PR veteran advises 'keep up or become irrelevant'

JANSEN SIAK, 51
Word of Mouth Communications and Insider Communications managing director

Mr Siak never planned to go into public relations after graduating with a degree in Mass Communications, but now he is the head of two home-grown agencies.

What started as a casual venture has blossomed into a full-fledged business, handling a portfolio of nearly 300 brands.

With a knack for connecting with people and a deep-rooted passion for fashion, beauty and lifestyle, Mr Siak has built a reputation as a PR maestro. 

His journey, however, was far from pre-meditated.

After cutting his teeth at a lifestyle PR agency under the mentorship of an influential Japanese boss, Mr Siak ventured out on his own, initially juggling freelance work while exploring other career options.

Little did he know, this chance would mark the inception of Word of Mouth Communications.

Today, he oversees two distinct entities, Word of Mouth and Insider Communications, a conflict resolution shop established to accommodate competing brands.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. What drew you to this path?

We specialise in lifestyle PR, especially fashion and beauty.

When I was working freelance, I did not expect to start my own company but I guess I was at the right place and the right time and the opportunities came to me.

Now, I have a team of sixteen here and a team of three in Malaysia, with plans to expand to other countries in the region.

I told myself I wanted to retire at 40 but a decade has passed and I'm still working.

PR is a business that is really very personal and I'm always learning and experiencing something new.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your day-to-day work?

In 2002, social media was still in its infancy stage.

Now, we have clients who want to focus on social media and reach out to social media influencers.

With social media, if you don't make an impact within 15 seconds, that's it.

There's no point in lamenting, we need to evolve and make ourselves relevant. I would say we are hands-on and keep in the know of who these influencers are and what they focus on.

If you don't keep up, you won't be relevant anymore.

Apart from that, Covid-19 was the biggest challenge we have ever faced because our retail clients were affected which in turn, affected us.

However, I'm always positive and optimistic, and say we were still blessed because I didn't have to make anyone take a pay cut or retrench any of my employees.

We proved to our clients that PR is still relevant in times like that and we managed to keep their brands visible to the media and consumers.

My team was resilient enough to understand the limitations that we had.

What's the most rewarding aspect of your work?

I'm always proud to be a homegrown agency. In the first 10 years, people were really impressed with the fact that we were working with international brands

It helped us because other companies noticed this boutique agency from Singapore working with these brands.

I'm happy that we have clients we have worked with for 17 years.

For me, it's sufficient to have clients give us a pat on the back as a thank you and continue working with us.

In April 2020, Diana Ser and I embarked on a charity project to raise money for The Invictus Fund started by Community Chest. We wanted to help raise funds for low-income families who were most impacted by the pandemic.

Our goal was to raise $250,000 and we reached out to celebrity friends, influencers and personal friends to be a part of the campaign to help shout out by posting a hand symbol to seek donations and we had an outpouring of support.

In the end, the campaign was supported by over 80 celebrities, influencers and industry leaders, including big names like Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Tanya Chua, Kit Chan, Fann Wong, and Christopher Lee.

We raised over $330,000 by May 2020.

This was certainly unforgettable and meaningful.

How do you see your work contributing to the Singapore landscape?

We've worked with a lot of Singapore brands and fashion events and festivals like Fashion Week.

This year, we launched Fashion for All with Pink Fest and Design Orchard, an inclusive fashion event.

It's always a very exciting and proud moment for a Singapore brand to work with international brands.

What's a favourite Singapore memory you cherish?

We worked with X3D, a virtual production studio, for the commemoration of what would have been Mr Lee Kuan Yew's 100th birthday last year.

The exhibition brought back memories of how the late Mr Lee really helped build us in such a short time frame into a first-world nation.

His death was a really emotional and impactful moment for me and also, a turning point for our nation.

We relied so much on him that we wondered how we were going to even progress without him.

It was a very poignant and significant moment in the history of our times.

What’s your favourite Singapore dish?

I'm not a food connoisseur to be honest but wonton mee is my go-to comfort food.

One place I visit most often to get wonton mee is a stall at Zion Road Food Centre, mostly because it's close to where I live.

What makes you the proudest about being Singaporean?

We have the most powerful passport!

Apart from that, I think our education system has served us so well.

I am bilingual in English and Mandarin, and that has really helped me a lot, especially when I go to China or Taiwan for work.

We should be proud of our education system because it has built a very good foundation for ourselves.

What is your hope for Singapore?

I think harmony, empathy and unity will make us even stronger. 

Right now, we are in a situation where the world is even closer together because of social media and how widely we travel.

With what's happening around the world, we are more exposed.

I hope we have empathy for one another so that we can progress and build a brighter future for us all.

If anything else, it's to retain our humanity in the world otherwise we would become cold and calculative.