Agency Profile: COCO PR (Singapore)
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Agency Profile: COCO PR (Singapore)

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 COCO PR offer?
We are an integrated communications agency providing smart strategies and communication solutions to our clients for both established and emerging companies, with core objectives of raising corporate reputation and elevating brand positioning - effectively to reach their target audiences using an integrated approach. Besides offering a suite of premium PR services, we incorporate influencer management, digital marketing, photography, and videography services for our clients. We are highly experienced in crisis communications and provide strategies, procedures for brands, and handling a crisis if and when the time comes.

What big is your team?
We are a cosy team of five, but the number itself in no way limits us. Our highly driven and capable team is brought together by our shared vision of delivering bright and practical solutions to our clients. Since the agency’s establishment in 2016, we stand incredibly honoured and proud to have worked with well-known brands and appointed the agency of choice to helm nationwide campaigns.

Where is the team based in?
We are nestled in a humble office in the heart of heritage district Joo Chiat in Singapore. We are loving the neighbourhood that is gradually booming and has local homegrown brands around the vicinity, such as TheAC Boutique, The WYLD Shop, badt and co, lush platters, and most recently, common man coffee roasters café.

Do you have a particular area of focus? 
In this day and age, it’s all about adaptability. We pride ourselves in having worked for a variety of clients, hailing from industries such as fashion, medical, engineering, entertainment, hospitality and F&B from both B2B and B2C models. We continually welcome the challenge of setting foot in new industries and building everlasting partnerships with clients from any industries.

Who is the founder, and why did they start COCO PR?
Shanthi Jeuland – Founder and Managing Director
Carrying a wealth of experience over a decade in both luxury PR and in-house communication, I have developed robust relationships with both my clients and the media over the years. Looking back at the results I’ve delivered in the past while working at other agencies, from trivial admin tasks to managing a team. 

Tell us about the leadership team?
COCO PR is a female-led business with a relentless desire to do our best for our clients through our tenacious approach and creativity. We are always on, on the go, and always hands-on. Our leadership team is completely dedicated to making your businesses work no matter how hard the process. We are driven to succeed and are visionary in convincing others into buying into our vision and in participating in the eventual creation.

What does leadership mean to you and what are the qualities of a great leader?
Leadership to me is about empowering my team to become leaders in their own right. This involves letting them take charge tasks, giving them the freedom to explore while I support and mentor them in every way I can. A great leader might have the vision, but they know for one, they are nothing without their people to help realise it.  While team members may lose faith from time to time, the best leaders are the ones that help others believe that it can be done – especially when the going gets rough. Then, with their unshakeable faith in their goals, they strive forward, knowing that they can create something even better. A great leader is one to take risks and bounce back even when they fail, which I strongly believe in. So, we win and lose together.

What is next for COCO PR? What is the five-year goal?
In this new normal, we are looking to expand our agency and become even bigger and better than before. Of course, it will take time, patience, and willingness to give more than what shall be received, but the rewards will be well worth it.

In a sentence, describe your ideal relationship with a journalist.
An ideal relationship with a journalist is one where you can be yourself. Be respectful, understand their needs, know that they are busy folks, and know what they are writing. Respect their time. Ultimately be yourself and authentic - be able to know about them, their working styles, what you can do to help them with their stories, and provide them with what they need to ease their workload. We are fortunate to be working with good media in Singapore who are also friends of COCO PR.

Tell us about a campaign you are currently working on or are particularly proud of?
The Stroke Awareness Movement Campaign (2018), Christmas Wonderland (2020), DZ Engineering,  B. P. DeSilva Jewellers, Italian Chamber of Commerce, and one of our major wins for this year, IKEA FOR BUSINESS and IKEA FOR Young Designers Award 2021 are some of Team COCO’s proudest accomplishments. Despite our lean team size, we have been continually entrusted with managing massive campaigns for well-established brands.

 Any key PR trends your agency is keeping an eye on?
There are three areas in particular we have been actively keeping up to date with:
  1. How can PR agencies act as an effective intermediary between brands and consumers to best support mental health narratives
  2. New digital behaviours amongst different demographic groups and the accompanying generational shifts
  3. The growth of the green economy and the ways in which it would influence consumers’ purchases
 What skillsets do you look for in new hires?
The playing field has visibly changed now, thanks to our new normal. The pandemic forced companies to do things differently and consider alternative possibilities, and consequently, this has inevitably resulted in a shift in recruiters’ priorities. There are some key skills we look out for in new hires, as explained below:

Enthusiasm for tackling challenges
Every job has its own hurdles and employers are looking to hire people who remain unfazed in the face of challenges. Express your enthusiasm in being able to tackle challenges and ensure that your interviewer knows you’re one of those people.

Strong communication skills
This is a broad category and can entail anything from how you converse with clients and colleagues to how you endeavour to get your point across in a simple email. The ability to communicate with clients and team members is essential. Now that most communication is done through emails, chats, video or phone conference calls, these skills are more critical than ever.

Adaptability & Team Player
Change is a major part of the modern-day workplace, even without the difficulties of 2020. The lightning-fast advancement of technology has us rapidly changing the ways of doing things all the time. Learn to adapt to the team seamlessly and show that you can be an effective team player.

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