Radio PR

We recently secured our founder and group CEO Ernie Chen a 13 week radio slot on Bfm 89.9 The Business Station. Touted as perhaps the nation’s most credible radio station, it’s definitely fantastic to be on board.

This qualify as Radio PR. What is it you as? Well firstly it’s NOT radio advertising! Most people are like me in the sense that they don’t like or trust radio adverts. You won’t find too many people that tune in to a radio station because of the advertising. Most people listen to radio because they like the content – this will be a combination of music, the presenters and the news.

Have you ever heard a radio presenter talk about a brand on-air in relation to their own experience? Have you ever heard an interview with a doctor or psychologist where they mentioned a brand as a solution to a problem?

For most people Radio PR is so subtle that it falls below the radar of most people’s marketing defenses – which is exactly the reason why Radio PR is so effective. Radio PR harnesses the relationship between radio presenters and their audience to communicate specific messages to target audiences and generate credible third party endorsement. And that of course is next on our list and a blog entry for another day…

Brand Promotion Grant from the Government

The government's Brand Promotion Grant was formed in 2003 to provide assistance to Malaysian companies to partially defray their investment cost in development and promotion of their brands. If you’ve tried to get it and didn’t succeed, this is probably why: inability to produce a clear branding strategy was a primary contributor to the low approval rate.

Malaysian companies needed to seriously consider brand development as part of their overall strategy and to make use of government assistance effectively in developing their own branding. Brand development should be an integral part of research and development activities in the intensely competitive market as consumers tended to gravitate towards brands that they could trust.

Profitability and PR

Public Relations. You either hate it or love it. And while very much of it requires a generous amount of grey matter, Public Relations offers no gray areas. The opportunity to increase your profits is possible with carefully targeted, cost-effective Public Relations.

One way to get this done is by placing a stream of positive news stories in the media which will attract new customers and generate profit. And if you’ve always thought PR was an expensive luxury, think again. May agencies, ATCEN Communications for one, tailor our PR packages to suit your business budget, whether you’re a medium sized established company or a smaller new enterprise.

Why does advertising cost so much and deliver so little?

One reason is that potential clients are more and more resistant to it. In any case, there’s a far better way to reach customers. Professional PR carefully crafts commercial messages and delivers them effectively to target audiences through positive media editorial coverage.
It’s a proven fact that people skip through the adverts and pay far more attention to the news. The thing is – what can you give them that is newsworthy. Look within your organizations. I’m sure there’s a good story waiting to be told.

Brand and Marketing in a Downturn

A downturn is the time to refocus your marketing budgets, not cut them.

There is no doubting the apprehension is rising for many of you as the economy weakens. I know it is tempting to begin the slashing process of your expenses. And, I know that marketing is one of those areas that typical gets the brunt of those budget cuts.


Sure, you should always be doing everything you can to maximize your marketing resources. That's true, even in a good economy. But history shows us that now is just not the time to curb your marketing efforts.

Here are some of the facts from past recessions:

• 1970 recession year - American Business Press (ABP) and Meldrum & Fewsmith study showed that "sales and profits can be maintained and increased in recession years and (in the years) immediately following by those who are willing to maintain an aggressive marketing posture, while others adopt the philosophy of cutting back on promotional efforts when sales appear to be harder to get."

• 1990-1991 recession years - Management Review asked AMA member firms about spending during the 1990-1991 recession. "Fortune follows the brave," it procliamed, noting that the data showed that most firms that raised their marketing budgets enjoyed gains in market share. Among the magazine's sample, 15 percent reported "greatly decreased" ad budgets. Advertising was "somewhat cut" by 29 percent. "The keys to gaining market share in a recession," concluded Management Review" seem to be spending money and adding to staff. Firms that increased their budgets and took on new people were twice as likely to pick up market share.

Beyond the statistics, why might it be more important than ever to market despite economic downturn? Strong consideration should be given to the idea that marketing plays a more critical role now than it did during previous recessions.

While marketing's role was once more informational than brand identity building, and considering that never more than today has the clutter factor been so great, relationships between customers and brands are critical.

Relationship marketing has surged to the top of effective marketing campaigns as a means to keep an appropriate level of share of mind for purchase loyalty. Marketing serves to foster and maintain consumer-brand relationships.

Nose for News?

Last week, I had a chat with the editor of local newspaper. I asked her about the quality of writing exhibited the journalists. “Journalists?” she sneered, “What journalists? They’re more like reporters – they’re handed an assignment, come back to the office, sit down and regurgitate what’s in the press release. Aneesa, quality and journalists don’t go together. It’s no longer like how it was. Remember how you used to get yelled at? Or have your editor at the time ridicule your copy? You got better from it. Nowadays, editors can’t do that, or they just don’t care anymore,” she lamented.

Add to this the lack of good assignments and you have a great recipe for crap news. So this is where people like me come in. We provide these editors with news worthy angles and great pitches but they’re not used. Why?

“We have people to please,” was her reply, “We have to make sure that “the more important” subjects are given priority – and important doesn’t mean interesting by the way,” she explains.

And so, what should we do? “Just keep sending them in,” came the solution, “someone is bound to pick it up. And if no one does, then I guess you just have to rethink the angle and try again.”

Right. There is a phrase that goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Then give up. There’s no use in being a damn fool about it.” Well, there’s no prizes for guessing who are the damn fools for not recognizing good news pieces even if it were to slap them across the face.

The Power of Brand Ambassadorship

We tend to forget the “other” people in the company and those representing the brand throughout the sales channel don’t always understand their role in making the brand a success.

The key to turning these employees, distributors and other channel partners on the front lines into brand ambassadors is to give them a way to take ownership in the brand story.
How do we find ways to make the brand believable to this group, so they can “live the brand?” How can we make all those “brand pyramids” and other abstractions become real, and create opportunities for our team to let their passion play a role? It all starts with the truth about the brand.

By peeling back the onion (with the help of market research, account planning, or good internal audits), we’ve uncovered the nuggets that make people nod their head in agreement, and say “yes, that’s us.” By using these building blocks, not only does it make every piece of communication you create more compelling and resound more with end users, it gives your employees and channel partners an opportunity to emotionally align themselves with the brand, too.

Don’t be a news release narcissist – you may get stoned to death

A very wise person I know says we mustn’t do things that are “syiok sendiri”. This is a Bahasa Malaysia colloquialism for doing things that get your rocks off and the only person excited about it is yourself. This is especially true when it comes to projects and sending out news releases.

Most of us do things with good intentions – which is a good thing until you remember this quote: “Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them” Aldous Huxley (English Novelist and Critic, 1894-1963). So ixnay on the good intentions. Let’s get down to business and what really counts.

You have to open your eyes wide – if you can’t, use toothpicks to prop your eyelids. Do what you must to start noticing what really matters to around you in terms of news. And your best source is the global mess that is happening as you read this. As ruthless as this may sound, you have to make the best out of the horrible misery around the world. As Don Corleone said in The Godfather II, “It’s nothing personal, just business.”

By creating news that matters in your releases, you stop thinking about what works for you but what will work for the press. When this happens, the media will see the value in your piece which can translate into great content for them. They get it out. You’re happy. People get substance and newspapers look like they’re good for other things other than reporting about who threw what at whom during a parliament meeting.

Take off your blinders and see the world and all around you for what it truly is. You may just find a great press release around the corner.