Priority Consultants began its journey in Singapore, famously described as a “little red dot” of a country (smaller than the dot on a global map) which was intensely focused on growth. It’s success can be attributed to Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) which then, as now, aggressively pursues foreign direct investment (FDI) in well defined key sectors, including technology, hi-tech manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, bio-medical research and pharmaceuticals, energy, engineering and professional services . A librarian by profession, Jane arrived on this “technology wave”, and shortly afterwards took a calculated leap to launch the firm. Her very first client? A mid-range computer company, called Prime Computers, and they worked together for the next two plus years.
The challenge these organisations, new to the region, faced was obvious and Priority’s mission was to help them get their brand “noticed and recognised”. The work started out in Singapore and rapidly expanded to the neighboring countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. For Jane, the role of communications was fundamentally about relationship management, and long before CRM (Customer Relationship Management), in the enterprise world, where the majority of new business comes from existing client relationships, it was imperative to manage the challenges of distance, the limitations of very small teams, and not have them be seen to “disappear” immediately a contract was signed.
In those early, print-dominant days, nurturing that initial trust meant on-going education and re-validation of the client’s decision through consistent direct communications, typically printed newsletters, and other collateral, often supported by a calendar of on-going focused events. Truly, it was a different world but one where Asian entities were keen to learn and “direct” meant putting a stamp on an envelope.
Singapore was an intelligent strategic entry point—a transportation centre with convenient services and already the regional business hub. However, for companies coming to start operations far from headquarters, success was “fast tracked by the people that helped open doors for you”. This inherent power of relationships, or Guanxi in the Chinese context, became the philosophy Priority was built upon in 1985.
To serve clients better, Priority extended its support beyond conventional media relations. From the outset the goal was to be a partner, working “as part of the client organisation,” taking ownership of the communications and providing critical support to small regional teams. This commitment was evident even in landmark engagements, including in launching what was then a “little known brand in Asia called SAP“.
Against the backdrop of much larger countries in the region, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, Priority Consultants remains committed to Singapore as the best location for the company’s headquarters. In some scenarios, the small market size of around six million people, would be a drawback but Singapore punches well above its weight in the global finance, Smart City, corporate governance and professional services spaces. The country has been an early adopter of technology, making its small size an asset in innovating solutions that enable the city state to compete on a global basis..
Likewise, the Singapore blueprint including corporate governance, business transparency, financial services, jurisprudence publishing, data protection and privacy, as well as cyber security are not only admired, but emulated, across Southeast Asia. This will only grow as regional cooperation escalates in the context of increasing regulations and uncertainty from traditional markets, including the US. It was no surprise that Southeast Asia emerged as the world’s fourth largest economic bloc in 2024.
Looking back at 40 years of Priority Consultants, two of the ingredients for success are obvious: serendipity (being at the right time during the tech boom) and recognising that no enterprise is an island and the company remains committed to going above and beyond in building deep and authentic relationships.
