PUBLIC RELATIONS

Regional - Singapore-based Communications DNA has announced several new retainer accounts and projects and made further inroads into the Malaysian market along with a change in management.

Australia - Text 100 Sydney has been appointed as the public relations consultancy for Gumtree Australia following a pitch, with work commencing in March 2011.

Beijing - The WWF has appointed Weber Shandwick in China to offer strategic counsel, media outreach and PR support for its Earth Hour "Beyond the Hour" campaign.

Shanghai - Sesame Workshop, the owners of Sesame Street, has picked Ogilvy PR as its public relations agency to bring Big Bird and friends back to the China market.

Hong Kong - Siemens Home Appliances has appointed The Hoffman Agency as its public relations agency of record in Hong Kong after a five-way pitch.

Singapore - Fast fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has awarded its public relations account to Mercury PR, following a pitch.

Malaysia - Following a five-way pitch, Canon has named Priority Communications as its PR agency-of-record with the contract set to take effect from April.

Singapore - Training firm AchieveGlobal has appointed Edelman as its public relations agency in Singapore.

Malaysia – Out of 10 agencies invited to pitch for Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) public relations business for the local market, it has been determined that four have made the shortlist.

Malaysia – The Sarawak Tourism Board has appointed TBWA\TEQUILA Malaysia to assist with global publicity and outreach for the Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri and the Rainforest World Music Festival in Santubong, Sarawak.

Malaysia - Häagen-Dazs has appointed Brandthink Malaysia as its public relations agency, tasked with promoting new flavours and products for the ice-cream brand.

Hong Kong - The Hong Kong public relations industry has achieved annual billings of HK$1.33 billion but PR industry group CPRFHK expects this to grow in 2011.

Malaysia - Microsoft Malaysia has ended its eight-year relationship with public relations firm Weber Shandwick, inviting a number of PR agencies to tender for its local account.

Regional – World Kitchen and Vivocity have appointed Ogilvy Public Relations in Singapore.

Singapore - The Science Centre has called a pitch for public relations and marketing services for its Singapore Science Festival 2011 event.

Singapore - KFC Singapore has appointed Band Public Relations (BAND PR) to oversee its communications efforts, following the launch of its new tagline ‘sogood'.

Shanghai - Digital agency Rice5 has set up an ePR team to strengthen its offline capability, bagging integrated projects from brands including Givenchy and Miss Sixty.

Malaysia – Genting Simon, a joint venture between a Genting Plantations subsidiary and Simon Property Group, has called for a public relations pitch for Johor Premium Outlets, set to launch later this year.

Singapore - RHB Bank Berhad Singapore (RHBS) has renewed its partnership with Bang Public Relations for the sixth consecutive year.

Vietnam - Fleishman-Hillard has formed an affiliate partnership with sister Omnicom PR agency Biz\Tequila to help better service clients in the Vietnam market.

Malaysia – Following a four-way pitch held recently, SPAD (Land Public Transport Commission) has awarded its public relations business to Edelman, its first PR agency-of-record to handle the MRT project.

Sydney - Scott Rhodie, Fleishman-Hillard's vice president of digital media, has been made redundant seven months after joining the PR firm.

Global - British Airways is believed to be in advanced negotiations with Grayling to lead its global PR roster, covering the Asia Pacific and Europe markets.

Regional - Waggener Edstrom's newly appointed global alliance director Emma Richards explains why delivering local execution for multinational campaigns could be challenging.

Singapore - Internet content security firm Trend Micro has appointed Fleishman-Hillard as its public relations agency of record in Singapore.

Hong Kong - MTR has launched a series of communications initiatives to uphold its brand promise of service excellence after a series of delays and technical errors last two months.

A couple of years before I joined Burson-Marsteller, I attended a meeting of PR leaders in Washington DC at which I made what I regarded as a statement of the obvious: “The global PR firm that attracts and champions Asian talent will be the PR firm that wins in Asia.”

New Zealand - Fleishman-Hillard has entered a strategic affiliation with Auckland-based Eleven\PR in a bid to extend its regional footprint in New Zealand.

Singapore - Bathroom and kitchen product brand Interior Affairs has retained Lewis PR as its public relations agency-of-record in Singapore.

Taiwan - MSL Group has made its fourth acquisition in five months, signing an agreement to acquire Taiwan PR and social media firm Interactive Communications.