Something important is lost in the rancour against KPAI (The Commission for the Protection of Children) for calling out PB Djarum’s (Djarum Badminton Association) badminton auditions. KPAI, as we know has accused the cigarette maker Djarum of using its foundation, PB Djarum (Djarum Badminton Association) … Continue reading KPAI isn’t all wrong about PB Djarum
The embattled office of APCO in Indonesia may be in for more tough times.
Some time maybe as early as this week, said little birds to Unspun, APCO’s competitor in Indonesia Kiroyan Partners will announce a partnership with Vriens and Partners. Vriens Partners is headed by Hans Vriens, the suspender wearing, battered suitcase carrying former head of APCO Indonesia and APCO in the region.
After many years in Indonesia Hans relocated to Singapore about two years ago to start up APCO there as well as to head the regoin. But hand has not been a happy camper. Some birds say that he felt frustrated that his overbosses were too conservative and unwilling to embrace newer ways of communicating, such as using new media.
At any rate Hans has left APCO in not the best of terms and has started his own consultancy, Vriens and Partnership.
Of late both Hans and Noke Kiroyan, of Kiroyan Partners and formerly of Rio Tinto and Newmont and often mistaken for a Japanese, have seen potential synergies in a partnership. They both see lots of opportunities in indonesia and Hans can bring to the table his contacts while Noke can bring to the table resources, said the birds.
Both men also have another common link that bolsters the partnership. Noke’s daughter Natasha is currently working at Vriens and Partners. She remains a shareholder in Kiroyan and Partners where she was working until a few months ago when she departed for Singapore to follow her heart, said the birds.
This partnership between Noke and Hans is sure to pose stiff competition for APCO Indonesia, which is currently helmed by John Arnold, formerly of Ernst and Young. John, who retired from EY and then took up this job has not been having a restful time at APCO Indonesia as the firm has, so said the birds, been having some problems here and there.
Looks like John is in for exciting times, as the Chinese would say.
Read the article below about how Burson-Marsteller’s CEO Mark Penn shamed his firm or of Edelman’s fiasco in Wal-Mart, which is now a classic story of what NOT to do in the blogosphere.
This is a cautionary tale of how big names in PR aren’t always better.
|
When you get down to the bottom of it, ironically, Geert Wilders wants the same thing as the most extreme of the Muslims he attacks in the film Fitna – the terrorists.
The terrorist, according to Louise Richardson in her book What Terrorists Want, is motivated by the 3Rs- Reaction, Revenge, Reknown. The terrorist commits acts of terrorism precisely because he knows they will cause a reaction, they help him seek revenge for perceived slights and they would bring him reknown.
What Geert Wilders wants – and got – with his act of creative “terrorism” in releasing Fitna are
Revenge – This is not very clear but presumably Geert at some stage felt he and his ilk had been insulted by or been deprived of something important by Muslims and Fitna was his act of vengence.
Reknown -Before this episode Geert Wilders was just a third rate extremist politician with bad hair tucked away in a small country. Now he is known throughout the world.
Reaction – The game for terrorists is to provoke a harsh reaction on the part of governments and others to their act of terrorism. These reactions usually result in alienating them from their constituents.
So what do you do with the Geert Wilders of the world?
The proof? See story below. If Mahathir had acted like SBY and, in his time, chastised upcoming leaders for sleeping on the job, the Barisan nasional would still be holding on to the two-thirds-majority, Malaysia wouldn’t be in the shits and bloggers would not be in elected offices. It’s all the Mamak’s doing!
|
