EASTWEST PR Group pops the champagne on 2 decades of media services

Take a look at how the firm has grown.

According to a release, EASTWEST PR Group, an independent public relations network in the Asia Pacific region,  celebrates 20 years of adding value with every communication via traditional and digital media in June 2015.

Founded in Singapore in 1995, EASTWEST PR has expanded to China and India offering traditional media relations and digital social media communications. Initially focused on the broadcast industry, the Agency broadened its client base to Business to Business technology and life sciences in Singapore, and more recently to education and automotive in China and real estate in India.

The mission statement of the Agency in 1995 was ‘Access to Asia’ and the team has remained focused on this by a vision of ‘adding value with every communication.’ In 2006, the founder and director, Jim James, moved to Beijing to open the China offices, then in 2014 the Bangalore offices were opened by Sanjay Bose, Associate Director for India. Leveraging technologies to enable the network to be knowledge driven and geography independent, EASTWEST has been able to win substantial blue chip clients and retain them over many years.

Over the course of 20 years, EASTWEST PR has seen Asia Pacific undergo significant turmoil, change and growth. The Asia Financial Crisis of July 1997 kept the region in limbo until 1999 when the Internet Boom (1995-2001) brought funds from VC invested startups to Asia. The Internet Bubble burst in April 2001, followed by the attacks of 9/11/2001. During the same year, 2001, China gained accession to the WTO, followed by SARS epidemic from 2002 – 2004. Subsequently, ASEAN GDP per capita increased by 313% and China by 575% from 2001-2013. In the same timeframe, Europe achieved 100% growth and the USA 57% growth.

Commenting on the milestone of reaching 20 years in service to clients, and surviving the travails of the region, Jim James said, “I am grateful to the people who have enabled the vision of a regional, independent PR to become a reality; including the clients who entrusted EASTWEST with their valuable messages, the staff who continue to deliver great work, and to our partners around Asia and the world. After 20 years, much of it under some challenging conditions, I believe that the best years lie ahead of EASTWEST.”

EASTWEST has taken care of over 500 clients over two decades both directly and indirectly via a network of partners. Early clients included Quantel in digital graphics, and Tegic, the inventors of predictive text entry in 1997. Yahoo shopping, Inmarsat satellite telecommunications, ECA International, Sony Pictures, Microsoft, Philips Consumer Electronics, RIM and Nortel sustained and grew the Agency. Opening in China, EASTWEST supported AVNET on a regional basis, ECI Telecom, Sciex and latterly the Universities of York and Kent along with AGA and Morgan Motor Company. The India office quickly acquired clients including IEEE which was also a China client, Pubmatic, Tenneco and Tamara Coorg.

Partnerships have had a key role to play in the ability to win and service clients across Asia. EASTWEST partnered with Brodeur Partners in the US in 1997, building a network of independent agencies across 13 countries. These were drawn into work delivered for the Horn Group-led Oriella Network, and more recently the Globalcom PR Network based in Europe, and the Brands2Life network from the United Kingdom.

EASTWEST PR Group has been providing clients with traditional and new media services. In Singapore, the Agency has pioneered the use of video, including hosting its own iTunes channel, and in China it is leading with Weibo and WeChat strategies for clients to complement the use of media relations and event management. The nature of the PR agency has changed dramatically since 1995, and the dynamism of both the region and the industry create exciting potential for the EASTWEST network.