The five-year journey of my agency, EloQ Communications

This year marks the fifth anniversary of EloQ Communications (formerly Vero IMC), my public relations and marketing agency based in Vietnam, and I’m glad to share here its story.  Over its course,…

How appealing is the public relations industry?

At a glance, the public relations (PR) industry is a mature industry, with billions of profits worldwide, and a steady growth over the year. In Vietnam, there are hundreds of…

[Crisis 101 – Part 3] More manage, less respond

The role of social media in crisis communication Organizations often confuse between two concepts: crisis management and crisis response. Many clients came to me asking to “manage” their crisis, but…

Five thoughts on the debut Asia-Pacific PR and Communications Census

I’ve enjoyed being a PRCA Southeast Asia member since it launched in the region last year, and I was pleased to be asked to provide comments for its new regional…

[Crisis 101 – Part 2] Advantages and disadvantages of social media in crisis communication

Social media channels offer both advantages and limitations for crisis communication compared to using traditional media channels alone, such as holding press conference or releasing a correction press release. Advantages…

[Crisis 101 – Part 1] How to develop a social media crisis management plan

Many corporations have very strong social media presence, with high volume of engagement between the company and its audience; but engaging widely does not mean engaging wisely. Especially during crises,…

Why don’t Vietnamese companies use social media in a crisis?

A previous article talked about why Vietnamese companies should use social media more for crisis communication. Now we’ll explore some reasons why they don’t, and why most of those are…

5 social media lessons for ASEAN airlines from the United saga

Most frequent fliers recognize that service quality among ASEAN airlines generally surpasses the service quality of U.S. Airlines. Nonetheless, there are several lessons we can take from the recent social…

5 reasons why Vietnamese companies should use social media in a crisis

Doing public relations in times of stability is one thing, but what do you do when something goes wrong? Crisis communication as a subset of public relations is a fairly…

How to handle a crisis scenario, according to Vietnamese PR experts

As part of my doctoral dissertation, I interviewed several public relations experts in Vietnam on the subject of crisis communication. My work focuses on social media, but the insights expressed…