MANAGING DIRECTOR - Michelle Tham
Integrated Comms. Reputation. Asia Experience. Digital Comms. Crisis. Positioning. Change Management
Michelle leverages her two decades of integrated communications and marketing experience to bring together the best ‘motley crew’ of experts to crack different client challenges.
A hybrid specialist hailing from global agency pedigree, she has worked across the largest global agency networks on top technology, consumer, corporate, luxury and lifestyle brands, including HUAWEI, P&G, MasterCard and many local government organisations across Asia. She also works with clients in the Web3, deep tech and space sectors, helping them connect to a wider stakeholder set and target audience.
While she comes from big agency thinking, she is uncharacteristically entrepreneurial and works best against a brief that colours outside the lines - a reason for multiple award-winning campaigns throughout her career across.
With clients facing more pressures internally, Michelle works with clients on developing their company Purpose and translating that into a 360 business strategy that includes change management and company transformation.
She coaches C-suite executives for major public engagements and also works closely with in-house teams to develop their capability and optimise their performance. She has also worked with top celebrities from serving luxury and masstige beauty brands (Gucci, Escada, SK-II).
She has spent years working in-market in China, aside from her deep SEA experience, having a strong understanding of the cultural pressures, media landscape and influencer market.
director - Karen yap
Strategic Comms. Media Relations. Narrative Development. Crisis. Content. Digital Marketing
Karen capitalises on a decade of integrated communications experiences at global networked agencies and another decade of storytelling and analysis as a business journalist covering Asia Pacific.
At the big agencies, she partnered with brands in the corporate, financial services, private equity and venture capital, technology, real estate, lifestyle and consumer sectors, and local government agencies in Singapore, Malaysia and China.
Karen has first-hand experience in managing communications on a national level during and post-COVID-19. The experiences were specifically related to public health campaigns on hand hygiene, mask-wearing, and social distancing. Other nationwide campaign for a local government agency was the launch of the CDC Vouchers Scheme.
Her other strength lies in the work for clients in setting up systems and processes in place to be crisis and issues ready. The work included the development of a global crisis manual for a medical devices firm and crisis simulation for a financial services firm and an oil and gas company.
Hands-on experiences in crisis/issues management were for a FMCG brand on impending layoffs, an international exam organiser on leaked exam papers, a consumer brand deemed to be sexist from an advertising campaign on social media, and a dormitory operator tried to contain the spread of COVID-19 among migrant workers.
She derives inspiration and deep working knowledge of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and China from working with clients from these markets and with clients keen to enter these markets, as well as living in India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China for a combined 10 years.
Senior counsel - Vivian Lines
Reputation and Influence. Crisis and Issues. Purpose Consulting
Vivian Lines is an award-winning adviser specialising in helping organisations and governments communicate effectively with their stakeholders. He divides his time between Singapore and Hong Kong and has lived in Asia for three decades. His crisis advisory to companies spans a diverse set of experiences including aircraft destruction, plant shutdowns, white collar crime, government problems and reputation issues. That work includes communications risk assessment, scenario planning, developing and testing crisis plans, crisis training and simulations,, crisis response, and reputation recovery plans. At the C-suite level Mr Lines has counselled major corporate clients in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia on their local and regional strategies, as well as consulting to companies internationally. He has worked with clients in multiple sectors, including eCommerce, genomics, government, energy, electronics, aviation and banking/finance/insurance.
At the C-suite level Mr Lines has counselled major corporate clients in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia on their local and regional strategies, as well as consulting to companies internationally. He has worked with clients in multiple sectors, including eCommerce, genomics, government, energy, electronics, aviation and banking/finance/insurance.
He holds an MBA from Duke University, an MA in Political Science from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Kent.
He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors, holds a Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma and is a member of the Financial Times Directors Programme advisory board in Asia.