Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

Having handled a diverse range of F&B industry clients, and being well-initiated with the local culinary scene; our director, Craig J Selby (CJS) and senior executive, Christina How (CHYL) share with us their insights on marketing in the F&B industry. Enthusiastic foodies themselves, the duo are clear cut on the fact that what makes restaurants succeed is not solely the food, but the overall experience they can offer. Food is now served! In the form of digestible nuggets of information that is. 1. When you talk about F&B marketing in general, what does it encompass? CJS – All aspects of communicating to, and promoting your product / service / outlet to your customer. It may include Public Relations, social Media Management, tie-ups with preferred suppliers such as credit card brands. Events for other brands that utilise your outlet, coupons, special festive promotions or even happy hours. There’s a lot involved in F&B marketing, and a lot of opportunities o...

“Red Bull is the official energy drink sponsor of ESL?  Umm… we work with Red Bull right? Right? RIGHT?” As the only Orchanite initiated with the realm of esports, there was only one sane option Craig and Farrell had – to send me to Genting as part of the Comms team with Red Bull to facilitate media relations (probably in the hopes that I’d somehow get lost there and not make it back). Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool Prepping in the lead up to the event was smooth sailing throughout, except for a 4500-word essay that I had been putting off for weeks. After spending 44 out of the 48 hours prior to departing for Genting fixated on a Word document, compiling months of research, the product of procrastination was submitted at 4:30am , 2 hours before I was supposed to wake up and leave for Red Bull headquarters. And I hadn’t packed my stuff yet. I soon realised that 4 hours of sleep in 2 days was not the optimal way of sustaining the human body, but tosai and cha...

Starting today, we will feature interviews with a number of popular local bloggers as part of our Blogger-of-the-Month series.   January introduces Michelle Lim from Mishventurer.com, a travel and lifestyle blog that has been around for a little over a decade. Mishventurer is Michelle’s own personal blog where she shares her travelling adventures, tips, guides, reviews, and travel-related information with her readers. How did you first get into blogging? Did the idea came out of the blue, or did it come after a thoughtful consideration? Was there a blogger who inspired you to start your blog? I first started blogging in 2006 – on Xanga – to talk about my experience in National Service (yes, I was drafted!) so that my friends could see photos and read about it. Because there wasn’t Facebook yet, it was something that we all used to keep up with one another. I didn’t even know the term ‘bloggers’ yet, just that I have a Xanga page. Of course, it grew from there to me...

In PR, keeping abreast of the current news and issues happening both locally and globally is an integral part of our job. A recent article we enjoyed highlights why journalism still remains as significant as ever, despite the fact that changes in how news is produced and delivered is extremely fluid. Check out the article by Peter Preston from The Guardian below: Peter Preston, when editor of the Guardian, watches an archive copy of the paper come off an ancient press. The trouble as 2017 begins is simplicity, as in simple cause and effect. Fifteen years ago, Britain devoured around 15m newspapers each morning. Now it’s 6m and falling. Meanwhile digital consumption/addiction accelerates away and social media dominate reading time and attention. One habit dies; another takes over. That’s an obvious tale of cause and effect, a conclusion that broadcasters who don’t much appreciate the printed press find an easy recitation. One habit falls, another takes over. An equa...

As corporations are growing bigger and bigger, and speed and efficiency are becoming the main operational goals for many businesses; nothing can quite replace personal touch when it comes to customer service. Businesses these days, big and small, are beginning to realise that what consumers are looking for from a company is not just an efficient response, but clients become return customers when personalised service is given. Bigger corporations are having a tough time catching on to this model of customer service, mainly due to operational efficiency and the demand for speedy delivery. Automation of phone operators for example, limits and reduces the quality of the relationship between the customers and the brands, as no emotional connection is formed. On the contrary, a lot of merging and existing Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are embracing this model not only because it fills the aching need of customers to feel like they are treated like individuals, but also becaus...