Telum is looking to highlight the diverse and vibrant agencies in the Southeast Asian PR agency landscape in upcoming editions of our PR Alert. We want to encourage networking, business opportunities, and to celebrate the great initiatives being worked on around the region. If you'd like your agency to feature, get in touch.

What services does Saltine Communications offer?
Saltine is a nimble PR agency looking to shake up the communications industry by offering guaranteed features and doing away with costly retainers. We serve startups and SMEs with affordable pay-as-you-go campaigns in the following:

• Brand Consultancy
• Media Features 
• Influencer Marketing
• Social Media Management 
• Media Event Management

What size is the agency?
We are a close-knitted team of 19 members (from the servicing, business development and finance team) based in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Our clients hail from all over the world, looking to enter the Southeast Asian market. While we are small in numbers, we more than make up our weight in gold.
 
Where does Saltine Communications have an office?
Saltine Communications is based in Singapore but our entire team has been working remotely even before the pandemic! We pride ourselves on results over rules and we don’t believe that productivity can only be achieved in a cubicle from 9 to 5. When we do find the need for a physical space, we turn to flexible workspaces and treasure the limited face time we get with each other! We are also flexible to accommodate different working locations, often taking our laptops with us to the beach, overseas cafes or on a cruise – after all, the world is our oyster. 
 
Do you have a particular area of focus?
Size matters - for us at least. Saltine focuses predominantly on startups and SMEs from a wide range of industries based in/ coming into the Southeast Asian market. However, we have attracted the attention of larger MNCs and have been called in to execute ad hoc campaigns that have more at stake, thanks to our commitment to guaranteed features. 
 
Who is the founder and why did they start the agency?
Sally Yeo, Founder and CEO, started Saltine Communications as a flexible, accessible public relations firm designed for startups and SMEs. She saw the world as a constant, often lopsided war of Davids vs. Goliaths – the smaller outfits, the bootstrapped startups, the mom-and-pop stores against huge, unwieldy conglomerates, and global brands.

Big names dominate the media everywhere - newspapers, magazines, television, radio, online and social media. As a result, startups and small businesses that are unable to commit to expensive PR retainers are left out of the game without media exposure, journalist relationships and brand legitimacy. That is why Sally started Saltine Communications, to even the playing field for smaller players and to even information asymmetry in the traditional PR space.
 
What is next for Saltine? What is the five-year goal?
Next for us is to be the go-to partner for start-ups and SMEs in Southeast Asia, as well as develop our reputation as a credible, result-focused but fun agency. In 5 years, influencers will squeal when they hear that they are working with us, companies will fight to secure our services and we will be known throughout the start-up scene and beyond. 
 
In a sentence, describe your ideal relationship with a journalist.
Our media friends are the butter to our (Saltine) crackers. We are pretty plain without them, but together, we make magic happen. As a startup focused agency, we churn out riveting origin stories and compelling brand angles for our media partners to amplify and bring to life on their platforms. We connect the stories and the storytellers. 
 
Tell us about a campaign you are currently working on or are particularly proud of.
Currently, we are working on the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021, where to date, we have helped more than 500 startups in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia participate in a global pitching competition sponsored by the South Korean government. As Saltine is extremely invested in supporting startups and small businesses, we were delighted to not just help our clients KICC surpass their campaign deliverables but also, educate startup founders and businesses around the region about government funding and expansion support into South Korea, which will help pave the way for the future and growth of their businesses. 
 
Any key PR trends your agency is keeping an eye on?
Authenticity. With the rise of new casual content creation platforms such as TikTok and Clubhouse, there is increasing thirst for what is real and not overly curated - which traditional media publications are catching onto. Similarly, as an agency that has thrived on breaking barriers, we want to express the humanity behind our brands in a way that speaks to media and consumers alike. 
 
What skill sets do you look for in new hires?
Solution-centric, fast execution and results-driven. We love an entrepreneurial streak and absolutely require the hustling mentality in our team members. Everyone gets a say in our team culture – we want our hires to be involved in creating a family that they love being around and an environment conducive to their being. We take pride in hiring beyond the resume and so we prioritise kindness, resourcefulness and accountability in our new members.