Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

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 ...

Humans of Orchan | Farrell Tan  | The Story Continues   It’s been a while since I last wrote about myself - probably because I’ve already shared the “origin story” of how I stumbled into this industry (if you missed it, you can catch it here:  Humans of Orchan | Farrell Tan ("The Other Boss") . That was just before my 40th birthday. Fast forward a few years, and I find myself looking ahead - asking the inevitable “what’s next?” Orchan will always be my first “baby.” But like any restless parent, I started toying with the idea of having another. I bounced ideas off the team, leaned on mentors, swapped notes with friends who are disrupting the status quo, and watched clients push boundaries with ridiculous creativity. Yet nothing clicked. The truth is, ideas can’t be forced. They arrive when you least expect them - sometimes from the unlikeliest places. I guess this is where I introduce our new “baby”: The Third Degree. The idea had been floating around for years; Craig...

Farrell Tan Founding Director "The Other Boss", but you better call him Farrell So apparently it’s my turn to share a bit about myself. Around the office, I’m often referred to as “the other boss.” And compared to the rest of the team, I’m definitely the more marcom person;  having cut my teeth in international agencies, mentored by some of the best in the business. Truth be told, I never pictured myself in this line of work. Never in a million years did I imagine co-owning an agency with a Kiwi (not the fruit, though some would argue otherwise!) - working with brands I admire and, in many cases, grew up with. Life’s funny that way. I grew up in a fairly utilitarian household in Melaka. My dad was a teacher, my mum a nurse, and like all good government servants, they preached the importance of education: tuition, extra-curriculars, the works. Luckily for us, there wasn’t much to distract us in small-town Melaka back then, other than tree-climbing, neighbourhood b...

It’s not every day (or even every year) an agency gets to wear a superhero cape. But in 2015, Orchan Consulting Asia did just that, taking home not one but two accolades at Advertising + Marketing Magazine’s AOTY Awards: PR Agency of the Year (Bronze) and the coveted Local Hero Award . The Bronze win recognised our results across three fronts: success for our clients, success as an agency, and contribution to the wider communications industry. In other words, it was a nod to the work we delivered throughout 2014 - campaigns that weren’t just effective, but cost-savvy, creative, and industry-shaping. The Local Hero Award carried its own weight. As a proudly Malaysian-owned boutique agency competing against mostly international heavyweights, being singled out as a “hero” agency meant our approach was cutting through. It showed that businesses value the way Orchan thinks and the change we orchestrate for their brands. Managing Director, Craig J Selby and Founding Director, Farrell ...