GPRCF Malaysia 2025 celebrates PR excellence

Lisa Harmer has been brought in as Media and Government Relations Lead at CEDA - Committee for Economic Development of Australia. She was previously GM of Communications and External Relations at Powering Skills Organisation. Prior to this, Lisa held in-house roles within the mental health and NFP spaces. 

CoInside (pronounced: coincide), a diagnosis-first marketing strategy and go-to-market (GTM) consultancy, has launched in Singapore. Founded by Vanessa Ng, former Head of Marketing at Lendela, and Szecindyo (Chin) Chewandi, former Head of Marcomms and Chief of Staff candidate at holding group Golden Equator, they bring experience across growth strategy, commercial communications, and go-to-market execution in both startup and institutional contexts.

The consultancy works with businesses experiencing growth challenges and go-to-market needs, but have yet to determine whether they need a hire, an agency, or something else entirely. The consultancy operates three service lines, including commercial narrative to support businesses in sharpening their commercial story for clearer positioning and quicker sales closures, as well as growth and distribution, and revenue expansion.

Vanessa said, “It's easy to mistake activity for progress. We've seen businesses spend months executing beautifully on the wrong problem. By the time they realise it, they've lost more than money - they've also lost time. The first brief is rarely the real brief and the diagnostic work of finding what's underneath it isn't glamorous. But it's the difference between marketing that looks good and marketing that actually works."

Chin added, “When the thinking isn't clear, the instinct is to say more, so the messages get longer, and no one remembers them. We call it polished confusion. Our job is to help them get the thinking right first so that everything sharpens with it; people understand the product faster, deals move, and the team stops pulling in different directions.”

Ruder Finn Era has appointed Huong (Hailee) Le as Managing Director, Vietnam. Based in Hanoi, she will lead the firm's Vietnam business as it expands its strategic advisory capabilities across the region.

Hailee brings more than 15 years of communications experience in Vietnam. She joins Ruder Finn Era from Pioneer Consulting, where she spent more than 13 years, most recently as Managing Partner, advising local and multinational clients on corporate, brand and reputation strategy. Hailee has worked with various organisations, including McKinsey, Traveloka, and Mambu across corporate communications, thought leadership, market entry positioning, and trade communications.

"Hailee's appointment is about putting genuine senior firepower exactly where our clients need it, in-market and accountable for outcomes," said Anthony Larmon, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Ruder Finn Era.

"Vietnam's 8.02% GDP growth in 2025, the strongest in ASEAN, is fueling a new wave of multinational investment and demand for senior, AI-enabled communications counsel delivered in-market. Success here depends on people who understand its communities, not global playbooks applied from afar. We don't outsource, we don't hand off, and we don't localize templates. We design AI-powered strategies led by experienced consultants who own the work end to end."

Hailee shared, "I'm excited to join Ruder Finn Era at a time when communication is being reshaped by both technology and rising expectations from clients. AI has the potential to make our work smarter, faster and more insightful, but its real value comes from combining it with human judgment, local market understanding, and trusted client relationships. As we continue to grow in Vietnam, I'm looking forward to helping organisations embrace that balance and stay ahead of what's next."