Bask Spotlights speaks to our very first client when we started off in late 2016 - Ms Kara Bensley from The WYLD Shop. 

1.     Hi Kara, please share with us a quick introduction of yourself and The WYLD Shop.

 Hi my name is Kara Bensley-Austin I am an Aussie expat wife who has been living in Singapore for nearly 8 years. I am a proud Mumma to my son Jack and have two fur babies - a cat Arya and dog Tiggah, who is a beautiful brindle Singapore Special. Both are rescues from Singapore. 

TheWYLDshop represents fashion for the Fun Fierce & Fabulous. We are a company that serves fashionistas in Singapore and beyond who want in-trend, affordable High Street Style. We curate a selection of Aussie brands & mix it with a lil’ local love. Our mission is to create an exciting & positive place to shop where we encourage people to embrace their uniqueness and experiment with their style. 

We believe that YOU are the best source for your own happiness and we want you to Live WYLD live Free with the confidence to dream and be who YOU want to be.

2.     The Wyld Shop was Bask Communication’s Client #1, and we’re super grateful to you for giving us the leg up at the very start of the business. Now, back to the question - what do you usually look for when deciding on PR agencies to work with? 

We are super happy that we were Bask’s first client! We had a ball with you. We look for transparency, integrity and professionalism. All these characteristics should go hand in hand. We need a team who understands our brand and its core values in order for them to easily convey our message consistently and get to the right audience. Additionally, We need a company that is super organised and can help to transform our ideas into a workable reality with great results. 

3.     I hear that The WYLD Shop has been up to really exciting stuff this year. Tell us more.

Yes we are always doing exciting stuff! Late last year, we launched our new Showroom in Siglap and this year, we kicked off the year with a Pop-Up and Fashion Show at Bar Rouge to celebrate the launch of their new Girls Night Out on Thursday nights. We are always busy with our Trunk Shows where we bring the online shop to our customers. We have also just launched a gorgeous new jewellery brand from the Gold Coast called Minc Collections which features intricate body chains. However, one of the coolest things we are doing right now is working with local brands which we call a lil' local love. We have just launched an extremely comfortable (and I am saying this from experience) bralette collection called Terie which is the sister brand of HerJuju. WYLD is constantly on the hunt for new and exciting opportunities around town so keep updated via our Instagram account @thewyldshop. 

4.     Do you have some tips to share for small e-commerce businesses who are handling their own PR and marketing?

Yeah sure do! If you have no idea what either is, then it’s best to do some research and reading online first. Alternatively, ask a pro or engage someone in the industry who can give you some guidelines. The next step is to set some PR & Marketing Goals then create a plan with a timeline. Lastly, track your progress. 

5.     What are the top 3 most important advice you have for small online businesses?

• Research and understand your core target audience, and make sure that your marketing efforts are geared towards this audience.

• Make sure your products/images of your services are of high quality.

• Ensure that you understand how to read your analytics.

The role of social media for brands and marketers is indisputable. Today, we have a whole generation who are growing up never knowing life before social media or smartphones. According to We Are Social’s latest report, there are over 4 billion internet users and 3 billion active monthly social media users globally. How can brand owners and marketers leverage on the platforms available to reach out to both journalists and consumers in a timely and strategic manner?

1. Stay Up-to-Date with the Latest News in Real-Time

Social media platforms like Twitter, SnapChat and Instagram stories have allowed followers to stay in touch with the latest news in real-time. Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia encourages reporters to break the news on Twitter while the newsroom strategise on how to tell the story on the broadcast and online channels. What this means for communicators is the ability to track the latest ongoings, and identify opportunities to pitch their clients as experts to respond and provide commentaries on what is breaking.

Additionally, journalists have also been known to utilise Twitter to seek potential interviewees for the stories they are working on.

2. Getting the Content Right for the Channel

With the increased pressure to publish, it is vital to go back to the basics of not posting just for the sake of posting. Get the content right for each channel and react accordingly to user engagement and behaviour.  Postings on platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook can be more informative by text, while Instagram posts should allow viewers to consume and understand the post in split second. On the technical end, avoid the awkward crops by making sure the media shared fits the requirements of each social media platforms instead of sharing the same images or videos across the board.

Read about the rise of vertical videos.

3. Measure the Effectiveness of Your Communication

Social media platforms have afforded brands and communicators with statistics that was not as readily available with traditional media tools. Follower demographic, views, user engagements and sentiments are all in just a few clicks, enabling page owners to measure the effectiveness of their content, especially in terms of engagement and shareability.
 

This month, we're spotlighting on our Malaysian counterpart, Aisya Hanem of Ariff Communications.

1. Please introduce yourself and Ariff Communications.

My name is Aisya Hanem and I am one of the three co-founders of Ariff Communications. Ariff Communications is an independent PR communications consultancy based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, specialising in technology, consumer lifestyle, travel & hospitality and corporate communications. We provide creative publicity solutions through branding, consumer communications and media relations.

Ariff Communications Team at Xiao Mi Media Launch, 2017.

Ariff Communications was conceived in the summer less than a year ago, somewhere between the streets of Montmartre and Monet’s garden in Giverny France. I have dedicated close to a decade in PR and marketing agencies, working with clients including Nikon, Maxis, Uniqlo, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, Dilmah Tea, Club Med, Strepsils, Aesop, as well as award-winning campaigns with adidas bodycare. In that moment, however, I really wanted something to call my own.

It has been a really exciting time since we started the agency in June 2017. We got to work with a great mix of clients, including Aesop, Red Bull Malaysia, Xiao Mi and Elevete, just to name a few!

2. Tell us more about how the media landscape is evolving in Malaysia. Are there any emerging communications trends businesses should look out for?

In recent years, there have been many worrying signs in the industry - publication closures, journalists moving out of the industry etc. We also noticed that print media are increasingly focusing their attention on the digital world; a natural transition given the shift in media consumption pattern to digital media today. That said, this transition is something we are all trying to figure out, and just how this affects the PR industry remains to be seen. The upside is that it is so much easier now in the digital world to spread information, in a much faster way, to a much wider audience.

On the flipside, we do feel that credible old-school journalism, expert opinions and authoritative voices are something that is lacking or perhaps drowning in the digital world. Now, everyone can be a citizen journalist. In the past, PRs are in-charge of crafting stories. The conversation has become a delicately balanced two-way street.

Nonetheless, we are big believers that the fundamentals of digital PR remain the same as traditional PR, which is about connecting to other people.

3. As more brands move towards influencer marketing, can you share with us who are some of your favourite Malaysia-based influencers?

This answer may sound generic to most entrepreneurs and PR practitioners in Malaysia but if I have to choose, I would have to choose the people behind Fashion Valet. I find it incredible how most of these ladies who are employees and alumni of Fashion Valet journey to who they are today. For example, Asma Nasa who used to be the head buyer now owns her own apparel label. Veen Dee, the former Head of Marketing is now a widely-known social media influencer. I cannot stress enough how inspiring and ambitious these ladies are and this is just two of them! There is also their truly inspiring girl boss, Vivy Yusof, and their big boss, Fadza Anuar.

Amsa Nasa, Veen Dee, Viyy Yusof

When it comes to influencer marketing, I try to come from a consumer and audience point of view when recommending the right partners to work with and to follow in the industry.

4. What are some of the top PR tips you have for overseas brands looking to expand into Malaysia?

With all its complexities and dynamics, it is key to truly understand Malaysia. Be authentic, be genuine and know your audience. There are sensitivities and cultural/racial barriers, known or unknown, that one needs to be aware of. What might work in the West, might not work over here. Another thing is that sometimes, messaging can get lost in translation, so it is important to operate with the language skillfully. If you are genuine and if you speak to your target audience authentically, I think Malaysians, like anyone else in the world, will resonate with the brand.

5. Have been in PR for close to a decade, what is the favourite project / account you’ve worked on and why?

Work time at the Aesop x Gallery Weekend Kuala Lumpur event!

I would have to choose Aesop. They are great brand custodians, and also understand their audience really well. Although a skincare brand, Aesop believes wholeheartedly in arts, music and literature. A lot of the brand association centres around those three themes. Just to give a small example, we sponsor door gifts to theatrical plays like Romeo and Juliet at the KL Performance Arts Centre - which is fitting because one of Aesop’s product is aptly named “Rose By Any Other Name”. If you know your Shakespeare, you’d know the reference. I think that Aesop is a sophisticated brand that exudes class, and we are more than happy to spread its message.

The world of marketing and communications moves quick. While some things change, others are here to stay. Here are some of the PR key trends and practices that we are anticipating for 2018.

1. Influencer Marketing is Here to Stay

Some of our favourite people to work with...

We have watched the rise of bloggers, and then influencers for the past decade. You already know this -  influencer marketing is here to stay. As media platforms demand transparency on paid collaborations and consumers become increasingly educated in sponsored content, brands would have to evolve in their partnerships with influencers.

An influencer who shares about a different facial cleanser every other day is unlikely to have truly experienced the product, and while their flatlays with a large variety of beauty brands may be eye-catching, they lack credibility among beauty junkies on the lookout for real recommendations. It is up to brands to cultivate genuine and long-term relationships with the influencers as real users, to become genuine ambassadors for the brand, instead of fighting for the even the less than one second scroll of an Instagram post.

Brands would have to be more prudent in their partner selection. While the large following of top influencers may look good to management, working with micro-influencers who have regular conversations with their followers may generate more authentic engagement, credibility, and conversions for the business.

2. Purpose-driven Campaign

Naomi Jacob and Mayur Singh, co-founders of Coopita, a curated platform to protect and preserve the traditional crafts of Asia

Millenials have long been an enigma for marketers but one thing we have learnt in recent years is that millennials are willing spenders on businesses and products with a purpose. With the rise of sustainable living, zero-waste groups, and social enterprises globally, this news is hardly surprising. As more brands catch onto the values of the millennial spenders, we can expect to see more marketing collaborations promoting social causes. However, we would like to highlight the importance of being in it for the long haul, instead of becoming a one-off publicity stunt that leaves the social causes quickly forgotten after.

3.  Bringing in the Story in Visual Content

In the past 20 years, we have watched technology take leaps and bounds into spaces we could never imagine. Special effects and filters are great, but as time goes by, it feels like we are missing stories that truly engage. For this reason, most working adults now would happily reminisce about the MediaCorp TV productions from the 80s and 90s (they were the best!!), and share viral Thai commercials (those tear jerkers!!!!). However, those 15s ad pop-ups on Facebook videos where we watch our life pass us by so that we can get to content that we are interested in, please go away.

Last year, BoBo Fish Ball launched a cinematic mini drama series, “BoBo’s 3 Wishes” which combined relatable content with beautiful imagery, and a charming tackiness that seems to have been forgotten in modern ages. The importance of storytelling is also the reason behind the success of social media platforms like Humans of New York, Millennials of Singapore, as well as Channel NewsAsia’s CNA Insider series which have generate large number of conversations on its social media platform.

New year, new perspective. 

2017 has been an incredible year for the agency. We cannot be more thankful for the wonderful clients who have shared this journey with us.

To welcome in the new year of 2018, we are announcing two new affiliations, in addition to our photography and videography partner, Justin Fernando, to strengthen our service offerings. 

1. Ariff Communications 

A Malaysia-based PR consultancy helmed by PR veteran Aisya Hanem, Bask Communication's partnership with Ariff Communications will enable clients to embark on cross-country public relations work to streamline strategies and efforts. 

The consultancy has worked with brands including Aesop, Xiao Mi and Red Bull Malaysia.

2. Lins Advertising

Our partnership with Lins Advertising, one of the oldest and largest advertising agency in Singapore will provide our clients with a stronger and more holistic marketing communications offerings. Lins Advertising offers media buying / planning, graphic design, digital marketing as well as above and below the line advertising. 

For more information or even just a coffee chat, do get in touch with us at hello@baskcomm.com!