PRecious Communications hires former SG politician and journalist Jose Raymond, bolsters B2B tech biz

PRecious Communications has named Jose Raymond as director of strategic advisory. He now helms the PRecious INC practice, which provides high-level advisory to global, regional and local corporates, including around capital market listings. Raymond (pictured left) has had stints in the public service, NGOs and in corporate companies where he has held various leadership roles. Meanwhile, it has also named Joel Cutinho (pictured right) as senior manager for PRecious EDGE, the agency's B2B tech practice.

Raymond was most recently founder and chief strategy officer at SW Strategies for five and a half years. He founded SW Strategies after close to eight years of experience in the communications space, helming senior roles at Sport Singapore, Singapore Sports Hub and Asia Pulp and Paper. He was also the press secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (now known as Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment) in 2011 and CEO of the Singapore Environment Council. He also spent a decade in journalism at Mediacorp and Singapore Press Holdings.

He was the founding vice chairman of the Chiam See TongSports Fund which aimed to help under-served athletes, and supported the non-profit from its launch in March 2017 to December 2020. He continues to be active in the sports community, currently serving as the VP (partnerships) of FLASH Athletics Club. Raymond also campaigned during the 2020 General Election by running for the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency under Singapore People's Party.

"What struck me most about PRecious was the speed at which it has grown over the years, the very diverse set of clients it currently has under its wings, and its regional ambition. I am more than honoured that Lars has given me an opportunity to work with a very diverse team and am looking forward to helping PRecious increase its footprint in areas such as sustainability, esports and in non-profits," Raymond said.

Meanwhile, Cutinho has 10 years of experience in reputation management, executive and strategic communications, issues and crisis management, as well as client servicing, having worked in agencies such as Havas Middle East, Fleishman Hillard, Archetype and Adfactors PR. He specialises in the enterprise technology, corporate, energy, infrastructure, media and entertainment sectors, and has provided strategic communications advisory to clients including SAP, EY, NTT Ltd., Honeywell, ASUS, Huawei, Disney-Star and L&T.

PRecious Communications actively plans and executes client communications programmes across Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The agency has seen rising demand from local, regional and global brands to execute campaigns across Asia Pacific. In 2019, the agency joined theGlobalCom PR Network, an association of 80 independent PR agencies in over 100 countries worldwide, serving as its Southeast Asia representative.

“We’ve come a long way, close to ten years since setting up PRecious. This entailed a lot of trial and error, but the important thing is having fun while growing along the way. We’re excited to continue expanding our team rapidly, to better serve the needs of clients across industries. Appointing veterans such as Raymond and Cutinho who bring with them specialised communications expertise in different sectors, is a step in the right direction as we look at further honing our capabilities as an integrated team and grooming the skills of our people,” said Lars Voedisch, MD, PRecious Communications. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to PRecious for additional information.

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, PRecious’ practice which supports and advises the startup ecosystem, from early-stage to unicorns status on IPO; venture capital firms; and accelerators. 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 witnessed almost 50% year-on-year annual growth in Asia Pacific last year. It also aims to increase Asia Pacific headcount by over 50%, up from 65 to 100 people by the end of 2022. Last August, it 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 formed an integrated team named helmed by Robin Chang, VP, brand communications and strategy, which works closely with PRecious Life's dedicated PR accounts team to deliver a series of integrated communication solutions to prospects and clients that drive their business growth. Meanwhile, Pan Pacific Hotel Group appointed PRecious Communications in June last year, to handle PR strategy, planning and counsel in Asia Pacific. The appointment followed a pitch held in March and April that year and is for a year covering Pan Pacific Hotels Group and its portfolio of brands: Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL COLLECTION and PARKROYAL.

Related articles:
Jose Raymond's SW Strategies hires 2 partners, eyes ASEAN expansion
Marketing podcast: Life after advertising with Jose Raymond
PRecious Communications grows regional team with 3 new hires
PRecious Communications bags slew of new clients, bolsters integrated offering
Pan Pacific Hotels checks in with PRecious Communications across APAC