30 years of Mileage Communications
Mileage Communications turns 30 this year. Along this journey we adhered religiously to our operating philosophy.
One of the three tenets upon which Mileage was built, and which guides interaction with clients, partners, staff, vendors, the media and other stakeholders, is Observing Integrity.
Integrity refers to being honest, reliable, and trustworthy. It is about seeking to always do the right thing, standing up for what is right, and addressing conflict respectfully.
Over our 30-year history, we have faced our share of moral quandaries and risen to the challenge each time. There was once a major client poached one of our junior staff and claimed in their defence that she had applied for the post. In our retainer contract with the client, there was a penalty clause which prohibited both parties from recruiting each other’s employees. We opted to enforce the penalty at the expense of losing the client, and collected a fee (equal to one year’s worth of salary of the employee in question) that was one-fifth of the annual value of the retainer. It did not make financial sense but we felt that we had to stand up for our principles, and set an example for our staff and other clients.
Marriott International, our longest retainer client (more than 17 years), once gave all the PR agencies “The Spirit To Serve” a book by Mr J W Marriott. Mileage was the only agency to do a book review and secure publicity. That’s Adding Value, another precept of our philosophy
The final and most important principle is Ensuring Quality. No piece of written work goes out of our door without the vetting of two most senior management staff in the company. We call it the “four-eye” principle.
As a result, we were able to serve many long-standing blue chip clients, conduct media response and crisis management training for over 1,000 executives and handle countless issue and crisis incidents that ranged from ship collision, hotel bombing, food poisoning, oil spill to highway collapse. And we are grateful for the opportunity to do so.
Mileage has also given back to the PR fraternity and industry. Its MD had served more than a decade in the IPRS management committee. He was instrumental in kicking off the Ngee Ann Diploma course in Mass Communications. Since Mileage’s inception, the company has hosted interns from local and foreign universities and the polytechnics every year.
The success of any company cannot overlook the contributions of many stakeholders, namely its staff, clients, business partners, media and vendors.