Posts

The Troll: A Dark Shadow on the Internet

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Here's an interesting perspective on something that used to be harmless but has now become nothing to sneeze at - Internet trolls.  Internet trolls have become popular news fodder in the past few years: Just last week a US activist who found herself on the receiving end of an anti-Semitic hate campaign was the subject of a  story here on Newsroom. Within its relatively short history, the figure of the internet troll has cast a progressively darker shadow across public consciousness. Once it was associated with relatively benign, if irritating, pranksterism. For example, tricking newcomers to online communities into answering dumb questions. But now the internet troll has grown into a more threatening and toxic figure – one who provokes outrage and derails debates. And trolling has become more firmly equated with harassment, hate speech and extremism. In a 2012 BBC Panorama documentary  Hunting the Internet Bullies , the presenter tracks down and confronts an ...

Taxing Bloggers?

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The move by the tax man in Malaysia (as well as Singapore) to force bloggers to declare gifts in exchange as a form of taxable income will no doubt have an echoing effect through the Public relations industry. Source - www.amiehu.com   It’s not about whether or not the blogger should pay income tax, or whether the blogger is doing this for commercial venture or hobby; for our industry it is now going to become about how to engage with bloggers as KOL’s, ambassadors, and/or even reviewers in such a way that does not expose them to undue tax obligations. Such a fundamental change to the system will have its flow on effects – and one source of traditionally cost-effective publicity for us, bloggers, may now end up having to be engaged in a very different way. For the lay-blogger, the impact will probably be nil – they will continue with their social commentaries on their own, pay-as-they-go and honest review approach – great for PR (assuming they like their purchase ex...

#BlastFromThePast: When Orchan Wore the Cape

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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 ...

Quote of the Week

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Thought Leadership: It's Nothing 'Persona' - It's Just Business!

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Bridging the Gap Between You and Your Customers A successful marketing campaign contributes towards a successful business. Without marketing, businesses can still offer their products and services, but few potential customers will know about it. Let’s put it this way - different people have different interests, unleashing different challenges along with it for marketers. So, make room for targeted marketing - providing the business with focus and direction by identifying the best opportunities worth pursuing as well as the threats to be avoided. To achieve this, a business must be able to identify who their actual customers are. How so? Funny you should ask. It has everything to do with buyer persona. Buyer persona is a research-based archetypal representation of a specific group of people and their behaviours. Technically, it’s not really avant-garde. It’s just that many businesses nowadays lack the understanding of consumers’ buying behaviour. Having a solid and well-t...