Gutenberg launches Singapore office with AI enabled services client, Smarten Spaces

 28th November 2017    PR News 
 Paarul Chand

Gutenberg, today announced the launch of its' office in Singapore focusing on digtial communications services. Singapore will host Gutenberg’s ninth office, which will be strategically important for expanding into the ASEAN market. The ASEAN region contains the important PR markets of countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

McKinsey, in a recent report, called the 10 member states of ASEAN an economic powerhouse.  ASEAN’s 600 million people comprise one of the largest trading blocks in the world with a rapidly growing digital market. With 70% of the population under the age of 40, ASEAN’s GDP is expected to have speedy growth in the coming decade from its current US$2.3 trillion. Economic growth will be accompanied by strong growth in the digital sector. The digital market in ASEAN is estimated to grow to more than US$ 200 billion by 2025.

Commenting on the expansion in Singapore, Harjiv Singh, founder and CEO, Gutenberg, told PRmoment India that he hopes to double the company's growth rate through the ASEAN region. Gutenberg currently claims a CAGR of 30% in the 13 years of its existence. This forecast is way above current global PR growth rates of 6-7 & specific Indian PR growth rates of 10 to 15 % .

Singh also announced the signing on of their Singapore client, Smarten Spaces, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that helps real estate companies and enterprises globally digitise spaces and experiences that enhance performance and productivity.  Dinesh Malkani, founder & CEO, Smarten Spaces, said, “ We partnered with Gutenberg as we were looking for a global integrated marketing communications firm that brought industry expertise around AI, a strong global footprint and marketing experts who understand how to build our brand”.

Gutenberg is transitioning to being an integrated communications firm, from just PR. While most mid and large sized PR firms today say they are switching from traditional PR to a more integrated marketing communications model, this is easier said than done. SIngh warned that this is the area where agencies get caught out. He advised the PR business to watch where the CMO is moving in the marketing mix in order to keep ahead of the curve. Singh commented that the CMO today is moving from being a brand person to a sales person and this means that PR and communication has to help the CMO deliver on business results.