About Us
About Us
Acara is an international strategic communications consultancy, which brings together 20 years of top-level journalism with expertise in reputation management, CEO positioning, media training and digital storytelling.
We ensure that your brand, personal or professional, makes a tangible, credible and lasting impression on the media landscape. Acara prides itself on being your gatekeeper and gateway to a global audience.
The Acara pledge is focused on four core tenets:
Dedication
Discretion
Integrity
Results
“The Blue Acara are a hardy fish that can adapt to most environments & conditions. They are relatively peaceful but can display territorial behaviour & will fight to defend their chosen territory.”
Acara Strategy was founded in 2019 by former Bloomberg TV News Anchor John Dawson and is
focused on the dual goals of preserving the integrity of your brand while, at the same time, elevating your visibility. Pressing the positive
while suppressing the negative.
Effective storytelling is vital in today’s 24/7 avalanche of information. A reader or viewer’s attention span is
quickly distracted and the average visit to a page can last for as little as three seconds. Central to successfully raising your brand image is
to engage the media - digital and traditional. For the results to be effective, you need to understand a journalist’s wants and needs. These
include understanding how to pitch to a news hook, how to shape an exclusive, and knowing the viral impact of a punchy quote. Possessing unique
journalistic insight and experience, is often the key to unlocking a winning outcome.
Reputation management in the 21st century is evolving by the day. Staying ahead of the curve is crucial to driving your potential and message. Press releases have a purpose, but they face increased competition from multiple storytelling platforms: video, podcasts, social media and other digital platforms. With this overload has come the proliferation of fake news. As a result, effective fact-checked storytelling across credible platforms carries more weight than ever before. The old newsroom formula of “what, when, where, which and why” has never been more relevant – when they match the facts.
John has spent a career honing his craft in journalism and communications. He is strategically positioned and combines his 20 years’ experience chasing stories in a deadline-obsessed newsroom, with an innate client instinct on how to effectively navigate the media and contain an issue. Combined, he has a unique vantage point to delivering the most impactful results.
TRUSTED ADVISORS
Two-time Academy Award winner, 4x nominee, and 16x Emmy winner, Director/Producer/Writer Malcolm has been making movies since the early 1980s in the U.K., U.S, Canada and now China. He has made films in more than 80 countries and his work has also won awards from the DGA, WGA, DGC, Cable ACE and was the recipient of the BAFTA ‘John Grierson’ prize. He co-founded Artefact Entertainment, which focuses on integrated cross-media marketing and produces creative content for brands and the public sector. Malcolm divides his time between Shanghai and Toronto.
Visual/Filmmaking | Trusted Partner
Co-founder of Artefact Entertainment, Yi has been awarded the prestigious Golden Horse and is a multiple award-winning film producer with expertise in international co-production, strategic marketing and the distribution of China-related films. Her producer work includes acclaimed feature documentaries China Heavyweight and Last Train Home. Her directorial debut “In My Eyes” was the only Chinese film in the documentary competition at the 2018 Shanghai International Film Festival. Prior to filmmaking, Yi was an Anchor for CCTV and Sichuan Provincial TV. She holds a Masters Degree in Journalism. Yi is based in Shanghai.
Director | Writer | Trusted Partner
Vishwas is the Founder & head digital strategist at Concinnity Ltd., a boutique digital consultancy, which specializes in digital media analytics, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and marketing automation. Vishwas and his team use data-driven strategies to help companies raise their brand visibility and online presence. Concinnity is headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Singapore & Germany. Vishwas is also a visiting lecturer in digital marketing at The University of Hong Kong. He graduated with a Bachelors in Engineering, majoring in Information Technology, from the University of Mumbai and holds an MBA from NMIMS. He also holds a Masters in Science, from Edinburgh Napier University.
Digital Strategy | Advisor
DC PAGE is an expert in risk mitigation and business intelligence. As the Managing Shareholder, he currently directs worldwide operations for V2 Global. His experience spans a career including US Customs (now Homeland Security), Managing Director Kroll Associates, CEO of Verasys, and he headed up consulting and international operations for Andrews International. His focus areas include multi-jurisdictional inquiries involving litigation support, anti-money laundering, asset tracing investigations and due diligence, for law firms, financial institutions, and multinational corporations.
Crisis Management, Risk Mitigation | Advisor | Advisor
Former Chief of Police Don De Lucca is a shareholder at V2 Global and heads up domestic risk consulting and international crisis management for the firm. He is a thirty-three-year law enforcement professional. He served for 30 years with the Miami Beach Police Department, where he rose steadily through the ranks, becoming Chief of Police in 2001. In August 2014, he was appointed Chief of the City of Doral Florida Police Department, which is recognized as one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Chief De Lucca is a life member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police “IACP”. In 2013, he was elected 4th Vice President of the IACP which represents 32,000 law enforcement executives in over 160 countries. In 2016, he was sworn in as the 104th of the President of the IACP.
Crisis Management, Risk Mitigation | Advisor | Advisor