PRecious Communications sets up in Malaysia with Neil Fraser

Integrated communications consultancy PRecious Communications has expanded into Malaysia. Its Kuala Lumpur-based office will be led by former co-founder and executive director of consultancy Core Pro PR Services and Edelman tech and crisis lead, Neil Fraser (pictured left).

Fraser will helm the role of market lead, Malaysia and will report to MD Lars Voedisch (pictured right). He has also worked at Weber Shandwick, Bell Pottinger Group (before it rebranded to Klareco Communications) and Burson-Marsteller (before it merged with Cohn & Wolfe). Fraser is experienced in providing corporate profiling, crisis, risk and reputation services to Malaysian businesses and the public sector. Over the years, his local market experience has included a broad and diverse client portfolio across industry sectors that include the nation’s largest government-linked companies to new business ventures.

Fraser said by combining the agency's expertise in technology and training, including but not limited to spokesperson and crisis preparedness trainings, this will help maintain and strengthen its clients' reputations, ultimately helping safeguard or drive profit margins and leapfrogging the competition.

The latest expansion marks its sixth market in Asia Pacific after Singapore as headquarters and operations covering Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Australia. Currently, PRecious' clients in Malaysia include the German National Tourism Board, Software AG and Qualtrics, as well as Fave, Carsome, Perx, and Electrify.

In a statement to A+M, Fraser said it is an interesting time for doing business in Malaysia as the whole Southeast Asia region "sees tremendous change and growth". For Malaysia, PRecious is focusing on its role as partner to brands to leverage this situation and as they see change as a window of opportunity. "In particular, we see the renaissance of the startup and SME space, which represents unprecedented growth opportunities in the market," he added.

According to him, Malaysia is a multicultural, ethnically diverse and multilingual society, which is reflected in its business life. PRecious has carried out extensive studies on the differences between the markets from a PR perspective, enabling it to execute campaigns across markets while adjusting its approach for each of the markets. "We believe that with our multi-national and experienced team we are able to forge the right relationships, establishing trust and ultimately client results," Fraser added.

When asked about his strategy for Malaysia, Fraser explained that it is looking at a combination of global, regional and domestic clients. He and the team will focus on managing Singapore-centred relationships that require activities in Malaysia and possibly other markets, while growing PRecious' client base in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Voedisch told A+M that Fraser believes the agency's people are its biggest priority, asset and the key to success. Therefore, PRecious is focused on continuous trainings and key skill development programmes across the region, to prepare its consultants for a fast-changing PR environment that is increasingly evolving towards integrated communications. He also said that Fraser will be meeting different PR firms in the coming months to see how they can collaborate together with the shared objective of doing the best job for clients.

"I am very excited that Fraser is joining the PRecious team with his strong market expertise and experience across corporate and technology communications. Together, we are excited to show the world that Southeast Asia is an extremely high-growth region with a robust investor and start-up ecosystem as we progress to the next stage of disruption,” Voedisch added.

PRecious has three practices in place: Inc., Life and Sparks. PRecious Inc. works with multinational enterprises, corporates and governmental organisations in the B2B space across key markets in Asia Pacific; while PRecious Life collaborates with consumer brands across the F&B, hospitality and travel, lifestyle, luxury, consumer technology and events sectors. Meanwhile, PRecious Sparks focuses on start-up and investor PR.

The agency is also part of the GlobalCom PR Network, an association of 70 independent PR agencies across 60 countries worldwide, and serves as its Southeast Asia representative. Voedisch told A+M that some PR trends companies should be on the lookout for this year are start-ups and innovation-focused campaigns, as well as purpose-driven positioning and experience-based integrated marketing.

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