Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

Did 2020 Start Well? Perspectives on Current 'Crises' Craig J Selby | Farrell Tan | Michelle Nunis Recent political events put added pressure on an already stretched socio-economic landscape. Concerns over the untamed COVID virus and its potential short and long term impact here have been accelerated for some societal stakeholders by Malaysia’s very current and very real political turmoil. Some call it a crisis, but truth be told, it’s not at that stage yet – its just a very complicated set of issues, with some very real outcomes that could posit problems for businesses, individuals, and Brand Malaysia as a whole. On Wednesday and Thursday, Orchan Director Dr Craig J Selby was interviewed for BFM to give commentary about issues related to change and crisis in the early 2020 business landscape. What was really great about the timing of the interview though was that it followed from a detailed lunch discussion about some of these very issues. The int...

The Impact of Uncertainty on Business Time for Round two, as Orchan Director Craig J Selby contributes to BFM, along with other broad industry professionals, for a programme on Uncertainty and Change.  Forget the political dimension of the past few days; it goes far deeper. We speak about change and uncertainty in business in general, and how businesses need to plan to remain agile as the norm. Check out the full programme here:  Change and Uncertainty

Brand Malaysia in Trouble?  Today, business radio station BFM hosted a special on Crisis Communications in Malaysia, with reference to the slightly tumultuous political scenario Malaysia has been facing since Sunday evening. Multiple industry players were interviewed on various aspects of the looming crisis, and the various responses (or lack thereof) to it, to round out a discussion on the effectiveness  A familiar Orchan commentator was invited to be part of the discussion. Orchan Director, Craig J Selby, spoke about best practice, transparency, and trust during these trying times; linking it back to overall guardianship of Brand Malaysia. The entire segment is approximately 45 minutes, but for the best parts, head to approximately 27 minutes where Craig is interviewed. Check out the full interview here: Interview: Managing Crisis and Change with Communication

Blast from the Past: Neymar Jr "N5" Global Tournament After hours of continuous matches, crowds cheered as TOT United rose as national champion, and ultimately scored their trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil, to represent Malaysia at Red Bull Product of Europe’s (Red Bull) Neymar Jr’s Five World Finals. Made up of Hazizi Mansor, Azwann Ismail, Abu Haniffa Hasan, Ali Mahat, Azri Rahman, Hazreen Ali, Syed Aizad Nasir, and Syawal Ibrahim, TOT United scored 4-0 in their first game, drew the second, and won with a golden goal against their opponent, RTG Badboyz at the finals for a once in a lifetime experience. Since early April, qualifying rounds took place across Malaysia; UiTM Shah Alam, Taylor’s Lake Side, Educity Sports Complex, Ferro Futsal, Azman Hashim USM Sports Arena, and Real Sports Arena. From a total of 111 teams, 24 teams were selected from each qualifying rounds to compete at the national finals. TOT United who hails from Selangor have been pla...

No one likes change! That's a fact. But its inevitability means that like it or not, we must embrace change, be it incremental or significant. It is always better to be proactive rather than reactive.

The Importance of Good Grammar Good Grammar Matters! Effectively-worded business communication is imperative. The message/s become purposeful, professional and easily understood by the target audience; without guessing at the writer’s intent, transposing misplaced words or deciphering poorly-constructed sentences. Messages that are error-riddled often feel off-putting. Poor grammar is often associated with ignorance of, or disregard for, established rules, as well as laziness or rushing. Businesses should strive to create thoughtful, polished messages that represent their commitment to accuracy and thoroughness, and reflect the effort put in to all dimensions of their branding. Errorists are killing business. Their unkeyboardinated mistakes should be taken seriously and make sure that they practice proof-reading. This is to ensure that the business doesn’t fall prey to Grammar Nazis, and ending up immortalised over the net. Cyberspace has given us...

The Power of Technology & of Being Small Be it positive or negative, your narrative is going places because of technology. Size no longer matters, as social media empowers the smaller players to reach greater heights.  Local issues can become international discussions. Think about platforms like LADbible, bringing local community news from all over to the world. Never underestimate just how far a small story can go. It just needs one person to pick it up and push it through to kickstart something viral.

Building Brand Credibility Through Micro-Influencers (Commentary by Jeevandran Raghavan) When one thinks of social media influencers, who or what comes to mind? Is it a group of the most highly-followed social media stars with millions of followers, or is it someone more approachable and relatable, with a smaller, yet immensely niche following?  If it’s the latter, they are most likely micro-influencers. Brands and marketers are now increasingly focused on the interaction between influencers and their audiences, and that is measured through likes, comments, and the ultimate trust followers have in the message of the influencers they subscribe to.  A little bit about them; a micro-influencer is anyone with a following of roughly 1000 – 10,000 social media users (there are exceptions). These individuals are expected to take the lead role in this new era of influencer marketing.   Users are more likely to trust someone with a more refined, authentic ...

The Politics of Meaning Be Careful 'What & How' You Say Things We all know that there’s PR speak. It is not used exclusively by PR practitioners, but by people over the world attempt to maximise the oversell of their statements, or worse still, to minimise the impact of a negative scenario. But, our audiences are wising up, and that PR speak will no longer solve the problem the way it used to. People read between the lines, and we as professionals have to stop taking our audiences for granted that they will accept our modified, “aligned” version of facts. Words are political. By that, I mean, each and every word chosen in a dialogue or prose has a political slant – they take on a select and specific meaning in the context they are used, and are chosen to enhance or water-down the statement being made. They include, just as they exclude; and they embrace, just as they show disinterest.  The “Politics of Meaning” is a workshop I used to teach to graduate ...