be approached for advertising space. Flowerpod.com.sg is also a popular portal with mostly female Singaporeans. By advertising on these sites, it would be more effective as these people who frequent are already familiar with using the internet. It would be a more targeted approach which would yield better results with more 'hits' or people that are likely to use as compared to TV ads, which target a diverse population, including some IT-illiterates who are extremely unlikely to use st701.

Audience segments would consist of Job, Car, Property, Shop seekers. st701 could do a tieup with popular jobfinding websites such as jobseeker.com.sg, or property agents who are looking to sell property.  By finding advertisers, the number of users would also increase and this would again lead to more advertisers.