A look back at 2023!

As 2023 draws to a close and the festive cheers ring, it is always a good time to call for reflection and a look back on my new journey as part of the team at Bask Communications. What an interesting experience it has been, being new to the PR industry in Singapore. There are certainly steep learning curves for a stranger to the industry, and the constant feeling of change that lurks at the back of my mind. But after 9 months, I have come to a greater and deeper understanding of the work we are involved in, and the vision we strive to achieve for our clients and various projects.  

One of the more memorable clients that I have had the privilege to work with this year is 365 Cancer Prevention Society. To be in the presence of the brave cancer fighters has been an eye-opener to the courage and strength one can have amid a gruelling battle against cancer. Not only do they uphold the positivity and energy to live life to the fullest, some even picked up roles to help their fellow fighters in the community. Some of the uncles and aunties I’ve met are truly inspirational and a shining example of how we can stay strong in the face of adversity. It is inspiring to learn about the efforts of organisations like 365CPS and the important roles they play in lending a hand to the less fortunate. I truly believe their work is extremely important and greatly appreciated by their many beneficiaries.  

One of our other projects this year is the Mitsubishi Electric Asia’s Car Boot for Good event. The weekend car boot pop-up market was part of the company's effort to encourage sustainable living and lifestyle in line with some of the global efforts in tackling the issues of climate change and pollution. It was another meaningful event that not only brought new life to secondhand goods but also showcased charities and social enterprises to the community. Beyond that, it was heartening to see many individuals willingly play a part in their lifestyle for a common cause. 

Mitsubishi Electric Asia's "Car Boot for Good" Preloved to Reloved Drive

In recent months, we have also begun working with Chinatown Business Association. As a Singaporean Chinese, this project resonated strongly with me. Perhaps it was a sense of individual responsibility, and the need to help preserve our Chinese culture and heritage, especially in an iconic location like Chinatown. Please look forward to what the CBA will be bringing in the upcoming year as we continue to bring in fresh ideas and activities that can hopefully help to build upon the rich history of Chinatown and at the same time introduce new sentiments and longing for this precinct. 

To wrap it all up, it has indeed been a fruitful 2023 for me as a PR consultant and I hope that there will be more learning opportunities in the coming year as I get to come into my own in the industry. Meanwhile, enjoy your holidays during this festive season. Here’s wishing everyone a great 2024 ahead!  

What is Public Relations?

According to the Public Relations Society of America, public relations (PR) is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics. Most times though, people who are unfamiliar with PR tend to confuse it with advertising and being a media reporter.

While some people may refer to PR as a Persuasion Business, we find ourselves likening it to the business of building relationships. Regardless of whether it is a corporate communications or a product launch strategy that we are tasked to work on, we are ultimately working on connecting the business with its stakeholders.

What is the difference between public relations and advertising?

With a budget of $20,000, you may be able to afford three to four pieces of full-page full-colour advertisements in magazines. This is what we classify as paid media. The same amount of money can also go towards engaging a public relations team to work on a communications campaign over a fixed term to help you land publicity and feature articles on multiple media platforms and in the format that best suits the story you are telling. This is what we define as earned media. PR firms take the information given by the client and find the best way to package the story so that it gets the maximum exposure. It can take multiple formats, including interviews, press tours, product samplings and more, across traditional media platforms, social media, and digital outlets to in-person activities to maximise engagement.

Compared to paid media, earned media is usually perceived to be more credible as they have been independently verified by a trusted third party, as opposed to being purchased. 

Is public relations the same as corporate communications? 

Depending on what the communications campaign is about, PR can fall under the sphere of marketing or as a standalone. According to Edelman’s The Future of Corporate Communications Report, only 34% of Corporate Communications Officers reported directly to the CEO in 2014, with the vast majority reporting to the CMO. This number has increased to 46% today. More than ever, communications is increasingly being recognised as a strategic business driver for organisations.

COOs are seeing their organisations shift from singularly focused expertise to a multidisciplinary function of complementary capabilities. Leading teams are now balancing traditional skills like writing, storytelling, and media engagement with expertise in new areas like social purpose, risk management, creative and content marketing underpinned by a CommsTech stack providing data science, actionable insights and measurable outcomes.

-The Future of Corporate Communications, Edelman

The main difference between corporate communications and PR is that the former drives communications within an organisation, while public relations drives engagement and outreach with external stakeholders. Both streams of communication leverage similar skill sets. 

At Bask Communications, we are not just pros at supporting businesses with strategic public relations programmes with media and the public. We have also built and supported organisations with internal communications programmes to foster employee engagement and build a strong company culture at work.

If you’re curious to find out how we can partner together, get in touch now at hello@baskcomm.com. 

Bask Communications wins PR retainer for Chinatown Business Association

SINGAPORE, 15 September 2023 - Bask Communications is pleased to announce the win of a one-year PR retainer for Chinatown Business Association (CBA) following an open pitch. The agency will be supporting CBA for all communications duties in Singapore to boost awareness and engagement at Chinatown Street Market with both locals and international visitors.

Ng Lay Peng, Director of Bask Communications shared, “We are looking forward to our partnership with Chinatown Business Association. Through our strategic communications pillars, we aim to add more vibrancy to the preserved rich culture and heritage of the area, as well as attract more footfall and increased visitorship to the landmarks and businesses along Chinatown Street Market.”

For more information and media queries, please reach the team here.

Mitsubishi Electric Asia's "Car Boot for Good" Preloved to Reloved Drive

Close to 500 people attended Mitsubishi Electric Asia’s “Car Boot for Good” pre-loved to reloved drive at the Mitsubishi Electric Building last Saturday. Despite the heavy downpour in the morning, Car Boot for Good ended as a wholesome and fun-filled event with activities for all ages.

The event was graced by Guest-of-Honour, Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Joan Pereira. Attendees to the event shopped and thrifted from 30 car boots and 20 booths for unused or preloved finds, ranging from clothes, accessories, homeware, books and more. Mitsubishi Electric Asia also presented a $10,000 donation to Apex Day Rehabilitation Centre for Elderly (ADRC), its adopted charity since 2006, and one of the six participating charities and social enterprises that set up shop at the event.

Mitsubishi Electric Asia Director of Corporate Affairs Division Mr Frederick Goh shared, “This is our first foray into engaging the public to join us in our journey towards realising Mitsubishi Electric Group’s Purpose of a vibrant and sustainable society. The event is not just a platform for ADRC and supporting social enterprises to showcase their talents and partnerships, but a shared space to cultivate more sustainability-driven ideals within our Singaporean community. We hope we have inspired attendees that every little effort counts towards the shared objective of preserving the environment and planet for our future generations.”

Bask Communications is glad to partner with Mitsubishi Electric Asia for its first public engagement CSR event. We hope that visitors to the event and all Singaporeans can continue to take tiny steps in their commitment and responsibility towards a greener and more sustainable future.

Tweet or Twat: Will Elon Musk’s X see Trial or Triumph?

Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Patrick Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images and Twitter.

July saw some of the world’s biggest social media companies wrestle and tussle with new service offerings as they try to upend Elon Musk’s Twitter, or shall we say “X” under the new rebrand. 

It’s been less than a year since Musk took over Twitter on 28 October 2022 and the journey has been erratic to say the least. Fidelity recently reported that Twitter’s valuation has fallen by 66%; Musk also tweeted that Twitter’s advertising revenue has plunged by about 50%, with overall traffic declining steadily since January, falling by 5.8% as of June. 

We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2023

While Twitter seeks to steady its ship with the appointment of new CEO Linda Yaccarino, the company now has more to worry about as it looks beyond the bow.

THREADS

Photo illustration by Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Threads is Meta’s foray into the battleground and Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt at usurping Twitter’s control in the short-form social media market. The application went online on 5 July 2023, reaching over 100 million users in less than 5 days. It broke ChatGPT’s record as the fastest platform to reach one million active users. However, criticisms were abound about users being inorganically pulled into downloading the app through prompts on Instagram. To add further furore, users who signed up for an account through their Instagram cannot delete their Threads profile without losing their Instagram account. Meta is reportedly working on a fix for the future but the only solution at present is a deactivation function that hides your profile and content, 

Latest reports have seen the number of active users drop drastically since launch, raising doubts about whether the platform will actually have the longevity and tenacity to build on its early success. Some are also speculating the current situation affirms that their initial hit was a mere result of their Instagram-linked sign-ups.

Perhaps Meta saw “an opportunity” to pounce on the market following the controversies at Twitter since Musk’s takeover and rushed to push out an unfinished product that failed to impress. The verdict is still out on whether Threads will eventually be successful, but its features and designs do not offer anything that proves a head-turner compared to what Twitter currently does. 

However, anyone with an existing Instagram account will enjoy the ease of porting over their existing followers and people they follow onto Threads. This function will be particularly helpful for brands and organisations to not have to rebuild their community of followers from the ground up, and also enjoy the ease of using Meta’s Business Suite across its social media platforms.

TIKTOK 

Photo illustration by Shutterstock

TikTok joins the fight to replace Twitter with the launch of text-only posts on 24 July. Unlike Meta, this new feature is fully integrated onto the existing platform, taking advantage of its already large user base. The new function is similar to text features on Instagram stories and may not be substantially different or revolutionary enough for users to see it as an alternative to Twitter. After all, TikTok’s niche is still built on short-form videos with a large focus on entertainment compared to the discussion and conversational focus of Twitter. However, it may be a welcomed content tool used to create shorter-form status updates and comments to bridge a gap in engagement that was only previously available on other social media platforms.

Over the years, TikTok has enjoyed great success in building an active community for Gen Z, with users twice as likely to recommend something they found on the platform compared to other social channels like Facebook & Instagram. The statistical difference demonstrates a more intimate and connected space between users on TikTok. 

X-ing The Competition

Photo illustration by Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Twitter’s reaction to its competitors’ new features came out of left field. On 24 July, the social media network launched its new “X” logo, replacing the familiar blue bird design that had represented Twitter for 11 years. The sudden change followed Elon Musk’s aim to turn the platform into an all-inclusive application similar to China’s WeChat. But is Elon Musk’s Twitter rebrand a shot in his own foot? 

Users and the general public have not responded well to the shift as many lament the loss of the iconic bird logo as well as the use of the word “tweet”, which has culturally become a verb for many over the years. 

Beyond the initial abrupt layoff of its employees, glorification of overwork, blue ticks controversy, and Musk’s spasmodic tweets, Twitter’s branding and the values it represents are no longer clear. The many changes have not only cultivated a fear of misinformation on the social network, but Twitter has become severely entangled with Elon Musk the personality, who often speaks too candidly and antagonistically to the mainstream. With all the changes Musk has implemented since the takeover, one can’t help but ask if his public engagements thus far are mere PR stunts to sustain and build upon his tremendous sphere of influence as he prepares for the launch of his next big idea. Like it or not, the resulting negative press has permeated into the Twitter brand itself and perhaps Musk would see improvements if he lets the dust settle quietly before he conjures his next storm. 

Ultimately, will this change add further problems to the current advertising crunch Twitter is facing? Or is this the painful rebuild Musk seeks in order to birth a new superpower app in its place? Time will certainly tell but if there’s anything, as long as the demand for short-form text media exists and the lack of strong competition, users will stay in the Twitter comfort zone for now.