When it comes to leading a strategic communications company, many might think that the ones at the helm tend to implement a convoluted formula for success, or a complex strategy to ensure effectiveness, but sometimes that isn’t usually the case, especially for Maverick Indonesia, one of Indonesia’s most prominent public relations and communications agencies.
For Ong Hock Chuan, Maverick Indonesia’s co-founder and managing partner, there is no exciting secret or formula to successfully lead an agency like Maverick. Instead, he only emphasises that leading is not an easy task, in which he stresses that one must simply lead and work with meaning and fulfilment.
“When my partner and I started Maverick in 2002, we were disillusioned from working with a multinational marketing communications group where they paid lip service to its people but worked them like they were cogs in a money-making machine. There was also a lot of emphasis on praising busyness, which never resulted in any impact to the client’s business”, said Ong when he recalled the challenges that he faced as a leader.
Realising this, Ong, alongside Maverick Indonesia, decided to make a shift towards changing how they operate, prioritising principles that allows their employees and teams to do meaningful and satisfying work.
A different perspective in finding meaning
In applying meaningfulness to everything that they do, Ong says that they always strive to explain why whatever they were doing was meaningful to them and their clients. However, this only sounds great in theory since clients can be unpredictable and it can sometimes be hard to get anything substantial from what they demand.
To get something out of these situations, Ong explained how it can still be seen as meaningful, since the work done within it will lead his team towards developing their skills to prepare for the time wherein work can be substantial.
“With this principle in mind, 80% of the work you do is unlikely to be very meaningful, but it keeps you in play and offers you a chance to hone your skills and achieve mastery in the art and science of PR for that 20% of the time when the right client comes along. And then, Bam! Great fulfilment as all that you’ve learned comes together in work that makes a real difference to the client’s business”, said Ong.
Knowing and cultivating agency values
Aside from meaningfulness, Ong also focuses on the importance of knowing their own value, and being good enough to match the standard associated with it. In this regard, Ong also says that this value also has to demand respect from clients in order for teams to achieve proper results.
“If we are good enough, we should expect the respect and treatment that comes with being a professional and a strategic advisor. We try our best but if clients are disrespectful or unethical we walk out on them. Life is too short to languish in a toxic relationship if you’re out to make a difference”, Ong remarked.
In improving their skills and value as an agency, Ong also talked about the principle of being creative in all that they do, combining clever ideas with a sound strategy to deliver quality work.
Expounding on this, Ong shared, To flesh out this principle, we spend huge resources in time and investments to give consultants the knowledge and tools to be impactfully creative. We run internal courses all the time that touch on systems vs inductive thinking, behaviour science, the Trivium of classical education and ways of coping with new technology.”
Success through attaining balance
Lastly, Ong puts the spotlight on the importance of balance, as Maverick Indonesia allows for employees to pace themselves in work, as well as to get a life outside the office as they can perform effectively as consultants if they have the networks as well as the rich and varied experiences that only a life outside can bring.
“One way we encourage this is to offer those who have worked for us for a year a Persona Development Fund, that is usually equivalent to a month’s salary, to travel somewhere they haven’t been before or to learn something that has nothing to do with work”, Ong specified.
Talking about these principles, Ong commented, “Implementing these principles has helped us build Maverick to what it is today but it wasn’t easy. There have been many times when they seemed not to yield any results, times when we felt that they have not contributed an iota to our ability to retain staff. During bad years we wonder if they unnecessarily sap our energy from more direct money-making, client-acquiring efforts.”
“But we stuck with them because we felt that they were our salvation from running a meaningless money-making machinery. And I’m glad we did because Maverick today has, through much trial and error, managed to train and grow a new generation of leaders ready to take over the helm and take it to what we hope is the next level”, he concluded.
Tag: Feature
California, USA – Parent company for Instagram and Facebook Meta has recently unveiled a couple of features for both platforms. This includes a new broadcast channel for instagram and Meta Verified, a paid verification service for both facebook and instagram users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a facebook post that through the new broadcast channel on Instagram, Instagram channels will now be allowing creators to share public messages directly to their followers. Users must follow the creator first to join the broadcast channel to react and participate in polls and receive notifications about the channel updates.
Furthermore, the feature is supported by various content forms including text, images, and polls, amongst others. In the following months, the feature will also be made available in messenger and facebook.
Zuckerberg himself started his own broadcast channel and specified that it will be used for sharing news and updates about Meta’s new products and technology.
Meanwhile, Meta will also start to roll out ‘Meta Verified’, a paid subscription service that will allow users to verify their accounts using a government ID and get the blue badge. The subscription starts at $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month for iOS users.
For security and authenticity purposes, Zuckerberg added that the feature will also serve to be a protection for users against impersonators or ‘posers’ online. The subscribers will also have the privilege to directly access the customer support service.
The subscription service will be inaugurated in Australia and New Zealand this week and in more countries soon.
Singapore – Singapore-based social platform for sustainability, abillion, has launched a new peer-to-peer e-commerce feature for buyers and sellers to interact and transact online with a conscious shift in focus from revenue earned to resulting impact.
abillion is a global digital home to sustainability and plant-based natives. Its sellers set aside a percentage of their revenue to be donated to impactful causes. The buyer then dedicates this sum of money to one of the platform’s more than 60 non-profit partners.
The new feature will be first enjoyed by members in Singapore. They will be able to list sustainable products via the marketplace tab, which is found on the navigation bar at the bottom of the app, Meanwhile, buyers will be able to see the impact of each purchase they intend to make from the starred green value, which is found on the right hand side of each listing.
Vikas Garg, abillion’s CEO and founder, shared that their goal is to become the world’s leading catalyst driving sustainable entrepreneurship and conscious consumerism, powering the growth of the sustainable sector.
“We know that in the near future, everyone will care about sustainability and our planet. abillion will be at the centre of this, acting as the go-to information and digital superhub for all. Here, regardless of whether you’re a buyer or a seller, you will be able to measure the positive impact your transaction has on the world. Through this, we will be able to eat, shop and live our way to a brighter future,” said Garg.
The platform said that it is planning to launch the marketplace by the year-end of 2022 to its largest markets, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as the UK, and the US.
New York, USA – Global social media platform Twitter has announced the roll-out of a new feature called ‘Communities’ which now allows users to tweet to specific communities where they want their tweet or content to be seen, whether it is the skincare community or the large online community following cryptocurrency trends.
In a latest blog post, David Regan, staff product manager at Twitter, notes that ‘Communities’ are still publicly available so anyone can read, quote tweets, and report community tweets.
“We want to continue to support public conversation and help people find Communities that match their interests, while also creating a more intimate space for conversation,” Regan said.
Currently being tested out on iOS and web app versions, ‘Communities’ are managed by moderators who pick the focus, create the community rules, and invite the people who will make it a great place for conversation.
“Think of Communities as places created for conversation where the vibe and tone is set by people who share the same interests and want to have relevant conversations,” Twitter said in a press statement.
Moderators set the community rules and can also invite others to moderate their space to keep things on track and focused. Right now, Community creation is limited but in the coming months, Twitter will allow more people to create Communities so everyone can talk about their ‘thing’, whatever it is.
Some of the initial Communities Twitter is testing surround popular conversations on Twitter. Examples include dogs, weather, sneakers, skincare, and astrology, with many more to come, reflecting more of the thriving and niche discussions on Twitter. Right now, one have to be invited to a Community by a moderator or another member, but the platform will be adding more ways to discover and allow others to join Communities soon.