Often it is not easy to determine what kind of career one will have and what kind of dreams one will realize. Which is exactly the case with Stephen Cranston. The CEO of Renegade had no idea that one day he would be working in public relations and would establish a company providing marketing and public relations services called Renegade.
Cranston said that before establishing Renegade he had worked for a political party in the United Kingdom as a public relations manager. Cranston could work for the political party because he liked to read and write books on politics. “I was 27 then,” recalled Cranston, who was born in 1970.
Since that time he has been deeply involved in public relations and over time he came to further understand the mechanisms of public relations. He also learned to understand the power of the word of mouth (WOM) and was recorded as the pioneer of WOM marketing in Asia.
After working in the UK, he traveled to Asia in the middle of 1990. In 1998, when Indonesia was in the midst of an economic crisis, he joined a public relations company called StarHub. In 2002, he set up his own company, Renegade, and immediately got major projects.
As a public relations company, Renegade assists its clients in introducing and marketing their products. One of Renegade’s strategies in attracting clients is staying away from conventional methods.
To enhance his knowledge and to expand the company’s marketing network, Cranston also focused on the new media, which was based on the internet. He also set up a blog specially dedicated to marketing.
“I set up a blog called marketingactivistblog.com, inviting users to share their ideas and thoughts about marketing.”
Renegade handles a long list of clients, one of which is Subaru distributed by PT Motor Image Group for Asia, namely in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, South China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
While Subaru is one of his current clients, Cranston cannot remember the exact number of clients his company has had.
“When you ask me the number of clients it is hard for me to answer as we have handled quite a number. Sorry that I can no longer remember. That’s probably because I’m not the romantic type so it’s easy for me to forget,” said Cranston with a laugh.
In the same vein as a quote by former US president Abraham Lincoln, Cranston believes that a job done badly will be remembered by a client, but a job well done is a plus point for a company. “Don’t expect clients to applaud or praise you. This wise statement has been my motto, so I do my maximum so that clients feel satisfied with my work,” he explained.
Cranston is also of the opinion that it is no use getting a large fee if one day a client switches to another public relations company, so it is better to get smaller fees as long as they stay with Renegade.
“Until now none of my clients have moved to another company as generally speaking they are satisfied with my service.”
Even though he has so many clients, Cranston felt happy when he got a project from his home country, Northern Ireland. As a political marketing and public relations consultant, he succeeded in taking the party’s members to sit in the parliament. At first he thought the victory would take a long time. However, his strategy soon produced a positive result.
“I was able to do all of it because I enjoyed the work, so I was totally involved. And, I did something valuable and something that many people enjoy,” he explained.
In Indonesia, Cranston at one time handled a product to enhance masculine prowess, called Levitra. Renegade applied the WOM strategy to introduce this product and it was successful. Marketing was in the form of placing pamphlets in men’s restrooms at airports. This successful method was later copied by others, so don’t be surprised if you see a number of ads on restroom walls. “We were the first to come up with this concept,” said Cranston.
Apart from using professional staff and employees, Cranston is involved in clients’ meetings. He acknowledged that it was usually better to hire many employees to make sure a company developed fast, but that was not his choice as he preferred a small number of quality staff to run his company well.
“We also want to maintain our standards and the reputation that we have set for ourselves. We are not a cheap service company as we are sure that all our clients will get added value from our services. Renegade will not develop further if it does not make new approaches,” he said.
Although there are many competitors, Cranston does not feel at a disadvantage as Renegade has a specialized marketing and public relations service. This is why the company can provide its services to a wide range of clients. According to Cranston, clients get many advantages from Renegade because they are provided with new strategies that are different from those offered by other companies.
In spite of the global economic crisis, Cranston is confident that a public relations company can still progress and have lots of opportunities.
“One example is the 1998 economic crisis when we won a number of projects. So far public relations companies are still booming. During the crisis, advertising expenditure increased. Currently we are offering our clients alternatives in advertising. Our marketing programs are relatively less costly than those at other public relations companies,” he explained.
Cranston is very much aware that his employees are the spearhead of the company’s success, so he does a lot for them. The employees at Renegade in Indonesia start from zero in terms of public relations knowledge.
“Although they are university graduates, they have minimum practical knowledge and their skill in practical thinking is also minimal. Therefore, I have to train and develop them further,” Cranston said.
Renegade also has offices in Singapore and Malaysia. Next year he plans to open a branch in China.
Cranston was interested in establishing Renegade in Indonesia because of the vast business opportunities here and because of the dynamics of the market.
Just like other CEOs, Cranston spends most of his time at work. However, he likes boxing and tries to make time to work out, explaining that his wife would not want him to be fat or chubby. Cranston also loves reading books on classical Greek, history, philosophy and drama.
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