Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

When 81% of global business leaders say cultural adaptation is now critical to brand reputation, 79% admit they’d rethink campaigns over cultural flashpoints, and 66% are willing to reverse course under stakeholder pressure -- that’s not just data. That’s a loud alarm bell. Weber Shandwick’s global study exposes what most Southeast Asian communicators already know: in markets shaped by ethnicity, faith, and shifting norms, context is currency. What a brand says no longer matters as much as how quickly it can read the room. 2. Why This Matters in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia isn’t one market: it’s twelve realities in constant negotiation. In Malaysia, every message runs through ethnic and religious filters. In Singapore, precision and policy tone dominate. In Indonesia and the Philippines, cultural and linguistic nuance decide whether a campaign feels authentic or foreign. Flashpoints are hyper-local. A tagline that charms in Bangkok can trigger headlines in Surabaya. CSR campaigns th...

When a crisis hits, speed isn’t a luxury... it’s oxygen. And in APAC , where social chatter moves faster than official statements, brands that hesitate don’t just stumble -- they fall flat on their face. The question isn’t if a crisis will hit. It’s when . And when it does, your response decides whether you come out scarred but standing or dragged through the mud for months. Case Study 1: Bitis vs. Khaisilk -- Apology vs. Denial Two Vietnamese brands. Two very different outcomes. Bitis , the footwear brand, ran a cultural campaign that backfired. Instead of stonewalling, they did the simplest, smartest thing: apologised quickly, corrected the issue, and kept moving. Consumers noticed the humility, and the brand survived with minimal scars. Khaisilk , on the other hand, was caught mislabelling “ Made in Vietnam ” silk that was actually from China. At first? Denial. Then, when the truth came out, scrambling apologies, recalls, compensation. By then, it was too late -- the damage w...