PUBLIC RELATIONS IN ASIA: THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION
By Terence Fane-Saunders
Chairman and Chief Executive, Chelgate Ltd

Perhaps the most dangerous moment is when you think you understand. In the west, I sometimes think, we focus too closely on words and their meaning, losing sight of the great range of non-verbal communications which also shape our pattern of contact.

In much of Asia nuance, timing, context and situation can mean a great deal more than the actual words said. So, the Western businessman in a meeting with his Japanese counterparts may believe it is going much better than in reality it is, simply because his claims and arguments are being met with little or no resistance. He may hear phrases like "I agree this is important", and "we will carefully consider your suggestion", and believe that he is close to success. He is likely to be mistaken.

One of my first management responsibilities in my PR career was for the Tokyo office of an international PR company. A key member of our team there was an executive who would join our international clients at their meetings with their Japanese contacts, and make no contribution whatsoever. But after the meeting, he would sit down with the client and explain what had really happened during the meeting. This was often a startling experience for the businessmen concerned.

The difficulty for many foreigners in Asia is to understand that much of the verbal communications that may take place is formulaic and often not very informative. Corporate executives and government officials will say what they believe they are supposed and expected to say, given their position and responsibility. The Japanese talk about "tatemae" and "honne" as the two different forms of communication. A Japanese official in a formal meeting will communicate in the "tatemae" mode, essentially presenting a surface role. But in an informal environment, if he connects with you on a personal and emotional level, when he is able to reveal the real feelings and intentions beneath the "tatemae" surface, then that's "honne".

Effective public relations in Asia, just as anywhere else, is not simply about editorial publicity ; nor is it even the business of communications. It is about creating and managing relationships between the organisation and each of its key publics. Of course, effective communications, verbal and non-verbal, are vital. But so too are PR strategies that understand the implications of corporate behaviour ; which recognise that it is corporate and personal actions which will have the greatest and most lasting impact on those relationships.

Communications, too, need to be framed within the context of an informed understanding of the cultural, religious, social and ethnic context of each community and public. The fact that a message may be coherent, well expressed and convincing, and that it has worked well in Asian market A, does not for one minute guarantee that it will work equally well in Asian market B.

One of my colleagues at Chelgate in Asia, had a PR responsibility earlier in her career, for a major international refugee resettlement programme. As part of this, a video was produced, encouraging Vietnamese boat people to return home and take up (aided) pig farming. A good and effective idea, but not one which went down at all well in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia where the pig sequences offended Moslem sensitivities. The result was that the videos were impounded, and guarantees had to be given that they would not be shown anywhere but in refugee camps.

One of the dangers of international PR firms and PR networks is that they are often more multi-local, than multinational. In other words they will have capabilities in each market, but the executive working with the client may never have worked outside his home country. So, he or she may have little sense of the cultural variables from market to market. As a result, a request will go out to colleagues in each target market to handle the local aspect of an international assignment. But the "localising" will often be no more than translation , when what was actually needed was a strategy planned from the outset to reflect varying markets and cultures.

That is why at Chelgate we now have a house rule that any multinational assignment must be directed by someone with personal experience working in a multinational, multi-cultural environment.

In fact, the PR industry is well established in Asia, with a number of excellent and sophisticated operators. But quality is variable, from agency to agency, and country to country, to a much greater extent than in other mature PR markets. The ideal is the blend of international skills and local experience.

But if the industry is well-established, the relationship between PR professionals and the media is still feeling its way in some markets. In the Eighties I opened what was then the only foreign-owned PR business in Beijing. As that branch started to issue its first press releases, we were amused to receive in return, small cash payments from the publications we had targeted, thanking us for our contributions. We carefully returned each payment, explaining that we were happy to provide this information free of charge.

I was back in Beijing at the beginning of last year for the formal opening of Chelgate's branch office there. Times have certainly changed. Journalists in China have a very practical understanding of just what we PR professionals are up to, and a very direct view of the value of good editorial.

In fact, many journalists in China will carry two business cards, one confirming their position as a reporter, the other their role as an advertising rep. It is not uncommon to be "warned" of critical coverage if advertising is not forthcoming. Managing the process by which one neither alienates the publication nor compromises the client can take considerable finesse, and it is probably true that skilled professional PR help must be one of the primary requirements for any foreign firm planning to raise its profile in China.

Sometimes visitors to Asia are surprised at the simple distances involved - that a flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, for example, can take a good three and a half hours, or from Singapore to Tokyo well over six. If distances are great, the cultural, political and commercial variables are equally so.

At times the distinctions can be subtle, but still important. One successful businessman explained to me that in Hong Kong, where outward symbols of prosperity are much valued, he always travelled in a Rolls Royce. But in Singapore he would use a (locally assembled) Mercedes. "Symbols of conspicuous consumption don't look so good here", he explained.

Often the similarities can be deceptive too. A little while ago a San Francisco based company decided to issue a press release directed at the Chinese communities of Asia. The translation was carried out by a distinguished and scholarly Chinese gentleman who had lived in the US since the communists took control of Shanghai. That was the first mistake.

Chinese is a living language. The translation was technically, academically perfect, but it was in a style frozen in a time warp from decades earlier. It was much as though a modern business story had been written in the language of Biggles or Bulldog Drummond.

But this was not the only problem. Chinese script now appears in two forms, simple and traditional. In Hong Kong they use traditional ; so too in Taiwan. But in China you must use simplified characters, as you must in Singapore. The company issuing the release had simply assumed that the Chinese speaking population of Asia was more homogenous that it actually is.

Of course, there is a significant ethnic Chinese population in Indonesia too. Fortunately, the Indonesian press were spared from the general distribution of this release. Materials printed in Chinese are actually against the law in Indonesia.

But if you must be alert to the differing, individual requirements of each Asian market, there are also great opportunities for effective transnational PR in Asia. Part of the secret lies in the spread of English as the business language of the region. This has made it possible for strong regional media to evolve with reach right across the business communities of Asia.

A number of international publications have been very successful in their penetration of the Asian market. The Economist for example has a fast growing circulation of more than 70,000. The Wall Street Journal has a very successful Asian edition, and the FT is printed in both Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Asia-based media like the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek have built worldwide reputations, while a range of strong business and financial titles such as Asian Business, Asiamoney and Asia Inc all deliver healthy transnational readerships.

The national press around Asia tend to range from tame to trenchant. But for the visiting businessman they usually offer excellent platforms to get a business message across. Just as anywhere else in the world, you need to have something newsworthy to say. But if you have, the Asian press are usually courteous, interested and responsive. It is significant that press coverage of trade shows and trade missions is generally much greater in Asian media than it is in the West. The media are genuinely interested in what foreign business might offer. There can of course be occasional problems of communication, but PR professionals will generally take care to ensure that these are smoothed out.

The great distances of Asia also create a real opportunity for various forms of new media. Satellite broadcasting is now well established, with a number of business services including CNN, CNBC, BBC World and STAR.

But the most rapid takeup has been in the area of the internet. Hong Kong, for example, now has one million internet users out of a population of six million. They also now have 140 servers, compared with just three , five years ago.

In business a web site is now seen as essential. But the 'net is also emerging as a political force. In Malaysia internet communications were seen as playing an important part in swelling anti-Mahathir feelings during the Ibrahim case. In China, too, the first trial has just taken place of a dissident accused of giving email addresses to pro-democracy groups overseas.

Despite its recent economic problems, the Asia/ Pacific region remains a world of wonderful opportunity for business. With half the world's population, it is expected to be responsible for 40% of world trade by 2050 (according to World Bank predictions). The communities of Asia are open to new ideas and new products. Without question, this is a market where the astute businessman deploying sensitive and professional public relations techniques can achieve real and important business benefits.

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