Tag: Public relations

New York, USA – In a bid to empower global PR clients with timely PR tech solutions, PR technology, global public relations firm MSL has announced that it is extending its partnership with media monitoring company Onclusive to offer its PR Attribution service globally, which has previously only been available to MSL’s US clients.

Said service is a PR software that enables public relations key persons to use blended deterministic data with artificial intelligence to their PR services. The PR Attribution service links individual articles and pieces of content to specific business outcomes, allowing for precise PR analytics with truly actionable insights. 

Instead of relying on proxy metrics like coverage volume and potential reach, PR Attribution delivers real-time sights, including total volume of website visits from earned and owned media; specific website interactions by individual content; projected revenue impact of individual content; and trending statistics by communications campaign, message or topic.

MSL said that in terms of its features, all PR Attribution™ data is aggregated, anonymized, and designed to comply with worldwide data privacy regulations. 

The software will be integrated into solutions for current and new MSL and Publicis Groupe clients globally. 

According to Bryan Pedersen, chief innovation officer at MSL U.S, they have spent the bulk of the past two years at MSL honing an earned-first tech stack based on co-development partnerships, connected APIs and rich Epsilon data that has powered insights and innovation in ways that haven’t been possible for the public relations industry until now.

“Onclusive’s PR Attribution™ model has brought us unmatched visibility to PR measurement, deprioritizing industry vanity metrics and inaccurate forms of attribution. Extending our partnership globally further cements MSL’s leadership in ‘influence impact’ and competitive advantage in comms tech.” Pedersen said.

Meanwhile, Dan Beltramo, CEO at Onclusive, said, “Attribution has become standard best practice in marketing, and we are proud to have brought a similar set of advanced capabilities to communications practitioners. As the industry’s first and most accurate attribution solution, PR Attribution™ is changing PR measurement. Utilizing Onclusive’s best-in-class data science we are proud to be a strategic partner to MSL and their clients globally.”

Singapore – iFly Singapore, the skydiving destination in the country, aims to strengthen its positioning in the sports and lifestyle spaces, and it has recently partnered with integrated communications agency Ruder Finn Asia to handle all of its public relations business. 

Ruder Finn Asia is the Asia Pacific subsidiary of New York-based Ruder Finn. iFly Singapore has tapped the agency for a one-year remit, where it will be responsible for providing strategic counsel and management of media relations with the aim to enhance the brand’s entire spectrum of marketing campaigns. Beyond PR, the agency will also be iFly Singapore’s digital partner for all publicity campaigns. 

iFly Singapore, which is situated in the Beach Station in Sentosa in Singapore, provides a themed indoor skydiving facility with a wind tunnel that allows both first-time flyers and professional skydivers to enjoy the sport. The destination was put up in 2011 and this year, it marks its 10th year in the business. 

The celebration will be one of the agency’s marquee campaigns for the brand which is currently in the works. Furthermore, a component of the whole appointment covers venue publicity for Sky Garden Sentosa – the rooftop event space owned by and located at iFly Singapore. 

Brian Witte, Ruder Finn Asia’s deputy general manager, said that the agency is delighted to have partnered with iFly Singapore, one who has been making a great impact in Singapore’s sports and lifestyle sector. 

“We are focused on helping the brand transform its purpose communications approach and more effectively engage with the people who matter most to the brand,” commented Witte. 

Meanwhile, Lawrence Koh, CEO of iFly Singapore, expressed similar sentiments, “We look forward to our collaboration with Ruder Finn Asia to touch the hearts of everyone through our sport. Since our inception 10 years ago, iFly Singapore has achieved many milestones, from setting new Guinness World Records with special needs students to grooming gold medallists in international indoor skydiving competitions. We want to continue this momentum beyond 2021 and strongly position indoor skydiving as a sport for both beginners and enthusiasts in Singapore and the region even more.” 

iFly Singapore’s wind tunnel has been home to a number of Guinness World Records in Skydiving. In 2019, it broke its own record of 227 flights in indoor tandem skydiving to achieve a new record of 300 flights. This was achieved by a team of 80 people which comprised a mix of volunteers and teachers, and some skydivers from iFly Singapore. Special-needs students were also part of the feat. 

New York, USA – In a greater aim to widen its studies of trust across global institutions, global communications and public relations firm Edelman has announced the launch of the Edelman Trust Institute, which is now the firm’s dedicated global center for studies concerning trust across businesses, media companies, academia, and the general civil society.

The global center launch is built upon the company’s reputation for trust-centric studies for the past two decades, most notably its Edelman Trust Barometer, a series of studies that the firm conducts across various markets and industries globally to measure the level of consumer trust these institutions have built across their clients and their constituents. 

Russell Dubner, global vice chairman of Edelman, shared that the reason they invested in the Edelman Trust Barometer is their strong belief that consumer trust and its impact on the world deserved to be studied and understood.

“Society is at an inflection point, and we believe that trust is the foundational currency of stakeholder capitalism and a defining business metric for companies and brands. Trust guides leadership, strategy, policy, and sustained action and has never been more valuable to institutional and business leaders,” Dubner said, who now also serves as a chairperson for the Trust Institute.

The ultimate goal of the Edelman Trust Institute is to provide leaders across institutions with a deeper understanding of the state of trust and equip the C-suite and boards with actionable insight about the changing dynamics of trust-building and erosion. The Trust Institute will serve as a partner to academia, leading companies, foundations, and other institutions committed to understanding and expanding trust.

Richard Edelman, CEO at Edelman, notes that with business deemed to be the most trusted institution globally and inevitably himself afforded the same reputation, it’s clear that trust is the element that binds business stakeholders together. 

“This is why we are making a multi-year investment in a collaborative endeavor with academia and other leading thinkers to build a deeper understanding of trust and its linkage to success. The Edelman Trust Institute is the next chapter in our commitment to the study of trust,” he stated.

As a start, the Trust Institute will be releasing a slew of brand trust reports throughout the latter parts of June this year, as well as the aspect of returning to work by September. They will be also releasing a series of studies about sustainability by November this year, which coincides with the observance of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26).

The company will also delve into a library of the firm’s global trust tracking data on more than 200 companies and brands as well as a growing pool of trust data based on the firm’s proprietary algorithms that process ‘trust signals’ from editorial and user-generated content. This data, traditionally used for the firm’s trust methodology, R&D, and client engagements, will be used to generate new insights and foresight on the state of trust.

In addition, Edelman has also appointed Justin Blake as the Trust Institute’s first-ever executive director, where he will be responsible for setting the Institute’s editorial agenda, forging partnerships with academic institutions and other partners, overseeing the development of Trust Labs and content related to the state of trust.

He still retains his other current position as global chair of Executive Positioning at Edelman, and will report to Dubner, and will be based in New York.

“At the time we were doing one report a year. This past year we produced 12 Trust Barometer reports and Trust is now at the center of conversations by leaders across institutions. It has been incredible to have a ring-side seat as it’s grown in scale and importance. I’m excited to now help it expand its impact, supporting institutions as they seek to build and maintain trust during these skeptical times,” Blake stated.

To strengthen the capabilities of the Edelman Trust Institute, the firm has assembled a core group of advisors to shape its research, programming and partnership agenda. This diverse group of professors, former journalists and authors are authorities on the intersection of business, media, policy and civil society.

The board includes Pierre Chandon, the L’Oréal chaired professor of marketing—Innovation and Creativity at INSEAD and director of the INSEAD-Sorbonne University Behavioral Lab; Stephanie J. Creary, organizational scholar and assistant professor of management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

India – Global luxury vehicles company Maserati in India has awarded its public relations and digital mandate to communications agency Alphabet Media.

Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of luxury automobiles including a tradition of successful cars, namely the Quattroporte flagship, the Ghibli sports sedan, and the Levante.

As per the mandate, Alphabet Media will be responsible for Maserati’s strategic planning, media relations, digital campaigns, and providing integrated communication solutions in the country.

Bojan Jankulovski, the head of operations at Maserati India, shared that the brand is driven to challenge the status quo being innovative by nature, powered by passion, and unique by design.

“The partnership with Alphabet Media is the embodiment of all these values. We are pleased to onboard the agency as our communications partner in India and we look forward to a great working relationship with the team,” said Jankulovski.

Meanwhile, Alphabet Media’s Founder Tejal Daftary commented that they are delighted to get the opportunity to work for an iconic brand like Maserati in India. 

“We are committed to delivering Maserati customer experience through well-planned communications to further strengthen the brand’s presence in the country,” said Daftary.

Alphabet Media is a public relations and communications agency that provides strategic and integrated solutions. It also offers services across public relations, marketing communications, and digital communications.

Singapore – Redhill, a global communications agency based in Singapore, has announced its new managing directors namely Marienelle Castelino and Tavy Cussinel, in response to their growing clientele base in the Asia Pacific.

Through their new roles, Marienelle will deepen her focus on brand leadership and corporate mandates in markets across Asia-Pacific, specifically Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Cambodia, while Tavy will focus on growing the agency’s education, healthcare, luxury, and lifestyle portfolios.

Marienelle joined Redhill as regional director of strategy in November 2017 and brings over 13 years of experience in brand communications and corporate reputation to the agency. Prior to Redhill, she held client leadership roles for marquee brands like McDonald’s, Pepsi, Mondelez, Coca-Cola and P&G.

Meanwhile, Tavy became Redhill’s director of strategic communications and rose quickly through the ranks. She has spent over two decades working with household names such as Calvin Klein Cosmetics (UK), Parfums International (Europe), Unilever Cosmetics International (Europe), Coty, Rimmel, and Adidas. Previously, she founded and scaled a public relations agency in London, which she sold in 2011 to focus on raising her family.

“I am excited to see the additional growth that Marienelle and Tavy will achieve for Redhill as they build on the excellent work that they have done during their years with us. Despite the pandemic, Redhill has continued to expand and we are ready to push ourselves even further – both in markets and in verticals,” said Jacob Puthenparambil, CEO and founder of Redhill.

He added, “I have full faith in our leadership team to steer the wider Redhill family to greater heights as we focus on our end goal – to become the DBS or Singapore Airlines of the communications world.”

To add to the recent appointments, Redhill has announced the promotions of several Redhill executives namely Marion Ang and Jaslin Tan as senior account managers; Dipti Jaiswal and Clara Tan as account managers; Joseph Ng, Ruth Tan and Septy Wulandari as senior account executives; and Adriana Abidin, Junyi Kuo and Angelica Muk as account executives.

“At Redhill, we are committed to the development of our employees and building a strong culture of internal growth. Each of these individuals has shown dedication and commitment to the success of their clients and the agency, and I congratulate them on their well-deserved promotions. An agency is only as strong as its team, and as I look at our fantastic Redhill family, I am confident of our success,” Puthenparambil added.

Redhill’s recent promotions aims to bolster their existing clientele base, including recently of circular fashion Style Theory, where they were appointed as public relations partner for the brand in Singapore.

Hong Kong – As journalists continue to perform their media duties in the mid of a pandemic, the greater slice of these media practitioners in the Asia Pacific spend a larger chunk of their stories now centered on COVID-19 and how it affects the industries they are covering for, new report from global public relations company Cision show.

In its latest ‘Cision’s 2021 Global State of the Media Report’, the report noted that 45.8% of APAC journalists note that writing new angles about the pandemic shaped their editorial strategy recently. Following such data, 36.5% of APAC journalists seek to write ‘feel-good’ stories on how businesses and communities help each other.

On another note, other factors that helped mold the current editorial strategies of APAC journalists include diversity and inclusion stories (33.7% of APAC respondents), going back to the ‘new normal’ (32.8%), new technologies (31.4%), and research-based thought leadership pieces covering topical issues (29.8%).

It is also worth noting that despite the pandemic, journalists still juggle multiple beats with demanding workloads and pressing deadlines. This is evident despite numerous newsrooms shrinking in number due to the pandemic. According to the study, almost half of journalists (47%) cover five or more beats, and nearly the same amount file seven or more stories per week; 33% say they file 10 or more. 

“Journalists don’t have time to chase down stories, so giving them all the information they need upfront such as insightful data, relevant quotes, and accompanying images, which then takes the burden off them to assemble critical details and increases the likelihood of the story getting covered,” Cision stated in their report.

Such a multitude of tasks faced by journalists in APAC pose struggles for them as well, with 37.6% of APAC respondents saying that they experience fatigue in covering the COVID-19 pandemic. Other factors that pose struggles to APAC journalists include reaching out to sources remotely (29.9%), public pressure on covering both sides of the story equally (22.3%), thoroughly addressing racial inequalities (15%), and challenges in distinguishing fictional and factual political/election coverage (13.9%).

Adding to journalist’s dilemma is how frequently they are inundated with spam email and irrelevant pitches. Cision reports that 53% of journalists receive more than 50 pitches a week, and 28% receive more than 100 per week. Yet the vast majority of journalists (69%) say only a quarter (or less) of the pitches they receive are relevant to their audiences.

About 59% of journalists agree that the availability of detailed audience metrics (views, engagement, demographics) has changed the way they evaluate stories. Many are focusing on stories that will generate the most traffic and shares across social media and other distribution channels in an effort to draw the almighty advertising dollar (and job security).

In terms of journalist behavior, a large majority of APAC respondents prefer to receive media pitches on Monday, with 60.4% of respondents saying so. Tuesday is also fine, with 42.3% of respondents agreeing, and surprisingly 28.3% of respondents say they prefer to receive their pitches by Friday.

On follow-up pitches, the best time period to ask, according to Cision, would be 2-3 days later (30.4% of APAC respondents), and around 10:00am to 12:00pm (28.3%). 

Over one-third of journalists (35%) would like to see a list of stories planned in advance. While 33% of journalists plan their stories in real time throughout the day, 1 in 4 (25%) journalists plan their stories a week ahead; 18% plan a month ahead. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of respondents (81%) included images with their stories in the last year, followed by videos (45%), infographics (43%) and social media posts (40%). On top of this, more than 1 in 5 journalists (23%) explicitly said they wish PR pros would include multimedia assets in their press releases.

“After a year like no other, the partnership between the media and PR pros – and the technologies they use to develop and distribute content – are becoming even more critical. PR teams who are not actively using data intelligence and newswires to guide and promote their campaigns are at risk of falling behind as they compete to have their stories heard,” said Maggie Lower, chief marketing officer at Cision.

Sydney, Australia – Comparison platform Finder has appointed former head of public relations and communications of its ANZ operations Bessie Hassan to now take the helm as the company’s global head of communications.

Aside from her previous role in Finder ANZ, Hassan has worked as a freelance journalist and public relations consultant, with bylines from various publications such as The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Marie Claire, and InStyle among others. She has also served as communications officer for the Randwick City Council and as vice president for New South Wales at the Public Relations Institute of Australia.

In an interview with MARKETECH APAC, Hassan stated that in her new role, she will be responsible for establishing and leading an integrated communications strategy to grow Finder’s corporate footprint, thought leadership, and credibility across all of Finder’s markets. This will include external and internal communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR), public affairs, employer brand, and risk and reputation management. 

Hassan’s promotion comes after Finder’s recent acquisition of Singapore-born financial services platform GoBear to drive its growth in the Southeast Asia region, months after GoBear announced shutting down its operations.

“As Finder continues to grow, I will work closely with the founders and executive team to establish a brand presence in all its markets. Our goal is to help people make better financial decisions every day – by helping people save, invest and grow their wealth – and we believe we have a strong role to play in doing this in Southeast Asia,” Hassan shared with MARKETECH APAC.

In regards to her appointment, she said, “The last six years at Finder have been a blast and now I’m so excited to be sharing Finder’s mission with the rest of the world.”

Finder has yet to find a replacement to lead the communications branch for ANZ.