Asia communications veteran Seamus Phan brings 35 years of publicity and branding experience in an anthology of essays on building brands and gaining publicity in a turbulent world
Seamus Phan, principal and chief technology officer of Asia Pacific communications consulting firm McGallen & Bolden Group, has launched a new book, “Tough Times, Great PR – Dot Zen 3.0: Building Brands and Publicity for the 21st Century (ISBN 9780983505822)”, available at online bookstores worldwide.
“Tough Times, Great PR” was birthed from Phan’s engagement with clients to continue building their brands through publicity during the global pandemic, when businesses faced many pressures from stringent healthcare controls, remote working or shutdowns, business decline, budget cuts, layoffs, and external political and global conflict pressures on processes and revenue.
Third book in the “Dot Zen” series
“Tough Times, Great PR” is the third book in the “Dot Zen” series. The first “Dot Zen – Practical tips and thoughts on business, marketing, PR and the Internet from the Diamond Sutra (ISBN 9789810456450)” book was penned in 2003 by Seamus Phan and Ter Hui Peng, with short writings on business, customer service, quality management, marketing, sales, publicity, branding, leadership, and the Internet. The next “Dot Zen” book, titled “Dot Zen 2.0 – On marketing, social media, technology, public relations, human capital and leadership (ISBN 9780983505815)” was penned by Seamus Phan in 2013.
Focusing on PR, marketing and branding in Asia Pacific
The “Tough Times, Great PR – Dot Zen 3.0: Building Brands and Publicity for the 21st Century” book narrows the focus to mainly public relations, branding, and marketing, with references to ongoing trends in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), web3, and digital tools for collaboration in a remote and hybrid work environment. The book is meant to be a quick reference for C-suite corporate leaders and practitioners, allowing them to look up specific pages, reflect, or act. The book chapters are brief and easy to include into existing communication programs or start new ones.
The book has short writings on a 5-prong approach to building brands in Asia Pacific, a simple checklist for all businesses to assess their readiness for public relations in the Asia Pacific, crisis communication and management recommendations, media monitoring and emerging standards, managing tough interviews for spokespersons, and technology recommendations on AI, open source tools for communication and collaboration, and building digital resilience.
“When much of the world began to take on the pandemic, economies and businesses were put on hold, or had to slow down. Businesses had to shutter, lay off people, and move online. Offices became silent and dark, while workers worked from home. Some heritage brands that have thrived for decades or more, closed down. Many client businesses needed breathing room while planning to see how best they could emerge from what seemed like perpetuity. Fortunately, the world finally emerged from the pandemic. But from the three years of the pandemic, there were lessons for businesses, and many of those lessons were learned the hard way in the midst of surviving the pandemic. As a communications and leadership transformation practitioner, we worked closely with clients to brave through the global ‘black swan’ event together. It was those lessons we learned together, that I felt could be summarized into digestible writings for an anthology, and ‘Tough Times, Great PR’ was born. We hope this simple book can serve as a quick reference to entrepreneurs, business leaders, startups, and practitioners,” said Seamus Phan, principal and chief technology officer, McGallen & Bolden Group.
For more information and purchases, visit:
– Amazon
About Seamus Phan
Seamus Phan is a problem-solver, with 35 years of professional field experience in consulting and business fields. He was an Internet and cybersecurity pioneer since 1996, and a software developer since the 1970s. He co-developed an email security server appliance, as well as a UNIX-based business analysis system during his doctoral studies. He carried out independent biochemistry research on antioxidants and lipids. He was also a pioneer service quality consultant for aviation and other businesses. He has diverse interests from science, art, to philosophy. As a journalist, he interviewed stars such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and 5-time Olympian Jorge Bonnet. Find out more at https://seamusphan.com.
