Bekasi Fajar Industrial Estate welcomes comms lead

Honda Office, a Tokyo- and Singapore-based strategic communications consultancy, has announced the launch of PR Collective Asia, an advisory network designed to support Japanese enterprises in enhancing corporate reputation, brand trust, and leadership presence across Southeast Asia.

The network brings together communications leaders from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It supports Japanese business decision-makers across three areas: strategic PR and integrated marketing, corporate and brand narrative development, and corporate communications.

The members of PR Collective Asia are:

• Tetsuya Honda, CEO, Honda Office
• Yvonne Koh, Founder & Managing Director, Saeloun Asia
• Matthew Underwood, Managing Director, Matterhorn Communications
• Sophis Kasemsahasin, Founder & CEO, Brand Foresight
• Andy See Teong Leng, Founder and Managing Director, Perspective Strategies
• Harry Tumengkol, Co-Founder and Partner, Image Dynamics
• Malyn Molina, President and COO, EON

“As ASEAN’s combined GDP approaches parity with Japan’s, the Southeast Asia region is now one of the most vital growth region for Japanese enterprises,” said Tetsuya, Founder of PR Collective Asia.

“Yet success in these markets requires more than translation of a domestic playbook. It requires business to meaningfully communicate based on understanding of local social, business, and communications nuances. PR Collective Asia was created to meet that need: enabling Japanese companies find their voice and leadership position within Southeast Asia’s fast-changing markets.” 

Matthew de Bakker has been appointed Partner and Country Lead, Singapore, at Milk & Honey PR, to lead the consultancy’s next phase of development in Asia Pacific.

He joins from Mutant Communications, where he spent nearly a decade building the agency’s Singapore PR operation. Matthew joined Mutant in 2017 as head of PR and was later promoted to Country Manager, Singapore, overseeing the expansion of the agency’s client portfolio to include Singapore Sports Hub, Epson APAC, Disney, and regional startups. Prior to that, he held a senior communications role at Randstad.

In his new role, Matthew will join a senior local team including Ayesha Kohli and Ruth Chew, and will work alongside Singapore CEO Meilin Wong, who will continue to support the agency in a consulting capacity.

This appointment follows the recent hire of Mollie Starr as Partner, as well as the agency’s expansion into San Francisco, adding to its presence in London, Munich, New York, San Francisco and Singapore. 

Manulife has welcomed Sylvia Evans as Chief Marketing Officer, Global High Net Worth & Head of Brand, Asia. Based in Hong Kong, she leads brand strategy for Asia and spearheads GHNW marketing aligned to business objectives.

Sylvia brings over two decades of marketing and communications leadership, with prior roles at VISTRA, Commonwealth Bank, and Cigna. She started her career in the U.S. in public policy and government affairs and was most recently in New York as Global Head of Communications at Zurich Cover-More, part of Zurich Insurance Group.