Strategic Public Relations Group - PR Agency of the Year in Asia (China, Japan and Korea)

Company: Strategic Public Relations Group
Company Description: PR networks in APAC and the largest PR consultancy in Hong Kong. It is a specialist in public relations, investor relations and financial communications, and a trusted corporate and marketing communications leader. The award-winning agency has a 300 strong workforce, nine offices in the Asia-Pacific, and retainer clients numbering 300.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Public Relations Agency of the Year in Asia (China, Japan and Korea)

Nomination Title: Let the numbers speak for themselves!

In the last 25 years, SPRG has grown from a team of five into Hong Kong’s largest PR consultancy and a leading APAC regional PR group with 18 offices (14 in Asia) employing 290 professionals.

Staunchly independent, SPRG provides integrated communications services to over 300 clients. It is also an IPO/IR communications record holder in Hong Kong (“HK”), with over 480 IPOs completed and over 170 listcos advised to date. Furthermore, SPRG is Asia’s largest and most honoured PR network – winning 450+ awards. It is the only HK-based PR network ranked by PRovoke and PRWeek in their top-100 list since 2010 and 2016 to 2020, respectively.

Though the past two years were extremely challenging, our profit in Asia alone still managed to increase by 1.6 times, with fee income reaching US$20 million in FY21, despite the social incidients in HK and the pandemic.

SPRG extended its presence in Asia Pacific by acquiring 20% interest in an Australian IR/financial communications agency in 2019. In 2021, it established a JV in HK with a global communications consultancy that will bring clients from the Americas and EMEA to APAC.

Staff retention rate is at 73%, rare in highly mobilised PR industry.

Financials
-Fee income in Asia alone reached US$20 million in FY21; profit increased by 1.6 times due to effective cost management that avoided resorting to layoffs and salary cuts despite pandemic

Business performance
-Completed 47 listings, including one of 2021’s biggest, i.e. Kuaishou Technology, setting an applications received record in HK
-New business won: AEON Credit Services, Atome, Blue Moon Group, China Automotive Technology and Research Centre, Evergrande Group, Futu Securities, Kaishou Technology, MSD Pharma, SF REIT, Snapchat, The Peak Tower
-300 ongoing clients, including Academy of Science of Hong Kong, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, KFC, Lenovo, LG, Lui Che Woo Prize, Merck, Razer, and Zespri

New initiatives
-Formed JV to bring US/EMEA clients to APAC market
-Acquired 20% interest in Financial & Corporate Relations (Australia) to expand APAC reach
-Established Shenzhen team to develop IPO/IR business for HK market
-Launched “SPRG Chatroom” podcast, discussing PR trends and topics
-Introduced AI translation service and hired UK editor

Awards
-68 awards and accolades
-Stevie® Winner – PR Agency of the Year in Asia and PR for the seventh consecutive year
-69th in PRWeek Global Agency Business Report in 2021
-93rd in PRovoke’s Global PR Report Top 250 in 2020

-Strives to maintain SPRG’s independence to ensure flexible best practices and partnerships with top companies, as well as promotes autonomy among all 18 member offices
-Believes in hiring local professionals to manage regional offices as they are most aware of local sensitivities and practices, also offers training and advancement opportunities to nurture camaraderie and encourage personal development
-Most MDs/GMs have been with their own company since their inception, a rare case in the PR industry
-Staff retention rate at 73%
-Partners with the world’s largest independent PR network and PR groups to form a cohesive global affiliation network, hence SPRG is also able to help clients access over 165 cities globally
-SPRG member companies have many long-standing clients, some dating back to their founding

SPRG maintains agility despite adverse market conditions:
-Implemented prudent cost-saving measures
-Moved client events to online realm
-Adopted work-from-home procedures backed by strong IT support

-Caring for co-workers and supporting the community in good times and bad
-Announced during the COVID-19 outbreak that there would be no layoffs or salary cuts
-While salary freeze was implemented among members of senior management in 2020/21, promotions/salary increases were still extended to qualified general staff
-CSR initatives via Strategic CSR Network – SPRG’s NGO platform
-US$962,692+ in donations
-27,000+ beneficiaries
-235+ community events
-HK headquarters raised US$80,000 in in-kind donations and assisted 8,700 people in need during the pandemic