Agency Profile: Mad Hat Asia
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Agency Profile: Mad Hat Asia

What services does Mad Hat Asia offer?
As a creative communications agency, we are in the business of creating value driven content and communications initiatives to connect with audiences most relevant to our given client partners, via appropriate channels.

A bulk of Mad Hat Asia’s work is in strategic communications consultancy, social media strategy, development and management, media relations, content production, influencer engagement, collaborations with a keen focus on content creation and crisis communications.

Where does Mad Hat Asia have a presence?
We currently have a presence in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

Do you have a particular area of focus?
Mad Hat Asia focuses on creating holistic communications strategies and initiatives with client partners primarily from the consumer facing, lifestyle sector - this includes FMCG, entertainment, sports, fashion, F&B, etc.

Who is the founder and why did they start Mad Hat Asia?
Rengeeta Rendava founded Mad Hat Asia in 2014 at the age of 28. She had initially intended to pursue PR consultancy only as a side hustle whilst building a tech startup. However, she quickly realised and moved on the opportunity for a communications agency that prioritises authentic insights, personal communications, and agility needed to thrive in this fast paced and ever evolving communications landscape.

Tell us about the leadership team
The Mad Hat organisational structure lends itself to leadership at multiple levels, evolving along with given campaigns and initiatives at hand. Overall, the business, operational and creative leadership are all from diverse backgrounds (personal, experiential and generational) and driven by entrepreneurial mindsets (motivated to take risks, act quickly, encourage mistakes, and active learning).

What is next for your Mad Hat Asia? What is the five-year goal?
We will continue to establish ourselves as a truly borderless creative communications agency, focused on getting the right messages to the right audiences across the region.
Over the next 5 years, we aim to have an established footprint across the APAC region, and continue investing in understanding and developing capabilities in ever-evolving communication platforms and landscapes.

In a sentence, describe your ideal relationship with a journalist
One built with mutual primary objectives of connecting with readers via relevant topics and information.

Tell us about a campaign you are currently working on or are particularly proud of
There are so many! Check out Heineken Malaysia, Cadbury Singapore and Magnum Malaysia to get an idea of some of our MAD work!

Any key PR trends your agency is keeping an eye on?
The trends we keep an eye on are not very specific to PR but what feeds into the creative content ecosystem which are also trends that are very relevant to the consumer-facing lifestyle clients we largely partner with.
  • We have seen everything turning digital over the past decade and the past year brought in a wave of virtual events too. We see virtual events have the potential to be beneficial to marketers because aside from engaging with consumers, brands can also engage with a farther-reaching audience, with geography not being a barrier, and all of which done at the more effective cost. While in-the-flesh activations can never be fully replaced by its virtual counterparts, we definitely see elements of digital/virtual activations living long after this period of social distancing.!
  • Block-chain technology and NFTs in particular. We are keeping a close watch on the role NFTs will play in the marketing and communication of brands.
What skill sets do you look for in new hires?
Attitude to own, ready to continuously teach, unlearn and relearn, collaborative mindset are the key attributes we look for in a candidate.
  • Consistently creative and quality work is achieved only when each Hatter takes ownership and pride over their work.
  • As people believe every day is an opportunity to learn, it is also important to learn new ways, new ideas, new approaches and so on. To be relevant one needs to be open to unlearning and relearning every day!
  • Collaboration is part of our working culture. We don’t want anyone to be comfortable working in silos at Mad Hat hence why it’s a highly collaborative working environment

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