Last Week Tonight: Sponsored Content

It’s been wryly observed that people are tuning in more to comedy shows for news. Well, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight is a great example and this segment on “Sponsored Content” is especially pertinent for us communications and media professionals (Video NSFW – language).

Let’s call Sponsored Content what it truly is: monetizing one’s integrity and credibility. It especially becomes a problem when it is deceptive, pervasive and wantonly permissive.

In the words of John Oliver:

“The integrity of local news is crucially important, and there is real harm for everyone if that integrity is damaged.”

Entrusted with a Thai national treasure: the Tham Luang cave rescue story

Right now, I’m feeling very grateful and humbled to be part of the team entrusted by the amazing kids and Coach, the government, as well as the people of Thailand with a national treasure: the incredible story of the Tham Luang cave rescue.

Earlier today, Netflix announced we are joining forces with SK Global Entertainment (of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Delhi Crime” fame), Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”), and Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya (“Bad Genius”) to bring the dramatic story of the 2018 Thai soccer team rescue to audiences around the world.

The story combines so many unique local and universal themes which connected people from all walks of life, from all around the world. Thailand is a very important country for Netflix and we are looking forward to bringing this inspiring local, but globally-resonant story of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to life, once again, for global audiences.

On a more lighthearted note, there picture above depicts Netflix and SK Global team members – all of whom obediently adhered to the dress code, to wear something yellow in view of the Thai King’s upcoming coronation. Let’s just say that we look calm and dignified here, but there was much hustle over the weekend looking for yellow-colored ties!

Communications Is Here To Stay, In Good & Bad Times

My friend Gabey recently wrote a helpful article in PR Week featuring the kind of validation every communications professional seeks after: No matter the economic outlook, there will always be a place for the communications function in an organisation.

This was according to Wendy Heng, associate director for sales & marketing at Robert Walters Singapore, a specialist recruitment firm. She said, “In good times or bad, you’re still going to need a communications practitioner in-house,” adding, “It is a necessary and stable function in most companies and I’ve never seen a huge rise or fall in the number of positions.”

She observed that comms staff tend to escape restructuring or cost-cutting measures because they are viewed as a necessity. She added that if a company does undergo cost-cutting measures, communications roles are typically shielded, as it is one of those functions recognised as a necessity rather than a luxury.

“There is always going to be need for it because how you could not have someone look after external outreach or crisis communications?” she said.

However, while the comms sector is quite stable, it is also a double-edged sword as in-house teams are not big to begin with. “They’re always stretched too thin with a limit to how much external agencies can do. So while its stable, it is also not seen as revenue-generating function so it’s hard to justify additions to the head count – In contrast, the sales function is easier to justify.”

In the same article, Robert Walters’ also shared the findings from their latest annual Global Salary Survey last week. Data published suggested that salaries are expected to remain relatively flat in 2016, though candidates with in-demand skills can anticipate an average salary increment of 10 to 20 percent when switching jobs.

The following are some excerpted salaries from around Asia, from the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey. Salaries are listed in USD per annum, converted from local currencies.

Position	Industry sector	Salary range (USD)
		2015	2016
Sydney, Australia
Communications Manager	Banking & Financial Services	77,000 – 91,000	84,000 – 98,000
Senior Brand Manager	Sales, Marketing & Communications, Consumer goods	87,000 – 98,000	87,000 – 105,000
Brand Manager	Sales, Marketing & Communications, Consumer Goods	66,000 – 84,000	66,000 – 91,000
Shanghai, China
PR manager	Sales & Marketing, Cosmetics	30,000 – 76,000	45,000 – 76,000
PR manager	Sales & Marketing, Professional Services	45,000 – 84,000	45,000 – 90,000
PR manager	Sales & Marketing, Retail & Luxury – National/Regional	45,000 – 90,000	45,000 – 76,000
PR & Events Manager	Sales & Marketing, Retail & Luxury – National/Regional	60,000 – 90,000	53,000 – 68,000
Hong Kong, Greater China
Head of Corporate Communications	Sales & Marketing, Financial Services	193,000 – 257,000	193,000 – 282,000
Head of Internal Communications	Sales & Marketing, Financial Services	167,000 – 205,000	167,000 – 218,000
Corporate Communications Manager	Sales & Marketing, Financial Services	77,000 – 116,000	77,000 – 128,000
PR Manager	Sales & Marketing, Retail	58,000 – 83,000	64,000 – 90,000
Jakarta, Indonesia
Marketing Communications Manager	Sales & Marketing, Marketing	28,000 – 33,000+	28,000 – 42,000+
PR Manager	Sales & Marketing, Marketing	23,000 – 33,000+	23,000 – 36,000+
Tokyo, Japan
Communications Manager / Director	Sales & Marketing, Retail & Hospitality	59,000 – 110,000	59,000 – 110,000
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Communications Director	Sales & Marketing, General Marketing (consumer)	42,000 – 62,000	42,000 – 65,000
Communications Manager	Sales & Marketing, General Marketing (consumer)	25,000 – 37,000	25,000 – 37,000
Communications Director	Sales & Marketing, General Marketing (IT&T / Industrial)	42,000 – 62,000	42,000 – 62,000
Communications Manager	Sales & Marketing, General Marketing (IT&T / Industrial)	20,000 – 28,000	20,000 – 34,000
Singapore
Corporate Affairs Director	Consumer & Technical Healthcare, PR & Communications	98,000 – 125,000+	98,000 – 140,000+
Public Relations Director	Consumer & Technical Healthcare, PR & Communications	84,000 – 125,000+	84,000 – 125,000+
Corporate Communications Manager	Consumer & Technical Healthcare, PR & Communications	56,000 – 84,000+	56,000 – 84,000+
Public Relations Manager	Consumer & Technical Healthcare, PR & Communications	49,000 – 84,000	49,000 – 84,000
Corporate Communications Director	Sales & Marketing, B2B & Industrial	105,000 – 175,000	105,000 – 175,000
Public Relations Director	Sales & Marketing, B2B & Industrial	84,000 – 140,000+	84,000 – 140,000+
Corporate Communications Manager	Sales & Marketing, B2B & Industrial	56,000 – 105,000	56,000 – 105,000
Public Relations Manager	Sales & Marketing, B2B & Industrial	56,000 – 84,000	56,000 – 84,000
Bangkok, Thailand
Public Relations Director	Sales & Marketing, Consumer & B2B	42,000 – 55,000	44,000 – 61,000
PR Manager	Sales & Marketing, Consumer & B2B	24,000 – 42,000	27,000 – 44,000
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Corporate Affairs Director	Sales & Marketing, Marketing	90,000 – 105,000	84,000 – 105,000

Full article here.

Winning Gold At The Microsoft Worldwide Communications Summit 2014!

Thrilling news – I recently got back from Seattle, Washington from the company’s Worldwide Communications Summit 2014 with a Gold Newshound Award – my second one in a row! I am truly touched and flattered by this recognition, which builds on the momentum of having won a Gold Newshound Award the previous year as well as being a multiple-award winner at last year’s Malaysia PR Awards.

Just me and my hound dog!

Every year, the global community of Communications professionals at Microsoft gather from around the world for our annual Worldwide Communications Summit. This year’s summit was held in Seattle, Washington. This year, we were also joined by the highly-talented team of consumer/devices Communications experts from Nokia (now known as Microsoft Devices), which provided a great opportunity for us to welcome them to the Microsoft family.

At the Summit, we also take the opportunity to showcase and celebrate best-practices, via our annual Microsoft Newshound Awards (held at the very lovely Chiluly Garden and Glass in Seattle), which recognize excellence in Communications from our global community of passionate and committed PR & Communications professionals. Each Newshound Award category recognizes three winners: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

With Microsoft’s top Communications Leadership (L-R): Frank Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications, Microsoft Corp.; Yunsun Wee, Director, Worldwide Field Communications, Microsoft Corp.; and Doug Dawson, Vice President of Media Relations for Nokia (now Microsoft Devices).  

My award recognized a year-long effort throughout the fiscal year where we competed aggressively in the education sector. I partnered with my leadership team, along with our education, legal and area headquarters communication teams, in a year-long campaign that communicated our local value-proposition in Education. The campaign showcased Microsoft’s long history of contribution to education in Malaysia, as well as independent research, 3^rd-party op-ed pieces, executive media engagements.

Here’s what was said about the work that I did:

This is a best practice of good programmatic execution with business impact. The team did an excellent job with this year-long integrated PR campaign that includes activities that supports and aligns to the National Plan.  Congratulations on delivering a strategic, matrixed campaign that began with the end in mind – showcasing Microsoft as a trusted advisor and partner to Government, and a thought leader for educators and students.

With friends and colleagues from across Asia!

Needless to say I couldn’t have done this alone. I’d like to specifically call out and thank:

• My team from Priority Communications: Elaine, Ashley, Kenny, Calvin, Atiqah and Sylvia for all their hardwork and partnership throughout the year.
• My media friends: There are *SO MANY* of you have been very kind and supportive, always being open to our story pitches and engaging with me regularly. I’m blessed to count many of you as friends today.
• My colleagues in Microsoft Malaysia: Much of what has been achieved is a result of intense partnership and collaboration – building upon each other’s initiatives and achievements towards a larger goal of success in this area!
• My colleagues in the Microsoft Asia Communications team: Especially Andy, Verdayne, Jesse and Darryn. Your support and partnership throughout the year has also been invaluable, leveraging upon the greater network of expertise and investment for us to drive truly impactful initiatives to competitively position us in the education space.
• My family: Without their support, I would not be free to do great things at work.

A huge congratulations also to the rest of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Newshound winners from Asia! In fact, the Asia Pacific region won the most Gold Newshound awards of any worldwide area (tied with our Central & Eastern Europe area. This is a tremendously creative, professional, committed team – and I’m proud to be a part of it. Go team Asia!

The Asia Communications Team, with our four Gold Newshound Winners – two from the area headquarters, another one from Australia… and me.

What Happens In An Internet Minute, The Internet Of Things, And What Marketers Must Do

I’ve highlighted this before, but today, I saw this featured again on my LinkedIn timeline in the format of a new infographic by Intel.

My favorite bit of Intel’s observation:

Today, the number of networked devices equals the world’s population. By 2015, the number of networked devices is expected to be double the world’s population. And by the time we reach 2015, it would take five years to view all the video content crossing IP networks each second.

Thinking about this and having grown up during the ascendancy of the internet, I continue to be marveled by how fundamentally the web and technology have revolutionized the way we live. Even as I follow the stories coming out of CES2014, one of the themes that have really called out to me has been “The Internet of Things” (IoT).

How then can marketers and communicators make the most of this? Well, I can think of a few:

1. Data-driven insights – Today, there is so much data available to marketers along with the tools to access, understand and leverage this data into insights. Some of the conversation here lends itself to a larger discussion on Big Data, but the core assertion I’m making here is that marketing must be fueled by better insights – and sometimes, that comes more from slogging through data rather than pretty pictures.
2. Dramatic disruption – With everything that happens in an internet minute, attention today is at a premium. We have more data and information – but we also have a lot more noise. To break through the clutter, one must truly be dramatic enough to warrant attention – in fact, I hearken back to my old hero, Seth Godin’s definition of “Remarkable” = Worth making a remark about. Is your brand, marketing proposition, story worth people making a remark about and be willing enough to share it with others? However, there is a flip side to this, which is my next point…
3. Creative contextualization – Being dramatic is often misunderstood and has led to many a faux pas (which, today, one’s mistake is amplified many times over via social media). On the contrary, I do not subscribe to the maxim “any publicity is good publicity” (a lesson learned from having managed a few crises and issues in the past). What’s important thus is to ensure that your “dramatic disruption” is creatively contextualized to your audience – what they want, the way they’re thinking, what they may not know they need just yet… I’m a firm believe in audience-led marketing and believe that, given the data we have access to today, it would be extremely lazy not to figure out how to reach out to your audiences in a creatively contextual manner.
4. Cultivated community – Finally, one of the best ways to consider how all this comes together is to consider how we might cultivate and embrace our community. The marketplace has and always will be about people – and people do gather into groups/tribes/communities. It’s our natural tendency. An astute marketer would be able to combine the data-driven insights to create and/or embrace an already established community and engage them with your brand, marketing proposition or story. It’s in this context that you can be dramatically disruptive in a way that is appreciated as creative and contextual. This has been made a lot easier on the internet, given the myriad social networks that we have and are a part of (*Cough* I’m on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook*Cough*).

 

Here’s to the internet. 😉