FUND RAISING THROUGH FASHION

“Campaign Aims to Raise RM 50,000 Through

The Sale of Designer Scarves to Support Breast Cancer Patients”

250 pink scarves exclusively designed by internationally renowned fashion designer, Zang Toi, will be up for grabs to raise funds for Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s ‘Unite with Pink, Unite with Us, Together We Unite for Pink October as 1Malaysia’ inaugural breast cancer fund raising campaign.

This campaign is one of the many corporate social responsibility ini

tiatives that will be spearheaded by Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the upcoming Pink October month.

“Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur is excited to kick off the Pink October celebrations with the launch of the breast cancer fund raising campaign,” said Gleneagles Hospital Kuala

Lumpur Chief Executive Officer Amir Firdaus Abdullah.

“We are committed in reaching out and engaging the public to support the plight of medically underserved breast cancer patients and together with our supporting partners, we hope that through campaigns such as this by Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur, significant funds are channelled to help save lives.”

Members of the public can purchase the scarves for RM300 each at Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur. As a token of appreciation, Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur will be offering special rates for ultrasound breasts and mammogram screenings. A free pap smear test will be given away to customers who takes up the screening package.

The proceeds of this campaign will be donated to Pride Foundation, a non-profit organization that is actively involved in enhancing awareness efforts and improving accessibility to treatment and care of breast cancer.

“We are very happy to see many organizations such as Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur and its partners coming forward to support the plight of breast cancer patients,” said PRIDE Foundation Chairman Datin Azrene Abdullah.

“Contributions from this campaign will be channelled to the ‘PRIDE Patient Fund’ which is used to assist breast cancer patients directly in terms of treatment cost, surgery and other medical needs,” added Azrene.

PRIDE Foundation will be giving a RM300 tax redemption receipt to those who purchase the scarf.

To further strengthen this campaign, Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur partnered with ING Insurance Berhad which is the main sponsor for this fund raising campaign.

President and Chief Executive Officer of ING Insurance Berhad, Dato’ Dr. Nirmala Menon said, “We are delighted to be partnering Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur in this initiative to raise funds for breast cancer patients.”

“This campaign is just one of our many ways to give back to society,” she added.

A collaborative effort was also formed with Philips, a world leader in health and well-being, which came on board as the gold sponsor for this campaign.

This campaign is also supported by AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, Diagnostika and Peraliph alongside Health and Beauty Magazine as the official magazine.

Additionally, Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur and its partners will host an exclusive high tea event on 31 October 2009 to fete the lucky 250 buyers of the scarves.

Along with the fundraising efforts, Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur will be hosting several others breast cancer awareness activities during the campaign period. The activities include “Eat for Your Healthy Lifestyle” cooking demonstration by award winning chef extraordinaire, Mohana Gill, a Beauty Makeover by Xixili Intima and multiple health and wellness workshops.

For a complete list of activities that will be organized by Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur for the Pink October month, visit www.gimc.com.my

Ranhill Utilities Internal Media Workshop 2009

Our team recently conducted an internal media relations workshop for 28 senior management staff of Ranhill Utilities Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary, SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd (SAJ Holdings is the water concessionaire for the state of Johor), Ranhill Water Technologies, Ranhill Water Services and Ranhill Bersekutu Sdn Bhd.

And we are proud to say, it was a fantastic workshop!

We were honoured to have the CEO of SAJ Holdings, Encik Abdul Wahab, Mr Koh Boon Sian , the CEO of Ranhill Water Technologies and Mr Yap who is the CEO of Ranhill Bersekutu Sdn Bhd as participants for the workshop.

The main objective of this one day workshop was to expose the participants to the strategies of media relations. ‘What is News’, ‘Media Relations 101’, ‘Press Release Writing’, ‘Crisis Communications’ and ‘Press Conference Tools and Techniques’ were the main topics discussed during the workshop. The participants came from diverse backgrounds. Some of the participants included business development managers and the operations team. Therefore, the workshop had to be designed in such a way that it was relevant to all. Nevertheless, the participants had broad smiles as they walked out of the door after the nine hours of learning experience.

Some comments from the participants:

“Fantastic, very interactive and excellent workshop! I learned a lot as the things shared, especially on ‘What is News?’ was really informative and touched on things that I never knew about.” Mr Yap, CEO Ranhill Bersekutu Sdn Bhd.

“I would definitely recommend this workshop to others. The presentation style, joint exercise content and open discussions were one of the best!” Mr Hemant Thakore, Head Business Services Ranhill Bersekutu Sdn Bhd.

“The presentation style was one of the best. Definitely met my expectations as a platform to share real experiences and knowledge.” Rajehan Abdul Karim, SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd.

“Excellent session. Very open and two-way. It is really great to have three speakers with different areas of expertise to share their expertise.” Name and title not specified.

“Good exposure for non public relations people to understand how things work in the media.” Name and title not specified.

Media Relations Workshop August 2009

We will be having another workshop next month (10 & 11 August 2009). You can read more about this workshop in our website www.intelectasia.com
Media Relations August 2009

Media List & Contacts (Malaysia)

Many have asked me about media contacts. I have actually started a media database, but it is not easy as it really involves a lot of hard work and consistent effort to ensure the media database is always relevant and up to date, especially when there are so many changes in the local media scene (just spoke to a reporter from Malay Mail and apparently they are still undergoing a lot of changes).Nevertheless,I am sharing some contacts that you might find useful when dealing with the media. Hope it helps! (please refer to my latest post March 2015 on latest media contacts)


Quick Malaysia Media Contacts

Facebook Bootcamp for PR

View more presentations from nicole.landguth.

Facebook Bootcamp for PR

I think this is one very good presentation by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide on how to use Facebook as a tool for PR.

I think I have mentioned this before that its time that PR practitioners have to start looking beyond the traditional media. The new media such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs and Twitter are now equally powerful when trying to reach out to the publics (i.e. stakeholders, media, consumers, public. But nevertheless, it is very important that your organization fully supports your new media endeavor.Many organizations still feel that the new media is waste of time (as shared by the participants during the workshop).

Somethings that you will learn in this webinar above:

>A Facebook Strategy Checklist
>5 Ways to Rapid Start Your Facebook Strategy
>5 Ways to Engage Your Community
>5 Ways to Activate Your Community
>5 Ways to Add Scale and Impact
>Tools and Tips to Measure Your Success
>5 Facebook Trends to Watch
>What NOT to do

A Very Successful Media Relations Workshop!

We were so happy and delighted that the media relations workshop on the 29th and 30th June went so well. I think the most important thing for any trainer is when the participants go back and say "Yes, that was worth my time". The team shared valuable insights for media relations. My personal favorite was when the participants did the 20 seconds pitch! It was extremely hilarious seeing all these PR people persuading the editor to cover their event or write about them.
And of course, the bonus was when immediately two days after the workshop, one participant received good coverage including two tv stations (TV3 and NTV7) to cover an event. I will post her comments soon!

Six Golden Rules to Win the Media's Attention

Often, as public relations practitioners or consultants, when we launch an event, we anticipate a good turnout from the media. We have to answer to many if the turnout is poor, the bosses, the clients etc etc. But how do we ensure that media turnout is good? Let me share five golden rules to win this battle!

Golden Rule 1- Always Have a Good Story

Half the battle is won when you have a good angle to your story. A good story is when a road show to promote tyres is tied up with a national road safety campaign. A poor story is the launch of a road show to promote tyres.

Golden Rule 2- Do not sell products or services

Being boring is very very dangerous for pr practitioners. Think differently; always make your story newsworthy. Always think like journalists/editors. Will you cover the event if you were a journalist?

Golden Rule 3-Develop a Thick Skin

After pitching or emailing, you must follow up. Check with the news desk whether they will be covering your event or publishing your press release. They are normally more than happy to answer your questions. But please, do not harass, do not call them every other day and ask "When is the story coming out?", "Will you guys be covering the event?" the first question can be asked only once, maximum twice. But if you build rapport with the journalist, of course it’s easier to ask, but again, how would you feel if someone calls you every other day to ask you the same questions over and over again. Unless, you want them to toss your story out of the window, which is highly possible!

Golden Rule 4- Develop a Variety of Channels

This is my favourite! I have mentioned this before in my press release. Do not depend so much on the traditional media. They are overloaded. Be different. Yes, go to the traditional media but also go to news wires ( I will share with you the press release wires that are free), blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter. Editors or journalist might just pick up your story from there such as a recent story on cleaning up a waterfall in Selangor.Guess what, the organiser used Facebook to invite all the volunteers! The story was even aired in TV3!

Golden Rule 5- Jangan Tipu!

Yes desperation can make us do many things that we don’t want to! But we are bound by ethics, which means that we must always write the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When writing press releases, don’t inflate the numbers, don’t add things that never happened etc. This is also important when faced with the crisis. Always tell the truth. When inviting press, do not lie to attract them, if they find out, they will blacklist you forever!

Golden Rule 6- Do not Over Expose!

I had this chance to do PR for a premier higher learning institution. One of my favourite accounts!
They had so many good stories, and always it was a pleasure from my side to invite the media. This organization was always the first in doing something, won many awards, had excellent research facility and many others interesting stories. Every story was newsworthy. But there was one point; there were just tooooo many stories. Every other day, there was something happening. Unfortunately, this back fired. The media presence dwindled. The stories undoubtedly good, but the media can’t be reporting the same organization every day. Planning is the key. Space out the events. Have deliverables set. How many stories should be out every month? Then plan accordingly.


So here you are six golden rules to win media's attention. If you noticed, there is no mention of nice goodie bags, money or free lunch. Again there is no harm is giving out goodie bags and treating them to a nice lunch, (money is a big no no), but the key is - create a newsworthy story!

Join our Media Relations Workshop on 29 & 30 June 2009 to learn more about media relations strategies, tools and tips!

Press Release: Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop

Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop
Award winning journalists roped it to provide training

Kuala Lumpur, 19 May 2009: intelectasia™ Consultancy, a premier public relations learning and development company has recently launched its Media Relations Workshop.
Besides having experienced public relations practitioners as trainers, award winning journalists and editors from the local media agencies have also been roped in as facilitators for this workshop.
“For us, the media relations workshops act as a platform to share our knowledge and expertise in this field. By doing so, we hope that many more organizations will understand the key elements of media relations such as creating newsworthy stories and optimizing the new media as a channel to reach out to stay ahead in today’s competitive environment.” says Manminder Kaur Dhillon, CEO of intelectasia™.
The old school of thought by sending press releases and hoping media to cover an event especially in Malaysia has to endThe two day workshop focused on various media relations strategies, attention grabbing press release writing, pitching, crisis communications and most importantly the use of new media as tool for media relations.
According to Manminder, constant presence of an organization in the various electronic, print and more recently, the new media, is vital to increase the confidence of stakeholders and public towards the organization.
“Media relations has always been an important element for most organizations, but during these trying times, more emphasis should be given to create presence by maximising the potential of the new media.”
Manminder cites Coca-cola as good example on how an organization should embrace the new media. By simply realising the potential of Facebook, the soft drink giant used the social networking site to communicate with millions of consumers. And this story was picked up by major news channels all over the world, automatically generating news for the brand.
“The old school of thought by sending press releases and hoping media to cover an event especially in Malaysia has to end. Everyone is jostling for the media’s attention. Why not create your own news? Use blogs, forums, social networking sites to communicate, use Youtube to upload interesting videos, use Twitter to update fresh stories. Editors and journalists are picking up stories from these sites to have a fresh take on things. Don’t bore the media with launches and events.” adds Manminder.
Manminder should know. Being on both sides of the fence, as an ex-broadcast journalist with a local news channel before joining a public relations firm as a consultant, Manminder believes that most organizations still depend heavily on traditional media to reach out to stakeholders and often overlook the whole idea of creating newsworthy stories.

Links:

Press Release: Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop

Links:

PR-USA.net - Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop

New Media as an Important Media Relations Tool during the Economic Crisis

Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop

Intelectasia Launches Media Relations Workshop - PR.com

Press Release: New Media as an Important Media Relations Tool during the Economic Crisis

New Media as an Important Media Relations Tool during the Economic Crisis
Organizations should optimize new media to make ‘noise’ especially during the downturn

Kuala Lumpur, 18 May 2009: Organizations should continue to make and build their presence despite the economic downturn by using the new media such as Faceboook, Twitter, Youtube, podcasts and blogs as the main communication channels.
According to Manminder Kaur Dhillon, CEO of intelectasia™ Consultancy (pic), constant presence of an organization in the various electronic, print and more recently, the new media, is vital to increase the confidence of stakeholders and public towards the organization.
“Media relations has always been an important element for most organizations, but during these trying times, more emphasis should be given to create presence by maximising the potential of the new media.”
More importantly, says Manminder, the use of the new media such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, podcasts and blogs should be given particular attention by organizations to create a positive relationship with consumers, stakeholders and the public.
According to Manminder, Coca-cola is a good example. By simply realising the potential of Facebook, the soft drink giant used the social networking site to communicate with millions of consumers. And this story was picked up by major news channels all over the world, automatically generating news for the brand.
“The old school of thought by sending press releases and hoping media to cover an event especially in Malaysia has to end. Everyone is jostling for the media’s attention. Why not create your own news? Use blogs, forums, social networking sites to communicate, use Youtube to upload interesting videos, use Twitter to update fresh stories. Editors and journalists are picking up stories from these sites to have a fresh take on things. Don’t bore the media with launches and events.” adds Manminder.
Manminder should know. Being on both sides of the fence, as an ex-broadcast journalist with a local news channel before joining a public relations firm as a consultant, Manminder believes that most organizations still depend heavily on traditional media to reach out to stakeholders and often overlook the whole idea of creating newsworthy stories.
By having award winning journalists and experienced public relations consultants on her team, Manminder recently started a series of media relations workshops for corporate companies and government agencies.
“For us, the media relations workshops act as a platform to share our knowledge and expertise in this field. By doing so, we hope that many more organizations will understand the key elements of media relations to stay ahead in today’s competitive environment such as creating newsworthy stories and optimizing the new media as a channel to reach out.”For more information on the media relations workshops by Manminder and her team, log on to http://intelectasia-mediarelations.blogspot.com/

To see the press release on prlog, visit http://www.prlog.org/10238225-new-media-as-an-important-media-relations-tool-during-the-economic-crisis.html

Media Relations Training

Some months back, I spoke to this editor from a local English daily about inviting their team to cover an event. After pitching, we started talking about, among other things how organizations and individuals who usually call her desk to invite them for coverage. There were some things that she mentioned, that did not shock me, but made me realise the importance of understanding what the media REALLY WANTS!
She was mentioning about how people usually call her and say thing like "Can your paper cover our event, we are giving goodie bags and lunch!" or “Our CEO is giving a talk, it is important, can you please cover?"
Free food? Goodie bags? She was appalled! Media does not want goodie bags nor free food, of course there is no harm to give such gifts during events to thank them from their presence, but that can never be the carrot!
For me, the conversation was a catalyst to start the media relations training. Let’s share from the perspective of editors, journalists and public relations practitioners, what media really wants and how to attract media to cover your event. Let’s share about crisis communications, press conferences, press releases and media relations strategies and tips.

Come June 29 & 30, I will be the facilitator for our bi-monthly media relations training. It will be held at the Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
Some of the key highlights of the training will include:

a. How to get maximum coverage?

b. How to write attention grabbing press release?

c. Maximising media interviews and press conference.

d. Crisis Communications

e. Pitching stories to the media

f. Building long term relationships with the media

g. Planning and preparing a good media relations strategy and other media relations tips and strategies.

Other Facilitators are experienced and award winning journalists from local tv stations and media agencies. Experienced public relations practitioners will also be present to share their take on successful media relations strategies.

This training is limited only to 20 participants. Case study of successful media campaigns, presentations and a lot of interaction will be the core of this training.

For more information, log on to intelectasia.com.

It will be definitely an eye opener for organizations and individuals who frequently deal with the media.

2010 World Public Relations Festival

Please visit http://www.globalalliancepr.org/ for more information

Organizer:
Swedish Public Relations Association
Type:
Conference
Location:
Stockholm, Sweden
Date:
2010-06-14 TO 2010-06-15
Please Save the Date - June 14-15, 2010. 6th World Public Relations Festival, Stockholm: "Communicative organisations-in pursuit of a new paradigm
The Swedish Public Relations Association warmly welcomes you to Stockholm for the 6th World Public Relations Festival. The theme for the conference is "Communicative Organisations - in pursuit of a new paradigm". We take off in our recently finished unique research project "Business Effective Communication". The results are summarized by professor Sven Hamrefors in this video: : http://www.globalalliancepr.org

Stockholm is beautiful in June. The evenings are light and pleasant. The city will be glowing a bit extra due to the royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and her fiancée Daniel Westling on the 19th of June. Take the opportunity to enjoy Sweden and Stockholm at it´s very best.
Proposals for speakers and content are highly appreciated. Please contact Managing Director Margaretha Sjöberg,:margaretha.sjoberg@informationsforeningen

Also visit our website for more information about the SPRA, http://www.globalalliancepr.org

Defining Media Relations

I think I am one of those people who love the KISS idea. Just Keep It Simple Silly!
Why go around the bush and make things difficult? While conducting my research I found two very interesting definitions of media relations:

The first is by Misukanis & Odden (an established PR agency in the States), please check out their blog which I think is the online 'bible' for media relations http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/
"Media relations are those activities that involve working directly with persons responsible for the editorial (news and features), public service and sponsored programming products of mass media"Misukanis & Odden,2005

And of course Wikipedia:
"Media relations is the act of involvement with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner"

Both provide an excellent definition. But let’s break the word in two- media & relations.
Media is defined as newspapers and broadcasting as conveying information to the public (Oxford Dictionary)

And relations according to dictionary.com is as follows:
relations, a.the various connections between peoples, countries, etc.: foreign relations. b.the various connections in which persons are brought together: business and social relations. c.sexual intercourse.

I don't think c applies here. So, media relations simply means: Connections between people (organization and journalist, editors) to use newspapers and broadcasting as tools for conveying information to the public. Simple as that!
Many in the corporate world ( I am speaking only from my experience), tend to forget this. Minute, unnecessary details are paid attention to, for example Johor Bahru or Johor Bharu in the press release. Instead of looking at the bigger and larger picture. Are the journalists given adequate information, are you talking to them (sincerely) or are you taking any effort after an event to keep in touch with them? The most important element in creating a good and positive media relations is Be Sincere and Give Them A Good Story. I was lucky to be on the both sides of this PR industry, as a journalist and PR. And honestly, there are some events that are organized by some big multinationals that are so not newsworthy. Of course, they want coverage. A lot of coverage! It is beyond me to understand how this works. Relations with the media is often based on NEWSWORTHINESS. If the event is newsworthy, they will come and they will love you for it. And if its not, please dont call them and ask them "Bila story ni keluar? When is this story coming out?" You can be happy if they say : In queue :)

Ok, so here is my definition of media relations:

"Media relations is the act of maximizing all media tools (print, broadcast, new media) to generate positive and free publicity for the organization.It is also maintaining a positive relationship with journalists, editors and writers"
Manminder Kaur, 2009

But how do you maximize it? How do you maintain a positive relationship with journalists, editors and writers?

Let’s keep that for the next post!

Media Relations 101

A warm welcome to all!

I have decided to start this blog with one main agenda in mind- to share everything I know about media relations in Malaysia.
I would also appreciate feedback, positive or negative as both will help me and everyone else out there who is interested in media relations specifically in Malaysia.