Connecting Vision with Visibility
Connecting Vision with Visibility
Welcome to
essential business malaysia
Foreword
A Word From Our Partners.
At ebm, we draw our clients’ communications objectives closer to the people that they want to connect with. We bring international and domestic business communications experience to a multitude of stakeholders which include A-Board listed companies, GLCs and Multinationals with interest in Malaysia.
ebm works closely with in-house teams and international partners to achieve agile, strategic communications campaigns that enable you to pivot with shifting market demand.
The ebm Expertise
Strategic communication solutions that connect, protect, and elevate your business.
Engagement
Public and Stakeholder
Relations
Influence
Public Affairs and Government Relations
Preparedness
Issues Preparedness and Crisis Communications
Confidence
Communications Coaching and Narrative Shaping
Brands We Worked with
Trusted By Industry Leaders.
We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional communication solutions that drive results.
Our diverse portfolio of clients reflects the versatility and effectiveness of our services across various sectors.
From strategic public relations and public affairs to crisis management and media training, we have partnered with industry leaders to elevate their communication strategies and ensure they connect meaningfully with the people who matter most.
Our team
Meet The Essentials
Felix Heinimann
Chief Executive Officer
Felix began his career in private banking before joining Ernst & Young as Vice Director. He later joined Swatch, where he headed a global business unit with an annual P/L of up to USD 100 million, becoming the youngest Member of the extended Board of Swatch AG.
After a decade at Swatch, he joined Siemens to implement their global communication strategy in Southeast Asia. In addition to developing its communications framework, he prepared the C-Suite for a listing in New York, which reinforced Siemens’ corporate reputation as a comprehensive and global solution provider in Telecommunications and Industries.
Early in 2000 he founded essence communications, which was subsequently bought by WPP and today operates as essence BC, a member of wpp world-wide (NASDAQ: WPPGY). He fully divested his shares in July 2020 to WPP. In 2021, he founded EBM (Essential Business Malaysia) which focuses on Public Affairs, Reputation Management and ESG. The compana serves exclusively projects of either national interest or delivers high impact toward socioeconomic or socio-political value.
Felix has extensive experience in advising multinationals operating either into or out of Malaysia cross a range of industries. His clients include Huawei, Bosch, Schneider Electric, Petronas, Exxon, Vale and Rio Tinto to name a few. Over the course of his three decades in Malaysia, he has developed deep relationships with the key Ministries and with highly influential GLCs and NGOs in the region.
He has been involved in Government Lobbying and FDI projects for German, French, US, British and Australian multinationals. Recent projects include international reputation and issues management for PETRONAS, strategic advisory for the Central Bank of Malaysia, issues and crisis management surrounding 1MDB stakeholders as well as specific profiling projects on Sustainability such as the annual The Economist Sustainability Summit Asia or the advisory on sustainability programs for the Palm Oil Industry.
Felix sits on the Advisory Board of several Malaysian tertiary education institutions and is the Honorary Treasurer of the Public Relations Consultants Associations Malaysia (PRCAM).
Primary Industry sector experience: Energy, Infrastructure, Finance, National Resources, Pharma, Consumer, Automotive and Tourism.
Elliza Rahim
Partner & Strategist
Elliza has 20 years of experience in PR at regional level and was previously based in Singapore before returning to Malaysia.
As communications stratégist, she advises on communications and corporate positioning for clients in the oil & gas, heavy industries, chemical, transportation and financial institutions. These include the Central Bank, Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM), PETRONAS. BASF PETRONAS Chemicals. Vale, Huawei, Accenture and Prudential.
Eliza has led our team in managing communications for lobbying, region-wide product recalls, consumer issues, litigation support PR, crafting strategies and advising on content drawn from sentiment monitoring analysis. She has also coached senior executives, civil service officers and trained in-house communications teams across Southeast Asia to prepare them to communicate effectively during crisis.
As shareholder and public activism rose, her work has increasingly diversified into helping companies evolve their communications strategies to embrace circular economy and sustainability working with international bodies such as Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Alliance to End Plastic waste and Energy Asia 2023 – the region’s first industry summit towaro transitioning to net zero carbon emissions.
Her work has been recognized locally and internationally. In 2011, her crisis management skills led the team to a Silver Award at the global WPPed Cream Awards in New York. In 2013, also in New York, our team garnered the 2013 Highly Commended Gold SABRE for Consumer Products at the Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards. Most recently, our work with Grab received Silver in Financial Services and Advocacy Communications at the regional Marketing PR Award 2020.
Prior to embarking on her career in public relations, she was a journalist at The Star in Malaysia and both Malay as well as English newspapers under Singapore Press Holdings.
As communications stratégist, she advises on communications and corporate positioning for clients in the oil & gas, heavy industries, chemical, transportation and financial institutions. These include the Central Bank, Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM), PETRONAS. BASF PETRONAS Chemicals. Vale, Huawei, Accenture and Prudential.
Eliza has led our team in managing communications for lobbying, region-wide product recalls, consumer issues, litigation support PR, crafting strategies and advising on content drawn from sentiment monitoring analysis. She has also coached senior executives, civil service officers and trained in-house communications teams across Southeast Asia to prepare them to communicate effectively during crisis.
As shareholder and public activism rose, her work has increasingly diversified into helping companies evolve their communications strategies to embrace circular economy and sustainability working with international bodies such as Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Alliance to End Plastic waste and Energy Asia 2023 – the region’s first industry summit towaro transitioning to net zero carbon emissions.
Her work has been recognized locally and internationally. In 2011, her crisis management skills led the team to a Silver Award at the global WPPed Cream Awards in New York. In 2013, also in New York, our team garnered the 2013 Highly Commended Gold SABRE for Consumer Products at the Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards. Most recently, our work with Grab received Silver in Financial Services and Advocacy Communications at the regional Marketing PR Award 2020.
Prior to embarking on her career in public relations, she was a journalist at The Star in Malaysia and both Malay as well as English newspapers under Singapore Press Holdings.
Norliza Abdullah
Associate Consultant - Policy and Sentiment Research
Norliza built a career spanning 20 years at Berita Harian, Malaysia’s leading Malay language newspaper. In the last five years there, her reputation was that of a tough and canny assistant news editor.
She is accomplished in several areas of specialist reporting including those for the Civil and Syariah Courts, Economic Outlook & Business Trends, Academic Performance and Ethical Healthcare reports.
Norliza professionally trained in investigative research methods at the National Institute of Journalism Berlin, Germany. Her career highlights include reporting on the trial of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, becoming regional bureau chief in Johor Baharu covering reports for Singapore and Indonesia.
She was later appointed Facilitator for Public Examination Guidance Programmes run by Berita Harian Education Desk.
More recently, she was Consultant Researcher for nominations to the Merdeka Award Secretariat, leading a team researching nominees for the Merdeka Award. The Award recognizes and celebrates the achievements as well as significant contributions of individuals to Malaysia and her people, within their respective fields.
Norliza holds a Master’s Degree in Mass Communications from University Malaya and a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from UTM. She is an adjunct lecturer at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
She is accomplished in several areas of specialist reporting including those for the Civil and Syariah Courts, Economic Outlook & Business Trends, Academic Performance and Ethical Healthcare reports.
Norliza professionally trained in investigative research methods at the National Institute of Journalism Berlin, Germany. Her career highlights include reporting on the trial of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, becoming regional bureau chief in Johor Baharu covering reports for Singapore and Indonesia.
She was later appointed Facilitator for Public Examination Guidance Programmes run by Berita Harian Education Desk.
More recently, she was Consultant Researcher for nominations to the Merdeka Award Secretariat, leading a team researching nominees for the Merdeka Award. The Award recognizes and celebrates the achievements as well as significant contributions of individuals to Malaysia and her people, within their respective fields.
Norliza holds a Master’s Degree in Mass Communications from University Malaya and a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from UTM. She is an adjunct lecturer at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Haniza S. Harun
Associate Consultant - Editorial and Narratives
Haniza Syed Harun has more than 15 years of experience in journalism and public relations collectively. She started out as a reporter with The Star, reporting mostly on issues in local government and politics, with some lifestyle and community reporting After five years of journalism, she switched her focus to public relations, focusing on strategic content creation and development.
In the private sector, she planned and managed community communications initiatives for clients like Cyberview Sdn. Bhd., Bayer, Colgate Palmolive and MSD Malaysia. Independently, she has also launched the leading Malaysian crowdfling platform pitchiN.my.
She has extensive experience serving in the public sector having served at the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC). She was responsible for developing key messages for the Commission’s literature and public engagements, strategic development of press statements, speeches and talking points for the Commission’s Chairman, Members of the Commission, and Cabinet Ministers. She revamped the Commission’s online content presentation and managed the production of annual and industry performance reports.
While at the Commission, she was seconded to the then Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications as Special Officer to the Deputy Minister, providing counsel on matters related to the communications and multimedia industry, research on industry-specific, interests and parliamentary (Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara) matters.
Her specialist skills continue to transform stakeholder and public perceptions of industries that are critical pillars of the Malaysian economy – developing media content around the net zero emissions narrative for Energy Asia 2023 and mapping the journey of converging technologies for the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in the latest edition of its Convergence Handbook.
In the private sector, she planned and managed community communications initiatives for clients like Cyberview Sdn. Bhd., Bayer, Colgate Palmolive and MSD Malaysia. Independently, she has also launched the leading Malaysian crowdfling platform pitchiN.my.
She has extensive experience serving in the public sector having served at the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC). She was responsible for developing key messages for the Commission’s literature and public engagements, strategic development of press statements, speeches and talking points for the Commission’s Chairman, Members of the Commission, and Cabinet Ministers. She revamped the Commission’s online content presentation and managed the production of annual and industry performance reports.
While at the Commission, she was seconded to the then Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications as Special Officer to the Deputy Minister, providing counsel on matters related to the communications and multimedia industry, research on industry-specific, interests and parliamentary (Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara) matters.
Her specialist skills continue to transform stakeholder and public perceptions of industries that are critical pillars of the Malaysian economy – developing media content around the net zero emissions narrative for Energy Asia 2023 and mapping the journey of converging technologies for the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in the latest edition of its Convergence Handbook.
Angelyn Tan
Associate Consultant - Social Media Sentiment Research
Angelyn Tan focuses on youth-oriented and technology-intensive clients including Riot Games, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, the EU-ASEAN Business Council and PETRONAS.
She keeps tabs of trends and policy developments across Southeast Asia for our clients to help them pivot content appropriately in response to a rapidly changing communications environment.
This is crucial differentiator of successful, well-rounded content campaigns as Malaysia is ranked in the Top 5 heaviest markets for social media usage.
She is experienced in online and grassroots PR campaigns including designing communications on the topic of “Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch” to educate children in primary school.
More recently, she and our media management team were responsible for managing media content and engagement with more than 200 media who attended Energy Asia 2023 – Asia Pacific’s first industry summit toward transitioning to net zero carbon emissions.
She is also part of the Malaysian standing team securing media interest and working closely with the APCO Storybook Live Studio projects from around the globe.
She keeps tabs of trends and policy developments across Southeast Asia for our clients to help them pivot content appropriately in response to a rapidly changing communications environment.
This is crucial differentiator of successful, well-rounded content campaigns as Malaysia is ranked in the Top 5 heaviest markets for social media usage.
She is experienced in online and grassroots PR campaigns including designing communications on the topic of “Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch” to educate children in primary school.
More recently, she and our media management team were responsible for managing media content and engagement with more than 200 media who attended Energy Asia 2023 – Asia Pacific’s first industry summit toward transitioning to net zero carbon emissions.
She is also part of the Malaysian standing team securing media interest and working closely with the APCO Storybook Live Studio projects from around the globe.
Contact us
Talk To Us
We are here to answer any question you may have. Feel free to reach via contact form.
3.02D (East Wing), Level 3 Menara BRDB Bangsar, 285, Jalan Maarof Bukit Bandaraya, 59000 Kuala Lumpur