Meet the masterminds behind our favourite Malaysian homegrown artists

After all these years, you must have had your fair share of ups and downs. What would you say was the biggest PR misfire you’ve made?

Everything has been good so far. The only thing that’s close to a misfire was when we were handling Njwa’s second album, Aurora. It wasn’t as big a hit as her debut Innocent Soul. She was preoccupied with her studies in Boston at the time and without on-ground promotion, it kind of lowered the awareness and the impact of the release even though we had the story up on multiple online portals. That said, the reception to the Seri Mersing rerecording from that album was mind-blowing.

How do you plan a talent’s career? In Kayda’s case, what were the things that came first in your playbook and how did you engage her?

We met Kayda in 2019 when she was planning to release Autopilot and looking for a publicist. We listened to the song and thought it was catchy but we didn’t say yes straight away. We felt that the mainstream audience was still unaware of her and her music so we asked her if she had any Malay songs that we could release besides Autopilot. That’s when we heard about Macam Macam, a song she wrote and co-produced with Luca Sickta, and we managed to convince her to release it first.

How have PR strategies changed since you first started?

We began to notice the change in 2010 when Mizz Nina released her first single, What You Waiting For. Her manager came to us for marketing plans and the first thing she asked was, “Do you have bloggers and online media contacts?” At the time, we were still dependent on print media so she rejected the first marketing plan and insisted that we find all the online portals we could blast the press releases to. But no matter what the medium is, on-ground promotion is always a must to create awareness and support new releases.

With the presence of social media, do you think it has altered the way publicity works? Does it make it harder for you to get ahead of things like controversies or gossip?

We can create buzz faster and plan marketing strategies better with social media. If you do it right from the beginning, we believe that everything will fall into place. But the talent plays a very important role here. The management can lay out all the guidelines for them but they must always remember to refrain from posting anything that could come back to bite them later, especially things that are political or racist.

What’s next for you and Kayda?

At the moment, Kayda is working on a Merdeka-themed song for a campaign with Shopee Malaysia. She has written the lyrics in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil, and she will also be rapping and appearing in the music video. Other than that, she’s just finished recording her new single, Len Macam, which we plan to release next year. We shall announce it when the time comes!

If there’s one thing that separates Manisha Jagan from many of her contemporaries, it’s the fact that she knows exactly what it’s like to be on both ends of the spectrum. The chief executive officer at MTalent Asia was once a talent herself, always on the lookout for opportunities as a model, spoken word poet, voice- over artist and an emcee, before eventually setting up her own agency in early 2015. Since then, MTalent Asia has adapted to the ever-changing industry by constantly exploring new verticals across the talent sphere while establishing its other key services such as public relations and visual production.

What do you look for in a talent?

Their work ethic, adaptability, goals as well as their influence and potential reach. We do enjoy working with talents that know who they are as an artist and as a brand but we can also help them discover their brand by conducting a SWOT analysis to maximise their strengths and opportunities while working on their weaknesses and threats.

MTalent Asia represents some of the hottest names in town including Elizabeth Tan. How do you strategise their individual careers?

In the case of Elizabeth Tan, we worked closely with her music label team at the time, Warner Music Malaysia, and it was really them that had planned and strategised her overall career. We, on the other hand, crafted pitches creatively to align and match both artist vision and brand story to potential clients. At the end of the project, we delivered successful results to all parties involved, creating concrete relationships between brands and the talent.

Looking at her career trajectory, Elizabeth’s brand seems to appeal to the broad Malay demographic and not just the urban market. Is this a conscious decision made by her (or your team)?

Elizabeth Tan is a great example of a talent who knows herself both as an artist and a brand that we like to work with. It was really her who made the decision to appeal to the broad Malay audience, even in the early days of her career, which to us was a smart move. In 2019, we started working together with her and her label to expand on that with other brands that fit her direction.

But how does her daring image—for our conservative market’s standards at least—play into this strategy?

In my opinion, Elizabeth Tan is not afraid to sell sexy. She is not afraid to say that she wants to look sexy in her work. For a song that’s titled Shh, she and her music label wanted to see how far they could go in the current Malay music landscape with provocative outfits and dance choreography.

Do you put an emphasis on the talents being mindful of their personal lives?

We encourage our talents to share and be controversial but also mindful of the consequences that come after that one click. We advise them to avoid oversharing or revealing too much personal information to the public or any stranger to avoid jeopardising their future, and to always think ahead of their actions. We encourage them to share their opinions but if unsure, we recommend sharing with us internally so we can advise further.

Is any publicity good publicity and is “cancel culture” real? Does the mainstream media share the same sentiment?

That depends on the situation and its severity. There have been a lot of celebrities who were cancelled recently for controversial reasons pertaining to discrimination and other social issues; it is the same for mainstream media. Sometimes, some of their opinions or content is curated or part of a bigger plan but with that said, talents should know they have a lot at stake and should tread properly.

What character traits make someone well-suited to your line of work?

Patience, discipline and determination—very common traits for most kinds of work. However, if there were to be one trait that stands out from the rest, it’d be persona. In the entertainment line, you’d have to have a likeable personality. People in this industry are highly passionate and highly emotional. So if you’re naturally likeable, it shall take you a long way.

Do you feel like the lines between a PR person, a publicist and a manager are blurred, especially in Malaysia?

I truly think they are. However, it is understandable as the limitations in the local market do not allow us to have the three different positions separated. I’ve always believed that the term “talent manager” is used loosely in Malaysia. This is also why I pride myself in saying that I’m an owner of a talent agency and not just a talent manager. We pride ourselves on building a system that develops and supports our talents, not just riding off their “jobs”.

How has “marketability” changed since you first started in the industry?

It’s hard to say but I definitely think that social media has given marketability a helping hand. Not having a social media following isn’t the end of the world but having one would definitely take you places and take you there faster. You used to rely on radio and television to promote your products but today you have your own digital content sphere to do all that.

How do you strategise a talent’s career? For Ayda Jebat, what would you say is her brand?

For Ayda, it’s always been storytelling. Each and every song of hers tells a story and the stories are close to her heart. We’ve built this for over six years now and have never swayed from it. We’ve always been rebellious and daring and we don’t foresee that to change anytime soon.

As for capitalising on her celebrity, how do you connect her with clients for endorsement?

Let’s take her relationship with Oppo as an example. It started when she was working on her first music video for Siapa Diriku. It was just a collaboration and not an endorsement but that partnership grew when we found out that her fans enjoyed the product being integrated into her video.

Do these partnerships reflect her personal interests?

Yes, interest would be a major factor for Ayda in deciding if we’d work with a brand or not. Throughout the years, we’ve turned down quite a number of deals as we feel that the brands do not represent what Ayda stands for or Ayda herself does not believe in the brand.

How do you measure a talent’s worth that’s reflected in their fees?

It’s actually economics. Demand and supply. Everyone starts with the basics and works themselves up. Some are luckier to start with a very strong following, hence demanding higher prices at the beginning. However, I don’t believe that the number of followers determines the rates. It also has a lot to do with how you carry the brand and how you translate it into the language of your followers.