Politicians tend to be skilled communicators. Lee Kuan Yew was gifted. Today marks the five-year anniversary since his passing. Much has changed in Singapore on the communications front. Maureen Tseng who heads our Singapore office offers an on-the-ground snapshot. Social media represents the biggest change over the past five years. Previously perceived as elitist and …more
I don’t smoke. My one and only experience with cigarettes was sneaking some coins into a vending machine when I around 14 to buy a pack of Marlboros. I don’t think I got past the first puff before I concluded coughing wasn’t fun. Still, the professional side of me has paid attention to Juul’s communications …more
By Melissa Lewelling, Senior Account Executive In a region with increasing disparity in wealth, I am one of the statistics that (by logical rhyme and reason) shouldn’t exist. I remember standing in the fog of the early morning before kindergarten waiting for the Salvation Army to open so we could eat that week. I remember …more
As a student of thought leadership and brand building, I’ve watched with interest as the Brookings Institution has increasingly turned to owned media to tell its story. David Nassar, who leaves this his role as VP of communications and the effective Chief Marketing Officer at Brookings later this month, led this effort. I appreciate David …more
It doesn’t matter whether you sell pizza, cars or solid state memory chips, every company grapples with the question: why should the customer buy me over competitors? Few companies try to compete on price, and even those that do are careful in how they play the low-price card. The next time you’re at Costco or …more
Today’s professional athletes cultivate their brands with attention to detail that would make a product manager at P&G proud. Certainly Kevin Durant fits into this category. That’s why his “Thank You to Everyone” ad published in the San Francisco Chronicle last week was disappointing. The creative could have come from a summer advertising workshop for …more
In this era of fake news sites and outlandish assertions touched by social media suddenly morphing into perceived truths, Russia also depends on the advertorial as a “weapon” of choice to tell its story. With ex-FBI Director James Comey’s recent testimony reigniting the Russia maelstrom, it’s easy to forget that Russia’s approach to disrupting the …more
Today we publicly announced that the country of France is now a client. France’s international economic development agency, Business France, selected us to promote the country’s tech industry (Le French Tech initiative) in the U.S. and Asia. I rarely use the blog as a forum to address Agency business, but I’m making an exception today. …more
I traveled to China last September — Steve Wozniak ended up right behind me in line going through customs — which was my 38th trip to China. Even after spending a fair amount of time there, I still feel like a student always learning new things. So many dimensions to the communications industry in China …more
