Orchan Consulting | Asia Sdn Bhd

Ready for the Real World, Agency Style? It's funny, during interviews with interns and potential PR staff, Farrell and I often talk about how 'what is learnt at University has little or no relevance to everyday practice'. We are firm believers in hiring outside of the circle, and in realizing the potential that multi-disciplinary graduates bring to the table. In our experience, PR graduates bring little in the way of fresh perspectives, often looking purely at the textbook for a solution - right down to the "there must be a formula we use for writing a press release" (choke choke), rather than bringing a worldly perspective to our clients campaigns and our way of thinking.  People often think PR is glamorous, but in reality is it not. Those fancy parties, those amazing dinners, the travel - yeah, its all true, but you're working! So at the fancy parties you are answering questions, smoozing with the media (and for the bosses, potential clients), and g...

Must We? It's not about keeping them happy; it's about keeping them informed.

Change is the Process; Evolution is the Destination Commentary by Farrell Tan Change is constant. Change is more apparent now with the big ‘C’ wreaking havoc on people, places, corporations and everything in between. T here are essentially two ways to understand change: Evolutionary or incremental change and Revolutionary or transformational change.  Evolutionary change is incremental and takes place gradually, over time. Slow, gradual change often takes place to ensure the survival of the organisation. Organisations undergoing evolutionary change may have been prompted by outside pressure, as in keeping up with technology or addressing the needs of stakeholders more effectively. In some cases, evolutionary change may be spurred by competition. For example, hospital and healthcare providers have evolved by transforming their paper medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping due to external financial incentives. Retail and...

Pivoting the Events Industry Towards New Success Success during the current pandemic is based on ones’ ability to not only pivot, but to remain relevant in the overall supply chain. For us in the communications industry, the loss of face-to-face events, be it for consumer engagement or media interaction, has been somewhat impactful. Whilst Orchan is more strategic in its integration and servicing for clients, it has put a speed-bump on campaign progress for a couple. In the broader industry, it’s had a greater snowball effect. That may be about to change – and for the better. Enter EventXtra, an event management platform curated to help industry players and their clients transform their face-to-face exhibitions and events into online and Virtual Reality formats. With its global launch just last Friday, regional media were invited to one of two “digitally-experiential” press conferences – to not only lead the way for brands to get back into the consumer and media...

An Interview with the Illusive James Dyson Ever heard of Sir James Dyson, the 69-year-old British inventor and master-mind behind the Dyson brand of technology? An industrial designer by accidental profession, he is best known for inventing the world’s first ever bag-less vacuum cleaner in 1983, and for coming out with the bladeless fan technology, as well as the supercharged hand-dryer you would find in many public toilets. Sir James Dyson, showcasing his bag-less vacuum cleaner We were engaged by Dyson to represent the brand’s publicity initiatives in Malaysia. One of the things we did was obtaining an exclusive interview  for  James with The Star newspaper, to which we successfully garnered three (3) pages worth of coverage. Not much on its own but, this was rewarding because James rarely conduct interviews with any publication, nor does he address the public by himself in many circumstances. What’s more, turning down interviews was second nature to him, even for medi...

For Startups, the Right Comms Strategy can be Make or Brake|Break   The need to develop the right communication strategy has often been overlooked as the fundamental rule for startups’ strategic planning. Following the mushrooming of startups in Asia, it will come as no surprise if we know the fact that Public Relations is not in the priority line-up, due to the scarce budget they have in hand. Nonetheless, from the PR point of view, in order to be distinctive in today’s competitive market, every startup ought to tailor to the needs of the customers by delivering a relevant key messaging using the right strategic communications. As we increasingly realise that communication must be part of the strategies on business plan, Nicola Oldfield, GHC Asia, Group Managing Director, and contributor for Advertising+Marketing.com shares her take on how communication strategies help thrive the startup ecosystem in Asia. Good PR can be one of the biggest drivers for star...

Thanks, Covid ! :(  Research from Harvard Business Review (February 2021) indicates that on average, our professional and personal networks have shrunk by close to 16% - or by more than 200 people – during the pandemic. It's pretty scary really to think about.   Such network shrinkage has serious impact for finding a job, career prospects, and simply remaining at the forefront of our industry knowledge.  It hurts companies too, reduced opportunity for potential clients, can lead to less creativity and more groupthink, and with fewer connections for individuals, a decreased sense of belonging. Scary that in a time of enhanced online activity, we are in fact decreasing our connectedness. We all need to be out there more, making quality, credible connections. Feel free to connect to us.