Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

We’ve heard it all before. Every time we sit down with a brand that knows they need PR but is still hesitating, the same three objections show up like clockwork: “PR is too expensive and doesn’t deliver ROI.” “We can do this in-house.” “Our brand isn’t ready for PR yet.” Let’s call them what they are: myths that keep brands small. Here’s why none of them hold up once you look a little closer. Objection 1: “PR is too expensive and doesn’t deliver ROI.” Totally fair; no one wants to waste money on smoke and mirrors. But PR isn’t a cost; it’s a lever. It multiplies what you’re already doing. Strategic PR turns campaigns, launches, and thought leadership into momentum, not just noise. It is measurable. Media reach, sentiment, share of voice, inbound leads - these are trackable and reportable. Reputation has a price tag. Fixing a crisis after the fact is far more expensive than building goodwill in advance. Longevity matters. Ads stop when budgets stop. PR k...

PR and communications are some of the most misunderstood functions in business. People love to reduce them to clichés, throwaway lines, or quick fixes, and then wonder why their brand stalls, their reputation tanks, or their campaigns land like a wet pancake. Let’s set the record straight. Here are five of the biggest myths that keep brands stuck, and why it’s time to bury them once and for all. Myth 1: PR is just “getting media coverage.” Cute. But that’s like saying a Swiss Army knife is just a toothpick. The truth: Reputation beats reach - trust can’t be bought. Real PR is strategy, not just spin. Media is only one channel; the playground is much bigger. Results are measurable, if you know how to look. Sometimes silence is the sharpest move of all. If you think PR is just clippings, you’re playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess. Myth 2: “Any publicity is good publicity.” Wrong. That’s the fastest route to brand suicide. The truth: Negati...

Change isn’t a slogan - it’s messy, unpredictable, and often uncomfortable. But it’s also where growth lives. At Orchan, we’ve spent years helping brands navigate that tricky space between “what was” and “what’s next.” This series, Orchestrating Change: Stories from the Field , takes you behind the curtain. Real brands, real problems, and the strategies that turned the tide: from rebuilding Peugeot’s reputation before a major launch, to helping DFSK break ground with Malaysia’s first electric van, to showing Kao Malaysia how to win not just market share, but parent hearts. Each story shows one thing: change doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you orchestrate it with purpose. When Reputation Hit the Brakes - Peugeot Malaysia and the 308 Peugeot had a problem. The 308 should have been a contender in Malaysia’s hot hatch space, but instead, it carried baggage. Owners complained about costly maintenance, turbo and timing chain failures, and an after-sales experience that felt mor...

At Orchan, we’ve always said we’re not the sort of consultancy that sits back and just “advises”. We’re the sort that rolls up our sleeves, gets into the trenches, and makes sure our clients’ stories are told: clearly, credibly, and in the right places. That’s exactly what we did when QC Fleet Management Sdn Bhd brought us in to launch the DFSK EC35 All-Electric Van in Malaysia. The launch, held at MARii Cyberjaya , wasn’t just about unveiling a new vehicle. It was about putting down a marker for the future of sustainable transport in Malaysia. We had the right mix of media and stakeholders in the room, speeches from industry leaders, and most importantly, the chance for people to actually get behind the wheel and test drive the van. More Than Just Another Van On paper, the specs are impressive. The EC35 runs on a 38.7kWh lithium-ion battery , charges from 20% to 80% in just 35 minutes with a DC rapid charger, and gives you up to 268km on a full charge (WLTP) or around 200km i...

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. Six parts. One truth. Consulting has become too glossy. Too shiny. Too surface-level. Slides instead of substance. Algorithms instead of empathy. Platforms instead of people. That’s why we created the Dirty Consultant series - to call it out. And to remind leaders that real change isn’t clean. It isn’t easy. And it certainly isn’t click-to-download. Here’s the journey we took together: Part 1: She Was! The consultant who rolled up her sleeves, got messy, and truly understood context. (Link:  Are You a Dirty Consultant? She Was! (Part 1) Part 2: Death by PowerPoint Why endless slides d...

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. Change looks glamorous on stage. Keynote speakers talk about it with perfect slides, smooth metaphors, and big promises. But behind the curtain? Change is chaos. It’s messy conversations. It’s sleepless nights. It’s mistakes, do-overs, and awkward silences in meeting rooms. It’s resistance from people who don’t want their world turned upside down. Real change isn’t clean. It’s dirty. It’s uncomfortable. And it demands more than lip service and buzzwords. But here’s the thing: dirty doesn’t mean impossible. Dirty means real. And real is where transformation happens. At Orchan, we don’t shy ...

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. “Don’t worry,” they say. “We’ve got the platform for that.” Engagement apps. Gamified dashboards. AI-driven culture trackers. Click here to connect. Click here to align. Click here to build culture. But here’s the problem: Culture doesn’t live in an app. You can’t download trust. You can’t gamify belonging. And you sure as hell can’t fix a toxic workplace with push notifications. Culture lives in conversations, not code. It shows up in how leaders behave when no one’s watching. It’s in the stories employees tell when they go home at night. It’s in the way people show up for each other when...

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. “Best practice.” Consultants love to drop those two words like they’re magic dust. They’ll tell you, “This is how the market leaders do it.” “This is the proven model everyone follows.” “This is best practice.” Sounds smart, right? Except it’s lazy. Here’s the truth: What works brilliantly in one company can crash and burn in another. Because culture isn’t copy-paste. Context isn’t universal. And your people aren’t someone else’s case study. Best practice? More often than not, it’s just someone else’s story, stripped of context and dressed up as a shiny solution. At Orchan, we don’t deal in...

Startups don’t have the luxury of time, and they sure don’t have the luxury of big budgets. You’re running lean, fighting for market share, and probably pitching to investors in the same week you’re onboarding your first customers. So why bother with PR when every ringgit counts? Because in Malaysia’s crowded startup ecosystem, credibility isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s survival. Why PR Beats Ads (Especially for Startups) Let’s be blunt: you can buy ads. Anyone can. But attention isn’t the same as trust. A Google ad might get someone to click. A social campaign might rack up likes. But the right kind of PR gets you something money can’t buy: belief . People believe what third parties (media, thought leaders, even communities) say about you far more than what you say about yourself. And when you’re a startup - unknown, untested, and maybe a little misunderstood - credibility is the currency that opens doors. Investors, customers, regulators, talent... they all ask the same thing: can we t...

Back in 2020, I wrote about the tension between “change” and “evolve.” At the time, we were all staring down the disruptions of the big “C,” asking ourselves whether real progress comes from forcing change or from allowing ourselves to evolve. I even shared a simple anecdote: a teenager insisting his parents had changed him, while they countered that he had simply evolved;  picking what to adopt, what to ignore, and how to apply it in his life. It was a family debate, but the truth of it stuck with me: people rarely change because someone else tells them to. They evolve because the environment nudges them, and because they choose to. Fast forward five years, and here we are. Different buzzwords, different fires to put out, but the same question is now playing out on a much bigger stage: do we change , or do we evolve ? Change is still everywhere - and noisier than ever Look around. It’s not just new policies or shifting market cycles anymore. It’s: AI barging in  - rew...

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. Data is sexy. Dashboards glow. Algorithms hum. Today’s consultants sell you the dream: “real-time insights” into how your people feel. Red dots for disengaged. Green dots for high performers. Charts that promise to decode human behaviour. But here’s the problem. People aren’t data points. They’re messy. Irrational. Emotional. And no algorithm in the world can tell you what it feels like to drag yourself into a night shift after a 90-minute commute. Numbers tell you what . But only people tell you why . When consultants replace empathy with algorithms, they miss the heartbeat of the organisation....

At Orchan, we’ve seen consulting at its best - and at its glossiest. Dirty Consultant is our no-nonsense series calling out the theatre, the buzzwords, and the shiny distractions that get in the way of real change. Because true consulting isn’t about polished decks or clever algorithms - it’s about rolling up sleeves, getting into the grit, and facing the messy human reality head-on. Some consultants think their job is to build slides. Endless slides. Perfectly formatted, pixel-perfect decks. Buzzwords stacked higher than the Petronas Towers. Slide 12: Vision. Slide 27: Mission. Slide 43: Engagement Strategy. Slide 89: "Key Takeaways.” By the time they’re done, your people are asleep - or worse, politely nodding while thinking about lunch. Because here’s the problem: No slide has ever fixed a culture issue. No chart has ever built trust. No bullet point has ever sparked a movement. Real change doesn’t live in PowerPoint. It lives in conversations. It lives in unc...

Reputation isn’t just PR fluff anymore. It’s not about glossy press clippings or a viral stunt that gets you trending for a day. Reputation is a business currency;  and in Malaysia, it’s often the difference between being trusted or being torn apart. Why Reputation Hits Different Here Here’s the thing about Malaysia: people talk. And they don’t just talk... they share, screenshot, forward to family WhatsApp, WeChat or Telegram groups, and pile on in the comments. One slip, one badly phrased remark, one campaign that misses cultural nuance… and you’re not just facing a PR headache. You’re facing community outrage. It’s not just about customers either. Regulators are watching. Investors are watching. Employees are watching. Everyone wants to know: can we trust you? That’s why “just keep quiet and hope it blows over” isn’t a strategy. It’s a gamble - and one that rarely pays off. Short-Term Noise vs. Long-Term Reputation Publicity? That’s short-term. It’s the sugar rush of marke...

Let’s be blunt:  “content is king” is a lazy mantra. It gets tossed around so often in Malaysia’s PR and marketing circles it’s basically wallpaper. Sure, content matters - but if all you’re measuring is likes and views, you’re not strategising, you’re scorekeeping. Jim Macnamara nailed this in his piece for the Institute for PR. He argues content isn’t the crown jewel; outcomes are. And people? They’re not “audiences” sitting quietly in the cheap seats. They’re stakeholders; with opinions, with demands, and with the power to make or break your brand. We agree with him. But let’s add a twist. In Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, the stakes are higher. We’re mobile-first, multicultural, and ridiculously fast-moving. A clever TikTok might blow up today and vanish tomorrow. If you’re chasing virality without strategy, you’re just adding to the noise. The real game is turning content into outcomes that actually move the needle. Content Isn’t King - Outcomes Are Every festive season...