SPRG Singapore launches Newsroom

Independent PR agency SPRG has launched a content hub- SPRG Newsroom - in its Singapore office.A culmination of the agency’s plans for the last three years, SPRG first made the leap into the ATL space in 2013 in an effort to hone its capabilities and prepare for the rise of content platforms. Facebook’s move from being owned to paid media signaled the need for change, said Edwin Yeo, general manager, Singapore. This also meant that clients should start developing content platforms that they fully own.Realising that traditional agency models rarely work well with the current speed required for timely content publication, as well as the added challenge of prohibitive costs involved in traditional asset creation, Yeo felt the time was ripe to launch a content hub as a platform for brands to partake in storytelling in real time. ''That's where my 10 years in a newsroom, rather than my experience as an agency head, kicked in. Different agencies will have different approaches to this - I know of some trying to get their suits to double up as content producers as well. That's not wrong in a sense, and it's how PR agencies have worked for decades.”Having spent a huge part of his career in the newsroom, Yeo is no stranger to how a content team executes its daily duties successfully. A dream team is one that is efficiently delegated to chasing leads, strategising flow of content, managing ad sales and overseeing distribution.That, in essence, is the idea behind the SPRG Newsroom, Yeo said.“We help our clients grow a loyal readership with content and distribution strategies. Great content requires a dedicated team, and effective reach requires a dedicated growth team. So the objective of the SPRG Newsroom is not only to help our clients tell great stories, but also to ensure that the stories get seen by a large audience.”The newly-minted Newsroom aims to bolster and enhance the agency’s service offering, making it a one-stop integrated communications consultancy. While the agency still has a fair proportion of PR professionals, the addition of the creative team and the Newsroom is targeted to help tell clients' stories in new ways.When asked if SPRG is working with any other agency for the set-up of its content hub, Yeo said the agency’s long-standing partnerships with various digital, media and advertising agencies, will ensure that their collective contribution serves to enhance their services to clients. He did not name the partnering agencies.In terms of new addition, the creation of the Newsroom saw the agency hiring a slew of writers, digital art directors, editors, video producers, growth hackers as well as data scientists.SPRG Newsroom officially launches on 1 February, with its first client content platform officially going live at the end of March.