PRecious Comms founder on making senior hires on the back of 50% yoy annual growth

PRecious Communications has appointed Arundhati Saha as director of strategic advisory to lead the agency’s new technology practice, PRecious EDGE. In her new role, Saha will be responsible for providing high-level advisory to PRecious’ growing portfolio of global, regional, and local technology brands. These include AppsFlyer, Princeton Digital Group and Tech Data, among others.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Lars Voedisch, managing director of PRecious Communications said that expanding the team strategically and appointing senior leaders reflects the agency’s commitment towards strengthening its capabilities as an integrated communications agency for the Greater Southeast Asia region. “I am excited to work alongside Saha to elevate our PRecious EDGE team to greater heights across markets, as she brings strategic insights, creative execution and real thought leadership experience to the team,” he added.

Saha has been in the industry for close to two decades, having worked with a multitude of brands such as Canon, Hitachi and Savvis. She also has an expertise in stakeholder management, sustainability, and corporate reputation. She was formerly with Iris Singapore as head of PR, where she led Nespresso Singapore's communications strategy and execution along with other accounts. She also worked closely with the leadership team to elevate brand awareness and reputation for the agency.

Prior to that, Saha led the regional marketing and communications strategy for Havas Group. During her time there, she worked on a multitude of brands encompassing verticals such as technology, logistics, education in India and Singapore within PR agencies as well as in-house. She also previously worked with OMG APAC, where she most recently helmed the role of marketing communications director.

PRecious Communications said in a statement that Saha’s belief is that every brand, no matter how abstract, has a story to tell and great content brings it to life. Saha said, “The transformative difference that technology brings to business and the opportunity to communicate those stories is extremely exciting. PRecious Communications has deep rooted expertise in this sector.

In addition to PRecious EDGE, the agency also runs three other practices: PRecious INC provides high-level advisory to corporates, PRecious LIFE supports lifestyle and consumer brands, and PRecious SPARKS serves growing start-ups and investment firms. The four practices were launched in 2020.

PRecious Communications has in recent times been building up its team with several notable industry hires. The agency recently Jose Raymond as director of strategic advisory in February this year. He now helms the PRecious INC practice Raymond has had stints in the public service, NGOs and in corporate companies where he has held various leadership roles. Meanwhile, it also named Joel Cutinho as senior manager for PRecious EDGE.

In December, PRecious Communications added three new leaders to its regional team to aid in the agency's growth. Daniel Tan was appointed as associate director for PRecious Sparks. At the same time, it appointed John Paul Palileo as the agency’s creative director, and Georg Ackermann as its new content lead. The agency also appointed Mya Kay as as senior manager for its consumer arm, PRecious Life. Kay brings with her over eight years of experience in the media and advertising industry, according to her LinkedIn. She was formerly social media manager at TBWA\ Group Singapore and, prior to that, worked with One9ninety for three years.

Last August, the agency brought on board a range of consumer clients including Guocoland Singapore, Tiger Brokers, Ziptrak, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, Nippon Paint, Traveloka, and Poh Heng. It also won its first retainer accounts in the Philippines and Vietnam late last year. According to PRecious Communications, it is seeing strong demand for financial communications and investor relations besides B2B tech PR and is building its specialised teams to support this. At the same time, it is seeing more brands keen to jump into sustainability initiatives. To that end, it is also solidifying our agency’s strength in ESG communications. This has led to the agency witnessing almost 50% year-on-year annual growth in Asia Pacific last year. 

Voedisch said, “We have entered the Southeast Asian decade defined by a burgeoning digital economy, the rise of ecommerce, and high mobile engagement and internet penetration. The region has undoubtedly become an interesting point of inflection for innovative brands, including fast-growing unicorns and superapps such as Shopee and Gojek, among others.”

“With the high deal momentum in recent years, we are seeing strong demand for financial communications and investor relations besides B2B tech PR and are building our specialised teams to support this. As we’re also seeing more brands keen to jump into sustainability initiatives, we are also solidifying our agency’s strength in ESG communications,” he said.

Apart from aggressively expanding its capabilities and capacity, the agency is also looking at investments in people, expertise and technology - expanding its practices, partner networks, and specialist teams further, and possibly joint ventures or acquisitions down the line. It also aims to increase Asia Pacific headcount to 100 people by the end of 2022, and 200 people by the end of 2025. The agency's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it is currently on track with growing its team. It currently has 70 people across the region. 

"Brands and companies are shifting their focus beyond mere brand awareness and conversion, and choosing to play the long game by championing purpose-driven initiatives such as ESG, diversity and sustainability. Amidst this, PR is seen as an accelerator for igniting meaningful conversations around relevant issues and driving community action. We are seeing a new era of integrated communications, where PR is seen to supplement content marketing and social media campaigns to drive audience engagement," Voedisch said.

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