Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

You’ve seen the excuses. You’ve heard the myths. “PR is fluffy.” “We’ll just wing it when we need to.” Now comes the deadliest delusion of them all: “We can just do PR ourselves.” On paper, it looks like a money-saver. In practice, it’s a brand grenade with the pin pulled. This is the in-house PR myth --  and here’s why it costs more than any agency retainer ever will. The Squeeze: Where PR Projects Go to Die Your internal team already runs on fumes. PR gets shoved to the side; somewhere between inbox zero and that budget report that was due last week. That press release you swore you’d send? Still sitting in Drafts, growing cobwebs. An agency lives and breathes this stuff. For us, PR isn’t a side hustle; it’s the main act. That’s why opportunities don’t slip through our fingers, because catching them is the job. The Relationship Deficit: Why Media Trust Isn’t Instant Let’s get one thing straight: journalists don’t owe you airtime. They’re drowning in hundreds of copy-pas...

When companies panic about reputation, they instinctively point fingers outward. “It’s the media!” “It’s that nasty journalist!” “It’s social media trolls!” Wrong target. The media doesn’t have to invent your dirty laundry. Nine times out of ten, it’s your own people airing it out for the world to see. Disgruntled employees. Anonymous leaks. Screenshots of “internal-only” emails dropped on X. Glassdoor reviews that read like exposés. Culture rot that seeps into customer service calls. This is the stuff that tanks a reputation faster than any investigative report. Why? Because it feels authentic. It’s coming from the inside, not an “outsider with an agenda.” And the public eats that up. “If your employees don’t trust you, no external PR wizardry can save you.” Here’s the brutal truth: you can polish press statements all day long, but if your culture is toxic, employees will torch your credibility in seconds. The irony? Brands spend millions on media monitoring and crisis playbook...

When Orchan first took on Plaza Phoenix (now known as Cheras Sentral), it seemed straightforward enough: announce the redevelopment, rally community support, and reposition the property for the future. But reality hit quickly. This wasn’t just a branding exercise - it was a rescue mission. The project was stuck because over 125 individual strata title owners couldn’t find common ground. Without their alignment, the developer couldn’t move forward. The Challenge of Many Voices Managing external PR campaigns is familiar territory. But navigating more than a hundred stakeholders, each with different concerns and vested interests, was something else entirely. The skepticism was palpable: could communication alone bridge the divide? Even for us, this was outside the usual comfort zone. “The hardest part of PR isn’t always public - it’s bringing people to the table behind the scenes.” This case became one of our most significant PR case studies in Malaysia;  proving that sometimes...

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...

It doesn’t take much. One employee. One “innocent” post. One opinion too far. Next thing you know - it’s blowing up online. Offense taken. Screenshots shared. Keyboard warriors in full attack mode. Even if your employee deletes it, too late - the internet never forgets. And now the mob has tracked them back to you , their employer. Suddenly, your brand is in the firing line. PMs roll in. Hashtags trend. A campaign starts to pressure you into action. What started as their personal post has become your PR nightmare. So, what do you do? That’s exactly what we unpacked in Orchan’s recent Safe Social workshop . We dug into: How to create ethical, practical social media guidelines that actually work. How to empower employees to pause before they post. How to shield your brand when online crises come knocking. Because this isn’t about stifling voices. It’s about protecting reputations. And in today’s climate, that’s survival. At Orchan, we don’t do dusty, forgotten policy PD...

  Social media can be a brand’s best friend - or its biggest headache. Even if your company doesn’t officially “do” social, chances are your employees do. And whether they mean to or not, what they post can create a public perception of your brand. Sometimes flattering, sometimes… not so much. Here’s the tricky bit: companies can’t just slap down draconian rules and call it a day. A smart social media policy balances protection of the brand with respect for employees’ rights. It’s not about muzzling people - it’s about setting clear expectations, creating awareness, and avoiding those dreaded “viral gaffes” that have taken down more than one careless brand. When drafting (or refreshing) your policy, make sure it actually works in practice. That means it should: Give employees a safe space to raise concerns before they go public. Spell out what counts as confidential (so no one accidentally leaks the next product launch). Be upfront about consequences — clarity beats sur...

Short answer: Yes… and No. Sounds like a cop-out, right? Stick with us. In a perfect world: Sure. Keep everyone smiling. Stakeholders have rights, expectations, and some sense of entitlement baked in. We owe them that. In the real world: Forget it. The bigger and more diverse your stakeholder pool, the harder it gets. Their interests clash with yours. Worse, they clash with each other. You can’t keep everyone happy without losing your sanity (or your business). So what’s the play? Not happiness. Balance. 👉 Meet as many needs as you realistically can. 👉 Keep your organisation’s success at the centre. 👉 And communicate. Loudly. Clearly. Consistently. Because let’s be honest - you’ll never win the “happiness game.” But you can win the trust game. Stakeholders don’t need rainbows and cupcakes. They need to know where they stand. If you’re transparent and upfront, they’ll respect you even if they don’t love every decision. So, stop chasing smiles. Start building trust....