2020 New PR Consultancies of the Year

The 2020 Asia-Pacific PR Consultancies of the Year are the result of an exhaustive research process involving more than 125 submissions and meetings with the best PR firms across the region. 

Consultancy of the Year winners are announced and honoured at the 2020 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards, which takes place virtually on 24 September. Analysis of all Finalists and Winners can be accessed via the navigation menu or below:

Winner: GCI Health (WPP)

WPP’s GCI Health may be an established name elsewhere, but in Asia-Pacific, it’s a start-up. The agency opened its doors in Singapore at the start of 2019 as a new hub office of WPP’s only global specialist health PR agency, and has already grown from one to 16 employees, adding a Hong Kong office and exceeding its 2019 revenue target by a staggering 228%. The firm is expected to double in size again this year, under the leadership of MD Rikki Jones, a career health specialist who has now been GCI Health’s founding leader in two regions, having also set up the London office five years ago. Jones is supported by Singapore MD Dan Blomfield and Hong Kong MD Yvonne Yeung, part of a plan to assemble a deep regional leadership team that can address the relative paucity of healthcare specialists in Asia-Pacific. 

GCI Health’s growth also extends to its capabilities which now include medical education, policy expertise and integrated marketing skills. There were eight new clients over the past year, including major pharma players and nonprofits, with the firm’s services spanning advocacy, corporate, pharma and public affairs.  

Campaign highlights included the Beyond! Health Hack for support influenza vaccine uptake on behalf of Sanofi with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation’s and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, while another effort for Bayer aimed to improve access to Stem education among disadvantaged girls. — AS

Finalist

Wachsman (Singapore/Independent)

On the heels of a successful run in the US, Wachsman opened its doors in Singapore in 2018,  working exclusively with firms in the blockchain industry off the back of the global crypto boom. Six months later, managing director Danny Phan diversified the business into parallel businesses, enabling the office to grow clients across a range of emerging technology, as well as traditional industries like finance, and thrive despite the decline of the cryptocurrency business at the end of the year.

Today, Wachsman’s Singapore office is a vibrant operation, working with clients across a wider range of emerging technologies, traditional finance, insurtech, consumer tech and fintech. The numbers speak to the surge in business: fee income rose to $1.6 million in 2019, up from $365,000 the year before. New business from impressive clients drove the lift. Wachsman serves as agency of record for the internet company and tech unicorn Sea Group and insurtech company Singlife. Other key clients include R3, Zilliqa, Digix, Coolbitx, NUS Crystal Centre, NGC Ventures, CoinDCX, Aqilliz and Two Prime. All of which are supported with regional talent, thanks to Wachsman expanding its footprint into Myanmar, India and Taiwan.

Hallmark campaigns of the year included Making CoolbitX the Voice of the Crypto Compliance Revolution to raise CoolBitX’s visibility ahead of its new line of regulatory technology solutions, Sygna. The firm also worked with Singlife, a digital insurer, and its leaders on an aggressive go-to market strategy. — DM