Scott Kronick on Ogilvy’s PR game in Asia Pacific

Ogilvy's, Chief Executive, Public Relations & Influence, Asia Pacific Scott Kronick talks to Telum about his passion for PR, the importance of specialists and the responsibility he feels to help China and the US understand each other.

Scott has spent 27 years in Asia and that comes through when talking to him. He describes himself as a proud American who feels an enormous responsibility to help the US and China understand each other.

“My biggest worry is there are so many mixed messages and lack of understanding on both sides, the relationship has gone backwards. I am trying to rectify and improve that.” Earlier this year Ogilvy was hired by the city of Xi’an to help build its brand as a global economic and technological hub. Close to his passion, Scott will accompany an upcoming delegation visit of Xi’an to New Orleans for a New York Times Cities for Tomorrow conference.

“It is opportunities like these that inspire me and give me hope,” he says. “While I am not happy these trade and other tensions exist, they have heightened the importance and need for good communicators. There has never been a better time for people in the public diplomacy and communications business.”

Indeed, Scott has witnessed the changes of public relations globally and within Greater China. When he started out mobile bricks and faxing were key PR tools while email was just coming around the corner. While press releases and press conferences remain part of every PRs role, the methods of storytelling and channels have changed.

And that is good news for the public relations industry according to Scott.

“The art and science of building brands and developing our client’s narrative has changed, and today what we have learned from behavioural science about how people make decisions is guiding that. The channels have changed dramatically, as has the role and engagement of influencers and the modes of crafting and sending messages.”

The strategy within Asia is to make sure that each office can exist on its own, while rooted and influential in its local markets. While being part of a large global agency is “definitely a differentiator” and provide what Scott calls “the gravy” in form of regional clients or initiatives, being strong locally remains key.

And overseeing 30 offices in 15 different countries isn’t always a breeze, Scott admits. “In full disclosure, sometimes it works wonderfully and other times it takes a lot more work.

“What I am most proud of is the longevity of the leaders we have across the region. Regional and global clients also do a wonderful service for us in forming alliances across offices. Finally, success in working across borders begins with basic trust amongst teams, respect for different cultures and curiosity in the differences we all have.”

The question about moving to specialists or generalists continues to keep the marketing communications industry busy. “It seems the pure-play public relations companies all want to be in the integrated marketing space and they are hiring more well-rounded marketers to deliver those skills.”

Indeed, Ogilvy itself has gone through a recent stretch of rebranding and restructuring which has brought the entire business under one umbrella brand. Scott argues that integration “is the foundation of Ogilvy’s strength in Asia,” and not something new.

“What is important to note in this process, however, is the importance of maintaining specialist strength. Everyone in the company understands that. The PR people within Ogilvy love our specialisation, and they also value having the resources of the entire Ogilvy behind them, that is what this rebranding is focused on.”

In fact, Scott points out that he has seen many very specific specialist briefs come through. “I do predict a growth in briefs focusing on reputation. It seems like with everything going on today, and with the growth of fake news and media fragmentation, reputation is even more important.”

When Scott started out in Greater China in 1991, he worked with the likes of IBM, Tetra Pak and American Express (still clients as he proudly adds) on their development in Asia. When asked about how Chinese brands can now make the jump overseas and develop their global audiences, he points to Ogilvy’s saying: “a brand is not successful until the local market tells you so.”

Brands that are succeeding are taking lessons from the successful global multinationals of the past he argues. “The first thing Chinese brands need to understand is that they must invest in understanding the markets where they want to compete and the audiences they want to reach. For Chinese brands, success also comes from their ability to build trust amongst those in which their viability depends, by respecting the laws, regulations and cultures in which they are operating, and by being curious and having the ambition to always do better.”

This feature first appeared in Telum Media's East Asia PR Alert.