Archive for category: ICCO News

PRCAI, ICCO and Reputation Today announce the Young Pride Challenge

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New Delhi, August 17, 2017 – The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) and the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) in partnership with Reputation Today, India’s only print magazine for communications professionals, are pleased to announce the Young Pride Challenge, which will see two young PR professionals flown to the ICCO Global Summit in Helsinki, Finland.

The Young Pride Challenge has been set up to encourage campaign planning and bring to the fore young professionals who are the leaders of tomorrow. A team of two professionals will respond to a brief in a record time which will be evaluated by a jury. The brief will be available on the PRCAI and Reputation Today website by noon on August 18th. The winners will be publicly announced at PRAXIS and will be funded to travel to the summit.

To be eligible for the challenge both team members should be born on or after January 1st 1982 and should have valid passports. The contest opens on 18th August and the last date to submit the campaign plan is 27th August. The jury will decide the winners by September 2nd and the winners will be informed by September 5th in order to make visa and flight arrangements.

The two winners will have the opportunity to join PR and communications leaders from around the world at the ICCO Global Summit, which takes place in Helsinki, Finland on 5th – 6th October.

The ICCO Global Summit is an annual conference featuring keynote presentations, insightful panels and advanced networking which focus around PR industry challenges and innovations. The theme for this year’s event is: Innovate | Engage | Evolve: Leading in a transformational world.

The prize includes a round-trip flight ticket and visa costs supported by PRCAI, a two-day delegate pass to the ICCO Global Summit supported and stay for three nights in Helsinki supported by Reputation Today and its partners including the School of Communications & Reputation (SCORE). The winners also get complimentary access to one edition of PRAXIS of their choice.

Nitin Mantri, President of PRCAI said: “We want to provide the opportunity to young professionals to enable them to learn how to devise integrated campaigns and the opportunity to learn from global practices.”

Charlene Corrin, General Manager of ICCO said: “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with PRCAI and Reputation Today on this exciting new initiative aimed at encouraging and rewarding creative young talent.”

Roshan Alexander, Publisher of Reputation Today said: “We are about engaging with the intelligent communicator. The young professional is at the core of what we do. This initiative is a step up from the ABC prize that we ran for four years. We hope that many talented young professionals take part in this challenge to further excellence in Public Relations. We are delighted to partner with PRCAI and ICCO to make this programme come alive.”

 

For more information on the Young Pride Challenge please visit www.praci.org and www.reputationtoday.in

For more information on the ICCO Global Summit, please visit www.iccosummit.org.

About PRCAI

Public Relations Consultants Association of India is a trade association set up in 2001 that represents India’s public relations consultancy sector while providing a forum for Government, public bodies, industry associations, trade and others to confer with public relations consultants as a body. It seeks to establish benchmarks in Standards, Knowledge, Ethics and Expertise and encourages and promotes the progression of Public Relations Industry in India. To widen representation and participation from our members, 4 Regional Chapters have been created. PRCAI has 3 Key Committees, which are: Professional Practices Committee, Standards Committee and Marketing Committee. 38 leading PR consultancies are our members.

The Association now is helping educational institutes to include Public Relations in their curriculum. PRCAI has entered into an MOU with Times School of Journalism where the members of PRCAI are in the faculty to teach PR. IIMC, SCoRe, MDI are other institutes where members teach.The Managing Committee of PRCAI has a President, Vice President and a Secretary supported by the Secretary General. Constitution and Advisory Committee helps the Association to perform smoothly.

About Reputation Today

Reputation Today is India’s only print magazine for the communications fraternity. It was born at PRAXIS – India’s largest offsite summit for Public Relations and Corporate Communications professionals. REPUTATION TODAY is a quarterly print magazine that features the latest trends, exclusive interviews of public relations stalwarts, corporate communication leaders and top media professionals. The magazine is an insightful package with discussions on noteworthy case studies, PR tips and lessons, book reviews, special posts by experts, among other things. The print magazine is complemented by the website – ReputationToday.in that publishes stories, interviews and views of the communications fraternity.

About ICCO

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations operating in 55 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Australasia, as well as agencies and networks with an international agenda. Collectively, these associations represent over 2,500 PR firms. www.iccopr.com

 

For any queries, please contact

Jayoti Lahiri, Secretary General, Public Relations Consultants Association of India

Phone: +91 124 4290 174, Mobile: 9810502575

Email: jayoti.lahiri@prcai.org, Website: www.prcai.org

 

Why Africa’s growing fintech scene is attracting investors

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Article by Tom Jackson for Disrupt Africa

A total of 57 African fintech startups raised over US$92 million in funding between the beginning of 2015 and end of May 2017, with the amount of investment coming into the space expected to rise exponentially in the coming years.

That is according to the recent Finnovating for Africa report on the continent’s fintech startup space released by Disrupt Africa, which found almost 20 per cent of the 301 fintech startups it tracked had raised money in the last 29 months.

Part of what is attracting investors into this space is the mixture of huge potential returns and the great potential impact of rolling out alternative forms of financial solutions on a continent where the vast majority of people do not even have a bank account. At the heart of this opportunity is the ubiquitous mobile phone.

Stephen Deng is investment officer at DFS Lab, an early-stage incubator part-funded by the Gates Foundation that helps entrepreneurs refine, grow and launch fintech businesses in developing countries. Focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the company recently invested in four African fintech companies.

“We believe we have an incredible opportunity to take advantage of the explosion of smartphones and advanced feature phones permeating every market in the world,” Deng said. “Access to financial services can be such a catalytic force for economic empowerment and digital business models are emerging where financial services can be delivered for-profit and at low cost.”

With so many people unbanked in Africa, fintech investors feel they are getting in early in what will prove to be a wave of growth over the next few years. Deng says the problems fintech startups are addressing are fundamental and complex.

“African fintech startups are trying to provide mass market access to savings, credit, insurance, among other digital financial services. These are products that underpin livelihoods and are critical for the continued development of regional economies,” he said.

Amee Parbhoo, director of investments at the Washington DC-based impact investment firm Accion Venture Lab, agrees African fintech companies are looking to fill massive gaps in the market.

“Millions of small businesses across the continent need working capital to grow. We see firms that leverage  data and new analytics to better assess the creditworthiness of people who may not have a credit history,” she said.

The potential for impact investors, then, is huge. Disrupt Africa says startups from various sub-sectors of fintech are raising funding, with payments and lending startups the most popular. The likes of Nigeria’s Paga, South Africa’s Zoona and Kenya’s BitPesa raised significant rounds. Deng says fintech startups require large amounts of funding because of the size of the issues they are confronting.

“Africa’s fintech startups are often solving “chicken and egg” problems. They must educate consumers about new products while acquiring many as efficiently as possible,” he said. “They depend on the infrastructure of large incumbent institutions like banks and telecoms while offering products that are often competitive. Another example – and a clear challenge – is how to scale to a national or regional level while constantly under pressure to show profits early on.”

It is, therefore, extremely hard to reach scale. Deng believes, though investor interest in African fintech is growing, there is still a gap at the post-incubator or post-accelerator stage of funding. The lack of support is less about pure financial backing, however, but rather the need for more experienced, tech-oriented mentors to help entrepreneurs avoid mistakes.

“We still have not seen the “first generation” of successful, moneyed fintech entrepreneurs who are ready to help lift up the entrepreneurs who come after them,” Deng said.

This is a view shared by Parbhoo, who says Africa is witnessing a scramble for talent and capital to build fintech companies.

“Money is important for startups, but equally as important is access to advice on how to grow, to staff up, to deal with competition,” she said.

“There’s a gap for companies as they look to prove out their business models and receive the capital in order to scale. Companies of course need strong financial backing to succeed and many are unable to receive sufficient capital to sustain them through their proof of concept.”

Conversely, more support may be at hand from exactly the institutions fintech startups might be considered a threat to – banks. Many banks, notably Barclays and Standard Bank in South Africa, are starting to see the benefits of partnering with such startups, running accelerators and support initiatives. This is a mutually beneficial scenario.

Parbhoo says while fintech companies on the continent are competing directly with financial institutions with better products, improved processes and more targeted marketing, they are also looking to work with financial institutions directly.

“Established banks in Africa increasingly understand that innovation is core to their success. Some are creating innovation hubs, while others seek to acquire or partner with startups. We view partnerships with banks as critical to scaling innovation. Banks definitely have a role to play,” she said.

To view the original article from Disrupt Africa, click here: http://disrupt-africa.com/2017/07/why-africas-growing-fintech-scene-is-attracting-investors/

Twitter’s riding a political wave in Latin America

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Politics has helped drive usage of the microblogging platform in the region

Article by Matteo Ceurvels for eMarketer

Investors have banged Twitter pretty hard of late. Criticized for flat user growth, the company’s stock has dropped as much as 13% during recent midday trading.

Despite this, users in Latin America have made the platform an integral part of their social media consumption habits.

eMarketer estimates that there will be 73.1 million Twitter users in the region this year, equating to a penetration rate of 11.7% among the overall population. We project those figures will grow to 80.7 million users and a 12.4% penetration rate by the end of 2021.

Brazil makes up the largest share of monthly active users (MAUs) in the region, with 29.2 million users by eMarketer’s estimates. But 36.3% of social network users in Mexico will use the platform this year, making it the country with the highest rate of Twitter usage in Latin America.

Twitter has emerged as an essential tool for politicians across the region. Many governments and diplomatic missions in Latin America encourage staff to tweet frequently to amplify their messages and reach constituents.

“Social media … has gone from being an afterthought to being the very first thought of world leaders and governments across the globe, as audiences flock to their Twitter newsfeeds for the latest news and statements. …Twitter, in particular, has become a diplomatic barometer, a tool used to analyze and forecast international relations,” global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller wrote in its “Twiplomacy Study 2017” report, released in May.

Data from the study showed that government leaders in Latin America are very active on Twitter. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto lead the pack, with 6.38 million followers as of May 22. He was followed by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, each with more than 3 million followers.

Top 10 Political Leaders/Entities in Latin America, Ranked by Twitter Followers, as of May 22, 2017 (millions)

Burson-Marsteller’s report noted that the Mexican government (@GobMx) ranks as the most active Twitter account in Latin America, sending out 123 tweets per day on average. The government’s social media team also takes pains to retweet its content throughout the week to keep its messages in front of followers.

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry (@vencancilleria) is the second most active account in the region, with an average of 95 tweets per day. President Maduro is nearly as active on his account, tweeting roughly 82 times a day.

Data from StatCounter shows how potent a force Twitter is in Venezuela. The firm found that Twitter was responsible for nearly three-quarters of page views resulting from a social network referral in July.

Social Network Referral Share in Venezuela, July 2017 (% of total page views referred by social networks)

Twitter has also been aided by the fact that Venezuela’s government has continually restricted access to independent media in an attempt to maintain control of its political narrative. As a result, internet users in Venezuela have turned to the platform as a way to remain informed of political developments and other news.

Twitter is expected to play a crucial role during the six upcoming presidential elections to be held in the region next year—in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.

Given its great reach and influence, Twitter has proven more than a vehicle for entertainment, but also a political tool that can either build or destroy the popularity of a candidate on election day.

To view original article on eMarketer click here: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Twitters-Riding-Political-Wave-Latin-America/1016334

Podcast: Prema Sagar on the evolution of India’s PR industry

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25 years after launching Genesis PR, Sagar reflects on how public relations has changed in India.

HOLMES REPORT 07 AUG 2017 // 8:05AM GMT

Prema Sagar launched Genesis PR in 1992, when India’s PR industry was still in its infancy, before eventually selling the firm to Burson-Marsteller. She discusses the evolution of public relations in India with Arun Sudhaman, following the SABRE Awards South Asia, at which her firm took top honours for its campaign on behalf of Medela.

Click here to listen to the podcast
The Echo Chamber podcast is produced by Markettiers and sponsored by March Communications, producer of the Hacks & Flacks podcast.

Subscribe via: iTunes | Feed   

View original article: https://www.holmesreport.com/latest/podcast/article/podcast-prema-sagar-on-the-evolution-of-india’s-pr-industry

Social media influencers: The good, the bad, and the overpaid

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So popular, yet so hated. Why are social media influencers such a paradox?

GULF NEWS, DUBAI: Followed by thousands, these beauty experts, fans of food, and car enthusiasts get paid to post pictures, sometimes earning as much as Dh60,000 per post.

But other than getting rich doing what they enjoy, what are some of the effects that the rise of social media influencers is having on other business sectors?

For example, are journalists who review cars losing their jobs because people want to find out what a 19-year-old internet sensation thought about the latest Porsche, instead of a veteran who knows his cars inside out, and will give a balanced review?

Has advertising changed forever? Will it always be more subtle now, more subconscious as people sneak adverts in to their posts without us knowing?

Or will new laws change all that, forcing influencers to explicitly state that what they are doing is sponsored, thus killing some of the magic?

Yousra Zaki, Deputy Editor at Guides, and Ed Clowes discuss this controversial and divisive topic on this episode of Dirhams & Dollars.

Original article published 8 August 2017 by Gulf News: http://gulfnews.com/business/money/dirhams-dollars/social-media-influencers-the-good-the-bad-and-the-overpaid-1.2071121

Artificial Intelligence market in Western Europe education sector to grow 40% by 2021

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The “Artificial Intelligence Market in Western Europe Education Sector 2017-2021” report has been added to Research and Markets’ offering.

The artificial intelligence market in western europe education sector to grow at a CAGR of 38.37% during the period 2017-2021

Artificial Intelligence Market In Western Europe Education Sector 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

One trend in the market is rise in social artificial intelligence. The education system in Europe is gradually adopting e-learning and other related tools such as social learning. The institutions are integrating social media into another platform to facilitate learning, information sharing, and collaboration among students and teachers. These kinds of social networking platform are offered by software solutions such as next-gen LMS.

According to the report, one driver in the market is rise in STEM education demands. There has been a steep surge in employment demands for STEM-skilled labor in Europe, which is facing a shortage of physicists and mathematicians further leading to the demand-supply gap in technical jobs. The pace at which research in advanced technologies has accelerated and industries have adopted technologies have opened up avenues for STEM graduates and postgraduates. The education sector in Western Europe has been unable to move in tandem with such advancements and hence, is lagging behind.

Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is restricted profitability of products. While enlisting the factors that can erode the market growth prospects implicitly or explicitly, the nascent nature of AI in the education sector is an important concern. Companies are investing an enormous amount of time, capital, and manpower to produce software solutions with embedded AI applications and other AI-backed products such as intelligent tutor. In order to improve AI capabilities of present solutions, they are still conducting extensive research and R&D investments.

Key Vendors

  • IBM
  • Nuance Communications
  • Smilart
  • SoftBank Robotics

Other Prominent Vendors

  • ALEKS
  • Blackboard
  • DreamBox Learning
  • eDreams Edusoft
  • Jenzabar
  • Microsoft
  • Pearson

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Research Methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by learning model

PART 07: Market segmentation by end-user

PART 08: Key leading countries

PART 09: Decision framework

PART 10: Drivers and challenges

PART 11: Market trends

PART 12: Vendor landscape

PART 13: Key vendor analysis

PART 14: Other prominent vendors

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d7jk6v/artificial

Media Contact:

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
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For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

To view the original article on PR Newswire visit: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artificial-intelligence-market-in-western-europe-education-sector-to-grow-at-cagr-of-383-by-2021-analysis-by-learning-model–end-user-300502048.html

Africa social media trends: Facebook dominates while YouTube and Twitter struggle

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Facebook is the most popular social network in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, with WhatsApp growing fast, according to new research.

The study, from Global Web Index, looks at the social media activities of digital consumers in these African markets and, in particular, the dominance of Facebook platforms.

The report found that social networkers in these countries display a slightly different attitude to their social media portfolio than many other internet users around the world – using fewer platforms, for longer and in a more active/engaged way.

This runs counter to the passive networking trend that we have seen elsewhere, where social networkers are becoming more selective about where they share their personal content and more likely to browse content on social platforms, rather than contribute.

Facebook has been the main benefactor of this engagement and is in a clear prime position within the social media industry in these countries.

Facebook itself and WhatsApp form the core of digital consumers’ social media portfolios, with usage of these apps almost universal. Most of Facebook’s competitors, most notably YouTube and Twitter, post much lower figures in this market than we usually see around the world. Only about half of internet users here are visiting/using YouTube, whereas this platform can boast more visitors than Facebook in most markets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Global Web Index

Original article: http://www.netimperative.com/2017/07/africa-social-media-trends-facebook-dominates-youtube-twitter-struggle/

 

 

 

 

CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite

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Weber Shandwick, in partnership with KRC Research, released CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite. The survey of American adults gauges attitudes toward the trend of chief executive officers (CEOs) speaking out on hot-button societal topics, revealing stark generational differences when it comes to perspectives on CEO activism. According to the research, 47 percent of Millennials (ages 18-36) believe CEOs have a responsibility to speak up about issues that are important to society. Only 28 percent of Gen Xers (ages 37-52) and Boomers (ages 53-71) agree. Millennials also see this as a growing responsibility — more than half (56 percent) say CEOs have a greater responsibility today to take a stance on hot button issues than they used to.

The study follows The Dawn of CEO Activism, a 2016 report that finds there are both risks and rewards for companies when their CEOs speak out on controversial issues.

The 2017 report also finds that 51 percent of Millennials say they would be more likely to buy from a company whose CEO spoke out on an issue they agree with, which is an 11 percent increase from 2016. Alternatively, CEO activism is less likely to positively affect the purchase decisions of Gen Xers (33 percent) and Boomers (30 percent). Millennials are also more likely to increase loyalty to their employers as a result of CEO activism. According to the research, 44 percent of full-time Millennial employees would be more loyal to their organization if their CEO took a public position on a hotly debated current issue, compared to 16 percent of Gen Xers and 18 percent of Boomers.

While some CEOs may choose to not speak out on issues, there are risks that come with silence. Forty seven percent of Americans say that CEOs who do not speak out risk criticism, whether from the media, customers, employees or the government, and 21 percent say silent CEOs risk declining sales.

Weber Shandwick’s CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite provides 15 guidelines for companies and their leaders to consider when speaking out on hot-button issues. Click here to view our full report and view the infographic below. Additional report materials can be found here. The Dawn of CEO Activism (2016) can be viewed here.

To view the original article, click here: http://www.webershandwick.com/news/article/ceo-activism-in-2017-high-noon-in-the-c-suite

 

Are Asian tech start-ups failing at public relations?

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Fragile egos, happy-hour relationships and poorly-pitched press releases: is this really the state of PR among Asia’s budding start-up scene? Mumbrella Asia editor Eleanor Dickinson finds out.

The heating up of the Asian start-up scene has given tech journalists a feast of stories, scandals and gossip over recent years. From the unstoppable growth in smartphone usership, the dramatic increase in venture capitalist funding – South East Asia alone attracted US$2.6 billion last year – and the increasing number of incubators, it is a fascinating period to be a journalist watching it unfold.

But are the start-ups themselves actually engaging with the media effectively? We asked three people – a tech journalist, an entrepreneur and a public relations executive – how well they felt those on the Asian tech scene were promoting themselves in the media. Is it all just jargon-filled press releases and fragile egos unwilling to be candid with journalists?

The journalist: Jon Russell, writer at TechCrunch Asia

“There are some founders who want us to write about them to fulfil some kind of life-long dream.”

“Whether, and how, to do PR is definitely a difficult decision for early-stage founders. My personal belief is that an in-house person who works directly with media is the best first step, rather than contracting an agency which juggles multiple clients and doesn’t have the same insight into the business. That’s reflected in some of the best relationships I have with early-stage companies. Agencies are so often transactional in their approach to media, but an in-house rep can build a lasting relationship that isn’t just about securing coverage for a news story.

“Just like Europe or the United States, there are some founders who don’t fully understand the value of media or want us to write about them to fulfil some kind of life-long dream. PR and media relations are the same as any other process. You take time out of your busy schedule to talk to someone with the ultimate goal of developing your business with the result. A founder wouldn’t waste hours working on sales or partnerships with no end benefit, so the best PR is focused on a specific result and not simply massaging a founder’s ego or securing a story to boost numbers in a slide deck. Added to that, companies and agencies alike could sometimes do well to remove their own blinkers, read our website and judge whether the news they are pitching fits with what we actually write about before trying to convince us that it is.

“I have experienced some incidents where a company, usually a CEO, interprets our straight-up reporting of a crisis, our indifference to PR spin or news leaked from sources, as a sign that we are out to get them or that things are personal. But that doesn’t happen often and most of the time it only validates the fact that we touched a nerve by reporting the actual truth.”

The entrepreneur: Chris Chong, founder and CEO of PR automation tool Sumostory

“If you’re a founder, everything about your company is newsworthy – but that doesn’t mean it is to the press.”

“Start-ups in Asia are generally doing very well at marketing themselves to the public, but it’s the press who are having to become more discriminate in their coverage. With a larger than ever number of entrepreneurs creating startups, of which many will fail, the media has had to respond by being more picky about the stories they choose to tell. As a result, many founders find their requests to be featured in the press going unanswered. They can’t understand why – especially since they’ve poured their heart into creating what they think is the ‘next big thing’. But often what a founder thinks is newsworthy, isn’t newsworthy to journalists. Journalists have heard the same story before and they’ve seen similar businesses fail.

“While most startup founders are savvy enough to appreciate the value of PR (that’s why every website has an ‘As Seen In The Press’ section), their options are limited because of the affordability of external agencies.

“Startups need to improve in producing engaging material for publications. Let’s be frank: if you’re a founder, everything about your company is newsworthy – but that doesn’t mean it is to the press. You’ve probably heard this before, or you may have felt it when no journalists responded to your email.

“We’ve worked with dozens of founders who think their newest pre-launched product is going to sweep the media, or that their entrepreneurial journey is the most newsworthy thing about their entire company. Sure, sometimes it is, but those are rare exceptions and definitely not the norm.

“So aside from your founder, head of marketing, and head of product, ask: why would someone else care? Your pre-launched product is definitely not the most newsworthy thing about your company. If you have someone in your team with the background to tell you that, then you’ve saved yourself at least S$5,000 month. If you don’t have that expertise in-house, the DIY PR strategy is probably not your best bet.”

The PR expert: Jacob Puthenparambil, partner Redhill

“Start-up leaders underestimate the value of PR and then over estimate their capability in ‘managing’ the journalist relationship.”

“If you look back the last 24 months, you might notice that every three to six months there is a new ‘fad’ in the start-up space; big data, fintech, share economy…etc

“Start-ups as businesses looking for funding, are trying to grab attention of venture capitalists. Their primary audience in the early stages is to get funding based on their business plan or prototype, at this stage it’s too early to address the public via mainstream general media. Sadly, this is where things go wrong; founders think all publicity is good publicity and blast out their messages to every media contact (spray and pray!) without considering the dynamics of the audience and customising the messaging for them.

“There is also strong element of self-promotion. Everyday there are clickbait stories on how someone somewhere became a millionaire overnight because of an idea. Fame and standing out from the crowd makes them say exaggerated cool sounding statements which in reality means nothing. Sadly, this is a very short-sighted strategy and will cause long term credibility damage.

‘What I have noticed is that start-up leaders underestimate the value of PR and then over estimate their capability in ‘managing’ the journalist relationship. I was told by one founder that he doesn’t need PR help because most journalists are his friends. His idea of ‘managing’ the media was to invite them to happy hour drinks frequently and telling them about how well his start-up is doing. He soon realised his journalist ‘friends’ are bored of his self-promotion and happy hour stopped being happy long time ago.

“What is lacking is understanding and respect for journalism. Most start-ups are businesses based on tech and mostly online – and it is a particularly sensitive scenario because journalism is still experimenting to find a viable model online. Lines are blurred when media is willing to publish or promote ‘sponsored content’ and is more dependent on advertising because not enough readers willing to pay for content.”

“There are a lot of start-ups who are doing their PR themselves, mostly in the early stages. But I don’t think there are any successful start-ups in Singapore who have not used an external PR agency. They need to make efficient use of their cash; hiring someone just to do PR or the founders trying to do it themselves will not be the best use of their time and resources.”

 

is editor of Mumbrella Asia. Eleanor joined the Asia platform from Dubai, where she acted as senior reporter for Campaign Middle East.

View the original article on Mumbrella: http://www.mumbrella.asia/2017/07/asian-tech-start-ups-failing-public-relations

The Holmes Report’s Influence 100: profiles from the Middle East

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The Holmes Report’s Influence 100 recognizes the most important and influential in-house communicators from around the world.

Corporate communications executives are facing more complexity than ever. Not only do major corporations face more intense public and media scrutiny, senior PR executives are expected to deliver more than ever — more strategy, more content, more channels , more creativity and more measurement. Meanwhile, smart CEOs have come to realize a trusted communications advisor is integral to their success — and their organization’s — success.

Here are this year’s Middle East profiles:

 

boutros-boutros

Boutros Boutros

Senior SVP, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand
Emirates
@BoutrosB
Saudi Arabia

In a 26-year career with Emirates, Boutros Boutros has played a key role in building the company’s global brand, with a broad remits that includes all marketing and communications activities—advertising, sponsorships, events, promotions, merchandising, public relations, internal communications, internet communications, and passenger communications—across the globe for the 40-plus businesses under the Emirates group umbrella. Overseeing a team of more than 150 professionals and more than 100 global agencies, he is one of the most influential and high-profile corporate communicators in the Middle East.

Boutros joined Emirates in 1991 as media relations manager for the Middle East, but his responsibilities soon expanded to include Europe and North America, and in 1996 he was made manager group media relations, overseeing all aspects of PR for Emirates Airline and later senior vice president, media relations, sponsorships and events. He was promoted to his current position in 2009. Boutros has over two decades of experience in journalism, public relations and marketing.

Prior to joining Emirates, he was the London-based business editor of leading pan-Arab daily newspaper Sawt Al Kuwait, and was managing editor for Al Hawadeth.

 

Brian-Lott

Brian Lott

Executive Director, Group Communications
Mubadala
@Blotter
United Arab Emirates

When it comes to the development of public relations in the Middle East, few have played a leadership role greater than that of Brian Lott. As chief communications officer of Mubadala Investment Company—the sovereign-owned business development giant and one of the region’s most sophisticated users of PR — Lott oversees a mandate that is as broad as it is deep. Responsible for stewardship of the brand and management of the group’s corporate communications requirements, Lott has also focused on recruiting and developing local public relations talent to manage the reputations of the company and its various portfolio units.

And beyond Mubadala, Lott has served as chair of the Middle East Public Relations Association—from 2015 until January of this year, helping define the organization’s mission and vision and spearheading its contribution to professional development in the region—and as a member of Zayed University’s International Advisory Board.

Lott began his career in Washington DC, where he served as chief of staff, spokesman and campaign manager for two members of Congress. He is a published author and former journalist. Before joining Mubadala, Lott worked at global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller for ten years.

Can you share a moment in your career that you recognized PR’s direct impact on business performance?
Mubadala’s strong reputation which enables it to attract the world’s best companies as its business partners, made evident by its recent merger with a fellow industry giant.

What are the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities?
Its biggest challenge is the fractional, dispersed way people absorb information and entertainment.  Our biggest opportunity is using creativity and honesty to cut through the clutter.

How do you handle the unexpected?
With the realization that life is more often unpredictable than we would like to believe

How do you relax?
Travel

Book/movie/TV show/podcast that teaches a valuable lesson about PR?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

If I wasn’t working in marketing/communications, I would be…
running an Opera House.

 

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Nasser Al Nafisee

VP, Corporate Affairs
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia

Nasser Al Nafisee serves as VP of corporate affairs for Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that is often viewed as the world’s largest private company. And Al Nafisee’s role is set to become increasingly pivotal, given the Saudi national oil giant’s plans to Saudi Arabia’s national oil giant hopes to list around 5% of the company next year, in an IPO that could raise as much as $100 billion. These plans are likely to bring Aramco numerous communications challenges, but are seen as a critical part of deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to revamp Saudi Arabia’s economy and reduce its dependency on oil.

 

Original article: https://www.holmesreport.com/ranking-and-data/influence-100/the-influence-100-2017