You have a proven track record in media relations, with over 500 top industry media placements for research findings, including South China Morning Post, Inside Precision Medicine, Nature Middle East, Al Jazeera, Bangkok Post.

With your new consultancy, Momentum AI, you now specialize in translating science-based insights into strategic communications.

- In a world of marketing bubbles and jargon, you have chosen to focus on generating real research for your clients' messages. Please explain your approach.

Jaxon: Our philosophy is grounded in communicating to industry and broader audiences, especially within the biotech and health-tech realms. Our approach distills complex scientific data into clear, engaging, and strategically framed messages that resonate with the media and the public. This methodology ensures that communications are informative and compelling, building credibility and authority.

Before entering the biotech and health world as Head of International PR at BGI Genomics and defining its research-driven approach to communications, you gained a wealth of knowledge in media intelligence at Cision, the world's leading press release and media monitoring company. What were your key learnings from these key career stations?

Jaxon: Working at BGI Genomics, I learned the importance of aligning PR activities with core scientific advancements and translating research findings into understandable messages for broader audiences. For example, science journalists may not have a PhD but they help to transmit key messages to your target audience.

At Cision, I accessed advanced technological tools to understand media trends, monitor brand perception, and apply data insights to strategize PR efforts. Both roles emphasized the crucial integration of data-driven insights and strategic communication planning.

You conduct surveys to gain exclusive data and enhance thought leadership in an industry. What is your specific approach to surveying, and how can startups with limited resources get started with efficient surveying?

Jaxon: Perhaps we should begin by asking why tap on original survey findings in communications. Simply put, 68% of journalists are looking for original survey findings since they seek to attract more views and engagements in the most efficient manner possible. In 2023, the number of layoffs in the U.S. news industry was close to 2,700, the highest annual number since 2020.

Therefore, producing original survey findings is a great way to reinforce thought leadership. For startups with limited resources, I advise focusing on lean survey methods—utilizing cost-effective tools and platforms that still provide reliable data. You may also leverage social media and professional networks to increase survey reach without additional financial spend.

You regularly report on public relations trends in Asia, including in your Substack newsletter, The Tao of Communications, and in selected top Asian business media, where you report on findings such as overused press release words. What are the current trends in the Asian communications landscape that you can share? What public relations trends on a global scale have you observed recently?

Jaxon: In Asia, there is an increasing reliance on social media platforms for brand narratives. For example, in Vietnam, Facebook may be used for business networking, similar to LinkedIn. So, a well-integrated PR and social media strategy is a must in Asia.

Globally, PR narratives have a heightened focus on diversity and inclusion that goes beyond a feel-good concept supported by hard figures. In Singapore, based on the latest study by the Council for Board Diversity, the proportion of women appointed directors to the boards of large listed companies reached a record high last year, accounting for 36 per cent of all director appointments of the top 100 companies on the Singapore Exchange.

You're an expert in Asia-Pacific communications, but you're also a keen observer of global events, especially in the big media world of North America. How do you keep up with the global media landscape?

Jaxon: I follow three websites to keep up with the global media landscape: Nieman Lab for US media news, The Press Gazette for the UK, and Campaign Asia for APAC. Campaign Asia recently published my opinion piece on Temu's PR strategy.

Please reveal your top productivity tool for public relations

Jaxon: I use PR Maestro, a custom GPT designed by my team to assist - not replace - PR professionals to enhance quality and productivity. Feel free to give it a test drive if you have a paid ChatGPT subscription, as we have provided default prompts, e.g., a 5W1H framework (who, what, where, when, why and how) to get more structured insights and imbued it with PR principles of transparency and building trust among target audiences.

Finally, what kind of campaign would you love to run next? If you could choose from company size, industry, topic, resources?

Jaxon: I am particularly interested in orchestrating a campaign for an emerging health-tech company revolutionizing patient care through innovative technology. The campaign would strategically utilize unique survey data to highlight pivotal trends and challenges in healthcare, such as the adoption of telemedicine or AI diagnostics. By gathering comprehensive insights directly from healthcare professionals and patients, we could craft compelling narratives that underscore the impact of these technologies on improving healthcare outcomes.

This data-driven approach would foster the company's strong thought leadership position and secure significant media coverage. We would target top-tier health and technology journals, leveraging our unique survey findings to offer fresh, authoritative content that stands out in the crowded health-tech space.

We aim to create a series of impactful stories and data-driven reports that resonate with industry stakeholders and the broader public, effectively driving brand awareness and engagement.

Thank you!

Connect with Jaxon (JX) Tan on LinkedIn

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