MANILA, PHILIPPINES — PRecious Communications, a multi-award-winning integrated communications agency with traditional and digital capabilities, has announced that it is establishing local operations in the Philippines, as part of the agency’s aggressive Greater Southeast Asia (GSA) expansion strategy.
In the Philippines, PRecious represents Asia’s leading loyalty and data-focused marketing platform Society Pass, global trend forecasting company WGSN, one of the biggest global and publicly-listed cybersecurity firms, a regional cloud-based anti-money laundering monitoring software, and more emerging companies in the fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and startup industries, to which the agency wants to bring more value to.
“Southeast Asia is undoubtedly the next frontier for global brands due to its burgeoning digital economy and rising mobile engagement. Over the last years, we have been aggressively strengthening our presence across the region to better complement our clients’ marketing strategies in Southeast Asia,” said Lars Voedisch, managing director and founder, PRecious Communications. “Building on this momentum, we are expanding to the Philippines to extend the same brand of strategic communications support to local and foreign brands looking to strengthen their presence across the Philippines.”
According to Asian Development Bank’s Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022, the Philippine economy is projected to grow by 6.0% and 6.3% in 2022 and 2023 respectively, with more brands and companies setting their sights on the Philippines amidst the market’s strong investment momentum and bullish GDP outlook.
“Most of our partners in Southeast Asia have identified the Philippines as a strong emerging market and key growth area for tech-enabled industries. And with the local economy projected to grow in the next two years, PRecious Communications’ entrance reaffirms our commitment to be a strategic and responsive partner for clients as they strengthen their presence across the region,” said Prayaank Gupta, vice president, Growth & Innovation.
To drive its Philippine expansion, PRecious Communications has appointed Paolo Alba to serve as the Client Service Director and Country Lead for the Philippines.
Alba is a well-rounded strategic communicator with over nine years of experience in corporate branding, reputation management, consumer influence, and crisis management. Throughout his tenure in Fleishman Hillard and Ogilvy, he provided strategic counsel for leading local and global companies across the healthcare and pharmaceutical, insurance and insurtech, financial services and fintech, telecommunications, real estate, media, and entertainment, and consumer goods sectors.
Apart from leading the growth of PRecious in the Philippines, Alba also plays a significant role in the region, often providing strategic counsel on the agency’s corporate, tech, and consumer practices. A certified crisis manager, Alba runs crisis workshops across the markets and provides counsel on issues and reputation management initiatives.
“I have been working alongside Lars and Prayaank to identify strategic ways to support our clients in the region as they grow their businesses in this market. PRecious’ competitive advantage is our ability to provide regional capabilities and local expertise in every market we operate in. Now that we have established our local operations and have a dedicated team in the Philippines, we can start bringing the same value to companies that wish to expand across Southeast Asia,” said Paolo Alba, client service director and country lead for the Philippines.
Alba is determined to build the PRecious brand in the Philippines. In the next three months, Alba will be focused on building relationships with key stakeholders, business development initiatives with potential partners, and recruitment of top talent. By year-end, Alba envisions doubling the current Philippine headcount and bringing more value to local and regional players in the fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and startup industries.
PRecious Communications actively plans and executes client communications programs across Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In 2019, the agency joined the GlobalCom PR Network, an association of 80 independent PR agencies in over 100 countries worldwide, serving as its Southeast Asia representative.
The agency was named “Outstanding PR Consultancy of the Year” at the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore (IPRS) PRISM Awards and “Best PR Agency” at the ASEAN PR Excellence Awards in 2021. Most recently, PRecious Communications bagged Gold for “PR Team of the Year” at the Marketing Interactive PR Awards 2022, along with Silver Awards for other corporate initiatives.
