CASE STUDY: How Asia Society HK tackled negative press around heritage conservation

Background

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK Center) was established in 1990 by a group of Hong Kong community leaders, led by QW Lee, then chairman of Hang Seng Bank. It is the first overseas centre of the not-for-profit, non-government educational organisation meant to promote understanding of Asian culture and countries.

ASHK's goal was to create positive awareness among the general public of the conservation, revitalisation and adaptive re-use of the former British military compound located in Hong Kong's Admiralty district, which now houses the center.

Abandoned since the 1980s, the 1.4-hectare heritage site embodies four buildings built between the 1860s and 1940s used to store and mix explosives, three of which are Grade 1 historical structures.

The Hong Kong government was criticised for granting land via an opaque process to ASHK (which paid a nominal fee of HK$1,000); for occupying 200 metres of public space for a private road leading to the lobby of the centre; and for not ensuring due diligence for the public to enjoy the benefit of conserving these valuable historic buildings.

Another major challenge arose from how the supposed revitalisation plan may actually destroy the existing historical monuments as well as the surrounding ecological environment.

ASHK was also implicated to be wasting public taxpayer funds in the name of protecting cultural heritage while creating another 'rich men's club' for the elite.

Execution

Being ASHK's PR agency, Lighthouse spearheaded three staggered communication phases in a multi-faceted publicity campaign including thematic above-the-line advertising. The brief was to maintain ASHK's ‘knowledge-based’ positioning and ‘intellectual’ image despite the above disadvantageous public concerns.

To turn the tide for ASHK's image, Lighthouse made a proactive pre-assessment of potential controversial issues, collected information before presenting to the media and related parties, and developed a standard, unified question-and-answer kit.

First, a preview session three months prior to the opening of the centre was arranged in November 2011 with the two commissioned architects, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, providing expert information on the architectural design of ASHK.

In December 2011, two months before opening date, the agency contacted different interest sectors, including conservationists, environmental groups, media outlets, for the purpose of lobbying for their support.

Secondly, to build up momentum for the opening, a luncheon cum guided tour one month before official opening with the chief editors of local and international media was organised to satisfy their interest and curiosity, steer the orientation of possible news angles, and resolve negative perception at the top of the editorial chain.

The timetable was deliberately set to avoid being associated with other conservation projects, such as the high-profile debate over Ho Tung Gardens, as well as not to collide with the dates of the Taiwan Presidential Election and the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election.

Thirdly, more than 100 media representatives covering all beats were invited to join opening activities on 9 February 2012. Professionals and opinion leaders in local society were solicited to be the centre's docent guides for free, to increase persuasiveness and inspire confidence.

They include HKSAR LegCo member Margaret Ngoi-yee Ng, Dean of University of Hong Kong's architecture faculty David PY Lung, as well as adjunct professor of the Architectural Conservation Programme at University of Hong Kong Lynne D DiStefano.

Results

108 traditional media mentions (print & TV) and 536 online mentions generating more than HK$17.9 million of advertising value were achieved. Feature articles were published in RTHK, Phoenix TV, Financial Times, IHT, Discover HK (Cathay Pacific's in-flight magazine), Hong Kong Economic Journal, PRC, HK Tatler. Negative coverage accounted for only 2.4 per cent in total.

The seven-month public relations project's strategic approach reversed previous criticisms by repositioning ASHK to be visibly committed in promoting cultural exchanges between educational institutions in Asia.