曾立基1988年畢業於新聞與傳播學系，主修廣播，公關科目一科都沒碰過，怎料畢業後因緣際會踏進了公關界，就再也沒有離開過。「我在畢業之初，碰到一家酒店正在成立公關部，當時的酒店總經理認定『唸新聞的應該懂得做公關』，便聘請了我。」

一年後，他加入當時全球最大的公關顧問公司，先後從事企業傳訊和財經公關工作。五年後轉職至另一家國際公關公司，短短一年內替它建立起在亞太區的財經公關組。1995年，兩位舊同事相邀創業，「當時心想，與其為他人作嫁衣裳，不如自己做老闆。」他便毅然在廿九歲之年，創立了縱橫公關集團，由最初只有五名僱員，發展至如今超過三百人，遍佈香港、北京、上海、廣州、台灣、新加坡及馬來西亞的十五家分公司，在業界無人不曉。

財經公關成為縱橫的本業，曾立基解釋，企業要上市，前後涉及大量公關工作。首先，公關公司要為籌備上市的企業推廣股份，讓基金經理、投資者及媒體熟悉該企業品牌及前景。「過去二十年有一千多間公司在港交所上市，當中三百六十多間由縱橫提供公開招股前的公關顧問服務。」公司上市後，還要定期發布公司資訊、舉辦業績發布會等，這些則需要「投資者關係」方面的公關。

在香港以外的分公司，縱橫的業務卻跟財經公關沾不上邊：北京分公司主打科技與汽車公關；上海聚焦旅遊酒店與生活時尚公關；廣州和馬來西亞專注企業傳訊；新加坡擅長公營機構與娛樂公關；台灣則以醫療保健公關為重點。

這樣的格局原來出自曾立基的「本地化」理念，即公關服務要以各地招攬所得專才為依歸：「公關是以人為本和本地化的行業，因為本地人對當地文化的了解、人脈及資源的掌握，以至哪些說話應避忌，哪些事情做不得，都比外來者清楚得多。」

他透露自己組建外地公關班底的訣竅：「進駐海外市場前，我會先找當地的公關協會，了解一下當地市場最需要哪方面的公關。然後找獵頭公司聘請當地大型公關公司的第二把交椅當總經理。」

為甚麼以第二把交椅為挖角目標？「因為第一把交椅通常是老闆，請不動，而第二把交椅通常是最能幹、最內行的人。如果受聘的人擅長做科技類公關，那分公司就專注在科技；擅長做時尚就專注在時尚，無所謂。 」

公關災難近年有愈發頻仍之勢，曾立基分析，社交平台興盛是原因之一。「以往印刷媒體的運作以一天為單位，因此當『災難』出現之初，企業可爭取時間，在報紙出版前把握『黃金二十四小時』回應並交代事件。但社交平台令資訊流通速度加快，人人成為『自媒體』，捕捉到大小事情都迅即散播開去。企業回應的時間大大縮短，事情便容易傳得一發不可收拾。而且在社交平台上，往往只看到事情的表面，背後原因甚至事情真偽難以判斷，也令公關危機出現得更多。」

曾立基希望更多人能領略這行業的魅力。「從事公關的好處是每天都在學習新事物。很多人一輩子可能涉足一兩個行業，但我透過財經公關，幫了數百企業上市，和數百上市公司主席建立信任和友誼，深入了解各行各業，這不是很有意思嗎？」

Richard Tsang majored in broadcasting in the 1980s but had never studied public relations. Little did he realize that after graduation, he would be drawn into the field and remain in the profession ever since.

‘Soon after graduation, I stumbled upon a hotel which was setting up an in-house PR department. The hotel’s general manager assumed that a journalism graduate like me would know something about PR. So I was hired,’ he recalled.

A year later, he joined a PR consultancy firm, the world’s largest back then, where he did corporate communications and financial public relations work. Five years on, he switched to another international PR agency, and within a year, helped to establish a financial PR team for the Asia-Pacific market. In 1995, he and two former colleagues decided to set up their own firm. ‘It occurred to me that instead of fighting others’ battles, why not become a boss myself?’

At age 29, he established the Strategic Public Relations Group (SPRG). In the beginning, it had only five employees. Now it has developed into a market leader with a staff force of over 300 and 15 offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.    

Financial PR forms the core of the Group’s business in Hong Kong. Richard explained that companies seeking to launch IPOs have extensive public relations work to do both before and after the listing. First of all, the public relations firm hired to help such a company must promote its stocks and familiarize fund managers, investors and media with the client’s brand. ‘Over the past 20 years, more than a thousand companies have been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, of which over 360 engaged SPRG during the pre-IPO period.’ Once a company has gone public, it still has to issue corporate information and performance announcements on a regular basis. All this requires ‘investor relations’ services, a facet of public relations.

Outside of Hong Kong, however, the Group’s branch offices are not at all involved in financial PR. Its Beijing office is engaged in technology and automobile public relations. In Shanghai, the focus is on hotel and lifestyle PR. In Guangzhou and Malaysia, it is corporate communications. In Singapore, its specialty is PR for public organizations and the entertainment industry, while in Taiwan, medical and healthcare PR.

This business diversity emanates from Richard’s idea of ‘localization’, as he believes that the nature of PR services a company can provide is highly dependent on the talent recruited to do their jobs. ‘PR is a people-centred and localized profession. Nobody understands a place better than the locals who live there and know which button to push and what not to say or do.’

Richard also revealed his secret of forming PR teams abroad. ‘Before venturing into an overseas market, I would first look for the public relations association there to find out the type of PR services most in demand locally. Subsequently, I would engage a headhunter to recruit the second-in-command person from a large PR company in that market.’

Why pick the second-in-command? ‘That’s because the top job is usually held by the boss, who cannot be poached. In contrast, people holding second-in-command roles are usually the most capable and knowledgeable in the industry. If the hired candidates are more adept in technology PR, then the offices they head will focus on this field. Conversely, if they are more specialized in lifestyle PR, then the entire company will follow suit.’

PR disasters seem to be on the rise in recent years. According to Richard, the rise of social media platforms is one of the reasons. ‘Traditional print media operate by a 24-hour-day cycle. When a crisis first brews, a company could still fight for time and pen a response before the newspapers go to print. With the emergence of social media, the flow of information is accelerated and everybody becomes a news agent himself. Every issue large or small, once reported, has the potential to go viral. This has drastically reduced the time for companies to respond. It has thus become easier for matters to get blown out of proportion. Meanwhile, social media platforms tend to offer a superficial glimpse into issues. The true reasons behind them are often unknown and hard to verify, paving the way for more crises to occur.’

Richard hoped that more young graduates would join the PR profession to see its appeal for themselves. ‘The benefit of a PR career is that one is made to learn new things every day. Many people may set foot in one or two trades in their lifetime. But through financial public relations, I have helped a few hundred companies become publicly listed, and built trust and friendship with their chairmen. This has given me an in-depth understanding of different industries. Isn’t this a meaningful career to be in?’