Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

Performative versus purposeful has become the dominant way we talk about brand communication in Southeast Asia. It is a useful provocation, but it only tells part of the story. Many communication failures don’t come from bad intent or cynical leadership. They emerge from misaligned systems, structural constraints, or uneven change. Brands can sound fake not because they are lying, but because their organisations aren’t set up to speak clearly. This isn’t a defence of performative PR. It’s a clear-eyed look at why it happens, when it can still serve a function, and why moralising oversimplifies the challenge. If you missed our first article in this series, Performative or Purposeful? Decoding Brand Communication in Southeast Asia , you can read it here: https://orchanpr.blogspot.com/2025/09/performative-or-purposeful-decoding.html The False Binary The performative–purposeful debate travels fast on LinkedIn. It signals values and sparks conversation. But in practice, it flattens reality....

For years, silence has been treated as a kind of corporate virtue. Say nothing. Wait it out. Hope it passes. In theory, it sounds disciplined. In practice, it usually does the opposite of what brands intend. Silence is not neutral. It is interpreted. And in a real-time media environment, it is almost always interpreted badly. Why Brands Choose Silence Most decisions to stay quiet come from a reasonable place. Legal risk. Global sensitivities. Incomplete information. Fear of saying the wrong thing. In major M&A activity, restructuring, or crises, local communications teams often have limited room to move. Messages are cleared centrally. Words are scrutinised. Restraint is necessary. But somewhere along the way, restraint gets confused with disappearance. When nothing is said publicly, brands often tell themselves they are being careful. What they are really doing is outsourcing interpretation to everyone else. What Actually Happens When Brands Stay Silent Silence does not...

Global think pieces keep diagnosing “purpose fatigue.” To a certain extent, that's fair. However, consumers everywhere are sick of brands preaching values they cannot operationalise. But here’s the nuance many articles miss: the solutions they propose i.e., transparency, measurable impact, global ESG frameworks, do not port cleanly into Southeast Asia. They don’t just need translation; they need structural rewiring, sensitive to local governance, culture, and economics. Southeast Asia is not a single market. It is eleven distinct markets, each with its own cultural landmines, regulatory quirks, income gaps, and moral boundaries. What charms Jakarta can get you dragged on Facebook in Kelantan. What trends in Bangkok barely registers in Ho Chi Minh City. Despite this, many brands continue to ship lightly localised Western “purpose” decks across the region expecting them to scale. Often, they fail. Malaysia is frequently positioned as the “stress test” for SEA purpose marketing. Thi...

We recently came across a brilliant ET BrandEquity piece that stopped us mid-scroll. Amid all the noise about micro-moments and 8-second attention spans, the author dropped one perfect analogy: the humble travel neck pillow. Yes, really. In a world drowning in flashy gadgets and “disruptive” tech, the neck pillow category is quietly exploding not because it went viral on TikTok, but because it solves one tiny, universal pain point. You’re tired, your neck hurts on a red-eye flight, and this ridiculous U-shaped cushion just… works. No hype required. But travel isn’t the only friction point. The same dynamic shows up in daily life across Malaysia and the region e.g., the shop that tapes your takeaway drinks tightly, so they don’t spill in the car; the café that puts a charging station at every table; the courier who drops you a WhatsApp before arriving. Different setting, same principle: small, thoughtful friction removers build disproportionate goodwill. And that got us thinking: th...

AI search promised a simple bargain: create great content, earn visibility. That era is ending fast. Platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are starting to monetise answers. Soon, being discovered won’t just be about credibility; it’ll require strategy and budgets. Not a bidding war. A visibility war. If Google’s ad-heavy search results already feel exhausting, brace yourself: the next wave of AI search may feel like Google on steroids. Paid AI visibility isn’t coming. It’s already here: Google: “Sponsored” cards appear in AI Overviews. Many users barely notice the difference. Think of how “hotel booking” queries now blend organic and paid listings. AI may do the same for service recommendations. Perplexity: “Sponsored Follow-ups” insert paid prompts directly into conversations. A SaaS tool, for example, could appear as the “next suggested question” for productivity queries. OpenAI: Testing commerce ads inside ChatGPT responses. A cosmetics brand might ...

Every week, a new “miracle” lands in someone’s WhatsApp group: A Chinese virtual human sells a million dollars’ worth of lipstick in minutes. A Korean digital idol earns more than half the celebrities on your billboards. A virtual girl group racks up 300 million views on Douyin before lunch. And of course, someone forwards it to the boss: “Why don’t we do one of these also?” We get it. The numbers are dazzling. The production looks flawless. But here’s the thing: East Asia has developed very specific playbooks for virtual influencers. Southeast Asia is experimenting with its own mix of humans, AI, and stylised characters, and that’s what actually works here. Why East Asia Can Sprint While Southeast Asia Is Finding Its Own Pace 1. Budgets shape the game A top-tier hyper-real virtual human costs between  RM3.5m–RM20m to build, RM200k–RM600k monthly to maintain. In China or Korea, scale and platform support make it work. In SEA, that level of investment is mostly for supe...

Your audience discovers your brand, engages with it, and even buys something all without leaving a single app. That’s super apps. By 2026, they’ll reshape how PR and marketing work across Asia. However, when you play inside someone else’s ecosystem, are you winning? Or are you just giving them control over your brand? Platforms like WeChat, Grab, TikTok, and Instagram are becoming all-in-one ecosystems: social, commerce, entertainment, messaging. For brands, this is a massive opportunity and a trap if you’re not careful. Being present isn’t enough. You need to play smart. Why Super Apps Matter for PR and Marketing Super apps aren’t just convenient; they’re controlling the entire customer journey. In China, South Korea, and parts of SEA, apps like WeChat and KakaoTalk already run the show. Soon, most Asian consumers will experience brands primarily through these apps. The benefit: reach, speed, engagement. The cost: ownership, visibility, and control. Key Features You Can...

Most PR today is noise pretending to be strategy. Endless press releases, “viral” bets, and scattershot campaigns -- you’ve seen it. Audiences ignore it, algorithms punish it, and budgets disappear faster than a LinkedIn trend. In 2026, being louder won’t get you anywhere. Winning brands are smarter. They focus on the people who actually care, the stories worth telling, and the channels that actually move the needle. That’s where niche media and Slow PR come in. Not fluffy ideas, but tools for building trust, engagement, and measurable impact --  whether you run a 10-person startup in KL or manage a regional marketing team in Singapore. Niche Media: Stop Wasting Attention Context Beats Reach Asia is messy: languages, cultures, subcultures everywhere. A campaign trying to reach “everyone” usually reaches no one. Niche creators and vertical media reach audiences already interested in your message. That alignment builds trust, and trust drives decisions. Reality check: payi...

Walk through any Malaysian city and the shift is unmistakable. One toothbrush in the holder. One meal packed neatly for one. One person signing the lease on a studio apartment. What used to feel temporary or unusual is now quietly becoming the norm -- the rise of the Solo Economy . Across Malaysia, the traditional family household is no longer the sole driver of consumption. Household sizes have been shrinking, from 4.3 in 2010 to 3.8 in 2020, and today, nearly 45% of Malaysians are single. That’s almost half the population redefining what independence, convenience, and value look like in everyday life. However, most brands still see this through a narrow lens; assuming “solo” means young, urban, and financially carefree. The fact of the matter is that it’s far more complex, and far more interesting. The Many Faces of the Solo Economy The Solo Economy isn’t a KL-only phenomenon, nor is it made up solely of high-spending professionals chasing experiences. It’s a diverse mix of peop...

  The New Frontier of Marketing Complexity By 2026, AI won’t just support marketing -- it will shape it. From content engines and bid optimisers to virtual service agents, specialised AI tools now automate every imaginable task. But here’s the problem: without coordination, this expanding ecosystem can spiral into noise. We’re seeing it now -- brands running multiple AI pilots in parallel, each showing short-term gains but collectively creating fragmented experiences that confuse customers and stretch teams thin. Disconnected bots chasing their own KPIs often create disjointed messaging that erodes brand coherence. The next competitive edge lies in orchestration i.e.,  building a system where every AI agent plays in tune with the brand, the business, and the customer. The Core Challenge: Too Many Agents, Not Enough Alignment Today’s marketing stacks resemble crowded control rooms. Each AI agent optimising for clicks, reach, or sentiment, but rarely speaking the same lan...

This article continues Orchan Consulting Asia’s Franchise PR Series, exploring how smart storytelling turns visibility into measurable franchise growth. Visibility is great. But visibility that converts? That’s PR done right. In Southeast Asia’s competitive franchise landscape, brand awareness alone won’t fill your inbox with franchisee inquiries.  What you need is a PR funnel:  a deliberate sequence of storytelling, media engagement, and credibility-building that guides prospects from curiosity to commitment. The Problem With Vanity PR Too many franchise brands treat PR like a trophy cabinet -- glossy features, influencer shoutouts, and event photos that look good but go nowhere. The result? High impressions, low conversions. PR should not end at exposure; it should drive engagement, trust, and ultimately, sign-ups. The Franchise PR Funnel: What Actually Converts A strategic PR funnel mirrors your customer journey, but focuses on future franchisees. Each phase build...