MxMIndia

Category: PR

  • Getting your PR communication initiatives measured regularly and audited by a third party is certainly for the Brave Hearted, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: PR Measurement & Audit is for the Bravehearted

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    When I joined our Industry close to two decades ago, I was made to believe that the PR Agency role is about PR Planning and Execution. PR Measurement, if at all, was by Self or the Agency itself. Also, it started and ended with putting an Advertising Monetary value to it.

     

    While I am not very sure where the PR Agency stands on the Brand ‘Planning’ bit, we have done a great job of the PR ‘Execution’ segment. The core point, however, is on the last segment – Self Measurement or Evaluation. Has the importance of evaluation/ ROI measurement and audit grown? Have some of us misinterpreted and exchanged self-evaluation with self-gratification?

     

    Parallely, on the client side, with the ROI dagger dangling on the heads of CCO, CMO and other CXOs, becoming heavier and sharper, Clients have started questioning the very rationale of examiner being the same as the student and vice versa.

     

    Getting your PR communication initiatives measured regularly and audited by a third party is certainly for the Bravehearted. Why should it be? After all, this exercise requires guts and the ability to hear a spade being called spade. It requires the ability to get evaluated on the basis of this third party data. Not only that, sometimes, even affect your performance bonus payouts. Lastly, it requires the approach of looking at the fee being paid to the Measurement partner as an investment and not a cost.

     

    Having said that, its heartwarming to see a surge in such Clients who have started believing that their (monthly) PR Communications efforts ought to get measured and audited not by someone internal, not by their Agency, but by someone external & neutral – who understand the client’s business, its agency and a brand’s communication dynamics within the overall IMC mix. They have proven that they are the bravehearts!

     

    I fully acknowledge that adopting or initiating PR Measurement and Audit within an organisation’s communication framework requires a lot of patience, change and sacrifice. It is not at all easy! Also, I am aware that a lot of bravehearts are trying their best to initiate or start that process internally…but taking time.

     

    Being a braveheart need not be just about what one has been able to do or implement. It is more of a state of mind. It is more about intent and thought process – what you plan or wish to do.

     

    Basis my interactions with a cross-section of individuals across the industry, there can be a permutation or combination of some traits or thought processes that differentiates one as a brave heart. One, who believes in the exhaustive process of organisation’s PR Communication Management process being partnered by a third party, neutral measurement and audit service provider:

     

    1. Differentiates Brand Saliency from Chasing News Space: The Client believes that PR is not for Advertising value but for creating and strengthening Brand Acceptance and Tolerance.

     

    2. Differentiates & Respects Individual Roles & Functions: The Client believes that roles and expectations cannot be mixed or interchanged. Clients (CEO, CMO & CXOs) should focus on defining the Business & Communication Objectives. PR Agency should strengthen the Communication Objectives and execute the PR ideas. Third Party, Neutral Measurement & Audit service provider should provide the service they are meant to. One should not influence the other beyond the permissible limits.

     

    3. All three Custodians work together, not in Isolation: In continuation to the above, Client believes that all the above three custodians should focus and work on their given roles together, Inclusion in other words…not in isolation or Exclusion. It should be a regular, monthly phenomenon.

     

    4. Differentiates PR Tracking from Measurement & Audit: The Client can identify the huge and obvious difference between PR (Daily) Tracking/Monitoring Vs PR Measurement & Audit.

     

    5. Replaces Advertising Value with Scientific Unit of Measurement: The Client ensures that slowly and eventually, the use of EAVs/AVEs, during the course of discussion with CMOs, HeadsHesjBrand or Business Heads, or with the PR Agencies, ceases to exist.

     

    6. Uses Measurement & Audit as a Client-Agency relationship fortification process: The Client sees the role of PR Measurement & Audit partner as someone who will fortify the Client-PR Agency relationship and not that of Roman Agent.

     

    7. Encourages and Helps Agency to deep dive into Data: Client encourages its PR Agency to use as much data to research and analyze. Not only that, they use it to Plan and Deliver.

     

    8. Uses Measurement to Evaluate Machinery: When PR & Communications function is evaluated on the basis of data provided the neutral PR & Audit service provider.

     

    9. Knows he/she can benefit or lose out on Performance Incentives: Acknowledges service as The Client acknowledges that there could be times, when basis the data, his/her Performance incentives may get positively or negatively impacted.

     

    10. Only way of doing scientific PR for PR: The Client genuinely believes that this is the only way can do PR for his/her team’s efforts with the non-PR customers internally within the Organisation.

     

    Breaking the convention of playing safe, evaluation through a neutral/ third party, letting your department’s appraisal be governed by third party data, changing the rules and expectations from your PR Agency…all these and many more, requires one to be a braveheart. The change is not easy. The good news is that I am seeing more such brave hearts…keeps me going and signals at a faster and sharper Industry growth going forward.

     

    Siddhartha Mukherjee is a senior PR industry professional and currently Senior Vice President, Eikona – Earned Media Planning, Audit and Advisory. The views expressed here are his own. 

     

  • In the first of a series of round-ups of highlights of the year that has been, Amith Prabhu list – in random order – people who made interesting career moves this year

    Amith Prabhu: 15 interesting moves in 2015

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This month I kick off a four-part series – one each week, on professionals, books youth in PR and events to highlight fifteen of these as a tribute to 2015. First in the series is a round-up in random order of people who made interesting career moves

     

    a) Senjam Raj – Senjam is a pathbreaker. Few will know that he writes one of the longest running weekly column on a topic close to his and my heart – quizzing. He cut short his two-year sabbatical to take on the role of heading communications at Flipkart. Among the many things he has undertaken is Flipkart Stories.

     

    b) Pooja Sabharwal – Pooja moved from Genesis Burson Marsteller after a decade long stint to head communications at PayPal India

     

    c) Varghese Thomas – Varghese had a long career in two of the world’s better known technology brands. First at Cisco and later at BlackBerry. He moved from the latter to head global communications for homegrown TVS Group.

     

    d) Nandini Goswami – After close to three years at GSK Pharma, Nandini moved to Kellogg’s India as its first Director of Communications. A role that was managed by a senior nutritionist until recently.

     

    e) Amit Narayan – This was a prize catch. Edelman India hired Amit Narayan from Singapore Asia where he led external communications for the Vodafone Enterprise Group in Asia Pacific. This was followed by Vinod Moorthy being hired from H+K Startegies to lead the Tata mandate.

     

    f) Kavita Bhaskaran – Abbott India’s former Public Affairs Head moved to Ogilvy PR to fill the vacuum of leading the India unit.

     

    g) Atul Ahluwalia – Long time Weber Shandwick veteran moved on from the firm where he was India Vice Chairman.

     

    h) Poonam Kaul – Poonam spent close to ten years at Nokia India before moving to PepsiCo India as Pradeep Wadhwa takes on a larger regional role.

     

    i) Deepak Jolly – Talking about colas, Deepak moved internally to head a business unit after leading communications and public affairs at Coca-Cola India. This is a rare move. He was replaced by Ishteyaque Amjad who came in from Cargill in Singapore.

     

    j) Shubhamoy Das – Shubhamoy moved on from PayPal India in Chennai to take on the role of Communications Head at Deloitte in Gurgaon.

     

    k) Surajeet Dasgupta – This was the big journalism to consultancy move of the year. Surajeet was a National Corporate Editor at Business Standard where he spent over two decades before joining Ketchum Sampark as COO.

     

    l) Purnima Mohanty – Purnima Sahni Mohanty made the move from Samsung to head communications at DuPont India

     

    m) Sonali Madbhavi – Sonali was country head at Gutenberg Communications before she moved to client Quikr

     

    n) Devashish Dasgupta – Devashish moved from Yum Foods to head Public Affairs at SAB Miller.

     

    o) Zeenat Khan – Zeenat joined Housing Dot com from Apollo Hospitals and has dealt with all the changes at this start-up.

     

    Other notable moves included Paroma Roy Chowdhury from Google to Soft Bank and Chavi Leekha from Uber to Nokia.

     

  • A selection of 15 books that anyone in the business must read

    Amith Prabhu: 15 books to read for PR pros in the year ahead

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    As I was setting up a library at the Indian School of Communications and Reputation I spent considerable time researching the 100 must-have books in a library of a PR professional. We hope to make it the best library for a communicator. I have picked 15 books that anyone in the business must read:

    1. Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier

     

    2. Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday

     

    3. The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene

     

    4. Repositioning by Jack Trout

     

    5. The Father of Spin by Larry Tye

     

    6. Spin Sucks: How the Public Relations Industry Got Such a Bad Name and How You Can Fix It by Gini Dietrich

     

    7. Business and Community: The Story of Corporate Social Responsibility in India by Pushpa Sundar

     

    8. Public Relations in India: New Tasks and Responsibilities by J V Vilanilam

     

    9. Crystallizing Public Opinion by Edward L. Bernays

     

    10. Social Media Explained by Mark Schaefer

     

    11. Reputation Rules by Daniel Diermeier

     

    12. Trust me, PR is Dead by Robert Philips

     

    13. Building Reputational Capital: Strategies for Integrity and Fair Play that Improve the Bottom Line by Kevin Jackson

     

    14. Managing the Professional Service Firm by David Meister

     

    15. New rules of marketing and PR by David Merman Scott

     

  • The Media & Entertainment sector and the TV Industry specifically is a high maintenance category, writes Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: MARCOMM PR: TV Industry offers Learnings!

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    The PR and Corporate Communication professionals working for and in the TV Channels – especially for categories such as GEC, Movies, Sports, etc. – are doing fabulous work in the space of MarComm PR. In fact, their work on Programme/ Product PR management can lend learnings for the Non-Broadcast Industry.

     

    On an average, a non-broadcast or non-media and entertainment sector, has 70-80% of its overall PR output contributed through Product PR. This means, the rest 20-30% represents news across various aspect of Corporate Brand dynamics such as Corporate Image, Human Resource, Finance, Government Affairs, CSR etc.

     

    However, in the TV Channel space, the Product or Programme PR contribution is a whopping 90-95% of the overall PR coverage output. Well, as a passing mention, this has two implications – a) Focus on Corporate Brand of the Channel is less. However, with eventual digitization, this negligence on Corporate Brand PR is bound to change soon b) Programme/Product PR is very dynamic and works on a very disciplined mechanism of Pre-During-Post communications push.

     

    What makes TV Programme PR such a wonderful case study for our professionals on what an ideal MARCOMM PR can be? A quick look:

    1. Responsibility does not end with TV Programme Launch PR: The job of TV Programme PR doesnot end with just the launch or media announcement of the Programme. That is one part. The second and real challenge is to do PR to sustain TV viewer’s interest to continue watching the programme, day on day, week on week.

     

    2. Probably the only Industry vertical where PR effort is getting equated with Input, Output (PR Scores) and Outcome (TV Viewership): While the rest of the Industry is yet to start galloping on the concept of equating PR efforts with Outcome objectives such as sales queries, sampling, sales etc., the TV Industry did the crossover to equating PR efforts to sampling and sales (viewership numbers) many years back.

     

    3. Programme PR, typically, is a Print supplement or weekend reading: It is not as easy as it looks. Getting TV content news published in limited available editorial space is a matter of big challenge. To explain the challenge, if you look at any single Hindi General Entertainment Channel (HGEC), it has to maintain the viewer interest of at least 6-8 on-air programmes. Over and above this, they look at 1-2 new programme launches every month. That makes the total of about 8-10 programmes (product) requiring PR push. Even if one were to prioritise from this, roughly, on an average, at least 4 programme brands need PR push. To get this in a limited supplement and/ or weekend space needs a long haul.

     

    4. Rare platforms on TV Channels: TV Channels, nowadays, rarely provide any platform for brand-building or marketing purposes in its true sense. As compared to a small (news space) contribution being given to Non-Broadcasting or Non-Media & Entertainment Industry verticals, the contribution towards TV Program PR is miniscule.

     

    5. Unlike Toothpastes or Cars or Insurance policies, TV Programme sales happens every day: Elaborating on the sustenance part mentioned earlier, new/fresh programmes are meant to be sampled and consumed (viewed) everyday. Every single day, the dynamics of sales push and purchase take place. Unlike other categories where sales happen ones a week or month or more, TV programme PR push for programme sampling ever y single day. Creating scientifically planned and mapped PR news stimuli every day or every week is tough challenge. This requires tremendous discipline and manoeuvring skills.

     

    If we dig deeper, we will find more such salient features. The Media & Entertainment sector, TV Industry specifically, is a high maintenance category. It guzzles up a lot of communications, through the year. Let us not categorise it as a Light, Easy Going & Entertaining industry category. There is in fact, a lot of hard work, discipline and planning. It is one of the very sectors where Marcomm PR has happily taken to being brought under the ROI scanner.

     

    Marcomm PR in TV Industry offers wonderful learnings and case studies for various B2C industry verticals.

     

    Siddhartha Mukherjee is a senior PR industry professional and currently Senior Vice President, Eikona – Earned Media Planning, Audit and Advisory. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Fifteen professionals whom I have either had the pleasure to work with or have heard of and are doing some amazing work within the organisation, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: 15 young professionals who show promise

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This column is about 15 professionals whom I have either had the pleasure to work with or have heard of and are doing some amazing work within the organisation they work or for the greater good of the larger public relations fraternity. They needed to be called out and I’m taking the liberty to do so. This list is in random order:

    Vivaan Gideon – Vivaan leads communications at VM Ware India in Bangalore and was one of the youngest communications heads of a major tech company in India when he took charge four years ago. He truly belongs to the first family of Indian PR with his wife, sister and brother in law all leading communications at some of the large tech brands.

     

    Bhuvaneshwari Joshi – While Bhuvi, as she is better known currently works at MSLGROUP in Bangalore, her Facebook community Media Movements which on last count had 31000 members. This is possibly the largest online grouping of media and communication professionals and a great service to the community.

     

    Vikram Kharvi – The Mumbai based founder of Vivkypedia, cleverly named after himself also has a day job at Adfactors. He successfully manages the Indian PR Forum, has written a book on PR and is one of the most influential young professionals based in Mumbai inspiring the next generation of Public Relations professionals

     

    Shubashish Bharukha – Delhi-based Shubashish is the man behind Journalist Storyboard which he is building as Media Central – a repository of databases on the media and in-house communications leads. He also runs a boutique PR consultancy, Springhead Communications with some marquee clients.

     

    Aakriti Bhargava – Aakriti is based in Gurgaon and runs an interestingly named PR firm, Boring Brands that works mostly with startups. She is now building a new offering targeted at business owners and communications professionals. Smartly branded Wizikey, this online tool is a great resource for tracking, analyzing and monitoring a keyword.

     

    Sandeep Rao – Sandeep who currently works at Gutenberg curates one of the most insightful and active whatsapp groups which is on its way to becoming an app. It is the one stop place for PR professionals and journalists to exchange insights in real time on media movements, coordinates and information. One Source is a force to reckon with.

     

    Parekhit Bhattacharjee – Parekhit is a member of Genesis BM’s Associate Learning Programme. He has risen through the ranks and leads Step-Up, a firm within the firm that targets startups. He was deputed to spend a few months in Beijing to help BM China set up a similar venture. His twitter following is admirable to say the least.

     

    Ruchica Tomar – Ruchica is the only PR professional in India who has a verified twitter handle. This former journalist is the new India communications lead for Uber. The cab hailing app has many challenges in India in the year ahead. Most challenges are regulatory and communications related in nature. How they will navigate through will be closely watched.

    While I’m not speculating about the age of the eight names mentioned above, the next seven are certainly under 30.

     

    Aniruddha Bhagwat – Aniruddha set up his own firm soon after graduating. He is building the Ideosphere group like a holding company with smaller group companies within. He was named young professional of the year at an awards night last year and works on several interesting mandates.

     

    Tejal Daftary – Tejal is partner at Criss Cross Communications. Another young firm led by young co-founders. After her initial training at Perfect Relations, Tejal set up her own consultancy at age 24 and is an Independent board director for Rodium Realty Limited since 2014. Now, we are talking business.

     

    Akshara Lalwani – Akshara is articulate and savvy. She set-up Communicate India five years ago when she was barely 23 which has grown to be a mid-sized firm in a short span. Her clients include Merck, Mindshare, Disney among others.

     

    Priyanka Bhatt – Priyanka is the lady behind Equations Media. After a stint with Text 100 the entrepreneural bug caught her that led to the setting up of her firm. She is one of the smarter young professionals I have met.

     

    Afshaad Kelawala – This man is possibly the youngest branch head of an established PR consultancy. As Mumbai head of PR Pundit Afshaad leads mandates for several of the lifestyle and luxury clients that the firm manages.

     

    Ancita Satija – Ancita is with Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees and is a former Chartered accountant aspirant who moved to PR. She drives the weekly Social Pow Wow Chat on Twitter. Writes a regular blog – these are hard to come by these days and is a professional to watch out for.

     

    Neha Mohanty – Neha is the Head of PR & Communications for AirAsia in India, where her role includes Brand Building, Media Relations, Publicity, Social Media Marketing, Brand Awareness, Crisis Management and New Business Development. This is truly outstanding.

     

    Jai Kewalramani – Jai makes it to the list for possibly being the only second generation professional (in a long time) of one of the Top 5 firms who has followed in his father’s footsteps at Perfect Relations. It will be interesting to see how the succession planning at this iconic firm pans out.

     

  • In the last year of his yearenders, Amith Prabhu lists 15 key developments in the world of public relations in India and the world

    Amith Prabhu: 15 events in World and Indian PR

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    1. New CEO for MSLGROUP – MSLGROUP became the first of the big five firms to bring in a global CEO from a rival firm in recent times by snapping Fleishman’s Guillaume Herbette, a French man.

     

    2. New CEO for Fleishman – A few weeks later Fleishman announced that Dave Senay was retiring and his successor would be John Saunders who until recently headed the firm’s EMEA region.

     

    3. Stagwell Group created – A new holding company was created by former BM global boss Mark Penn. The LLC is named in memory of 17th Century Maryland landowner, Thomas Stagwell. I’m sure it has its eyes set on India.

     

    4. Cannes PR Lions – The Cannes PR Lions continued in the same old way where an ad agency work got the top spot. Like last year, there was the involvement of the PR firm as well. But there has been no PR Lion Grand Prix that was won by a PR firm on its own.

     

    5. Adfactors PR is a Top 100 firm – Adfactors broke into the Top 100 PR firm list as per The Holmes Report ranking becoming the only South Asian firm to make it to the coveted list. It was a big year of award wins for this 18-year-old company.

     

    6. Prema Sagar is promoted – This was a first. PRema has held the designation of Principal and Founder for 22 years. This year an addituional title of Vice Chair – Asia Pacific got added, thus making her the only Indian who reports directly to the Global CEO of a Top 10 firm.

     

    7. Cohn & Wolfe acquires Six Degrees – One of the smartest of the new age firms in India was acquired by WPP company Cohn & Wolfe. Rishi Seth and Zacharia James will co-lead the new entity.

     

    8. Astrum is launched – Ashwani Singla snapped decade long ties with WPP Group to create his own firm. Astrum is the name of the brightest star. He also runs a separate entity that manages communications for India’s largest conglomerate.

     

    9. Pitchfork Partners is launched – Sunil Gautam and Jaideep Shergill continued their 15-year young partnership by stepping out of the firm they founded and sold to create Pitchfork Partners.

     

    10. Volkswagen fiasco – The Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the German automaker had covertly installed a “defeat device” that switched on during emissions tests, making the vehicles appear low-emission. Can’t get worse.

     

    11. Maggi recall – Nestle India had its worst year ever when food laboratory tests found seven times the legal levels of lead in its flagship brand. All hell broke loose. The rest is history. Maggi is back on the shop shelves now.

     

    12. First global conference on PR in Emerging Economies – Public Relations Society of Kenya hosted the first world conference on PR in emerging economies in Nairobi in November with the support of the Global Alliance.

     

    13. Tiny Indian firms make big waves at SABRES – Two Indian firms Spag Asia and Advantage Media made waves at Miami during the Global Sabres by winning the best new consultancy and a Top 40 campaign award respectively.

     

    14. SCoRe is launched – India’s first school of Public Relations was launched with an angel investor on board. The school describes itself as the world’s smallest start-up. It is set-up in Gurgaon with plans to expand to Mumbai.

     

    15. PRAXIS 2015 is India’s biggest gathering of PR professionals – The fourth edition that took place in Mysore in September is arguably the largest gathering of PR professionals in India with all the Top 20 firms in attendance.

     

    With this, we bid adieu to 2015. See you in 2016 with a list of 16 Indian professionals to watch out for in the year ahead.

     

    Amith Prabhu’s column on PR appears every Monday. The views expressed here are his own. Prabhu is associated with Praxis, SCoRe and was invited to speak at the Nairobi conference

     

  • Amith Prabhu lists the professionals to watch out for in the year ahead.., all achievers in their own right

    Amith Prabhu: 16 people to watch out in 2016 in Indian Public Relations

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This list has an equal number of men and women in senior leadership roles in no particular order. These are professionals to watch out for in the year ahead. They are achievers in their own right.

     

    a) Sonia Dhawan – Sonia heads communications at Paytm which is making waves for all the right reasons. Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharms is in the news. How they manage 2016 will be interesting.

    b) Farheen Akhtar – As head of Public Relations at Snapdeal, Farheen has to manage the brand and its co-founders who are poster boys. Given the recent controversy around their brand ambassador, it will be a year to watch out.

    c) Anand Subramanian – As one of the younger communications heads, Anand has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. The business Ola is in is prone to issues – both with consumers and regulatory authorities.

    d) Omgita Awasthi – Omgita’s unique designation as Head of Founders Communications at Inmobi puts her in a unique position at this startup which is one of the few unicorns that is profitable.

    e) Naina Parnaik – The recent troubles at this Unicorn have had a direct impact on Naina with laid off employees making references to her. Having a social media savvy boss at Zomato may be helpful when crisis hits.

    f) Karun Arya – As Uber’s corporate communications head for South Asia. Karun will play an important role as the world’s largest Unicorn makes inroads into more cities in the sub-continent.

    g) Ishteyaque Amjad – Ishteyaque replaces Deepak Jolly who was promoted to a business role at Coca Cola India. Moving from Cargill in Singapore is indeed an interesting transition for this former Indian Army Captain.

    h) Sarah Gideon – Sarah heads communications at IT bellwether Infosys and has managed the communications around the leadership transition in the past year very well. She comes from the first family of Indian Public Relations.

    i) Pradeep Wadhwa – Pradeep moves into a regional role at PepsiCo with a remit that includes several countries. Having spent over five years heading communications for the Indian operation at the cola major he has his role cut out.

    j) Meenu Handa – Meenu moves on from Amazon India to Google India less than three years after she joined the ecommerce major as its first communications head in India. Google India has made a smart choice.

    k) Rachana Panda – The Chief Communication Officer and Citizenship Leader, GE India is a cool designation to have. In this role she is part of the leadership at this conglomerate which has always been bullish on India.

    l) Gayatri Rath – Microsoft India’s Director of Communications and Citizenship has her hands full given the global CEO is of Indian origin and makes frequent trips to India. The brand has a great reputation in India.

    m) Vinod Moorthy – the only consultancy-based professional to feature in this list. Vinod made an interesting transition of 2015 by moving to Rediffusion Edelman as its leader. This unit manages public relations for all Tata companies in India.

    n) Pradeep Rajasekharan – Pradeep is one of the few India based professionals who looks at communications in three continents at Franklin Templeton. His stint at Brunswick London and Dubai certainly adds value to his role.

    o) Anthony Rose – Antony is not in active communications any longer after moving on from Walmart Asia Pacific late last year. He is building an enterprise focused on people and events that seems like a force to reckon with

    p) Subhamoy Das – Subhamoy is one of India’s veteran bloggers with two successful blogs to his credit. This former journalist is back at Deloitte India as head of brand and communications.


  • The communications profession is bound to see a lot of action, writes Amith Prabhu

    16 Trends in PR & Corp Comm in 2016

     

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    2016 will be a year of the unexpected. The communications profession is bound to see a lot of action. Here are sixteen trends that will gain traction during the year.

     

    1. Thought leadership will gain more significance – There will be a greater demand for credible events to partner with and speak at. Content shared at events will have multiple levels of impact compared to the old school contributory article and interviews.

     

    2. Content creation and sharing will become the cornerstone of good communications – Thanks to the onset of 4G, video will become more widely accepted. Simple, meaningful content shared in real time will play an important role in communicating.

     

    3. Year of Pulses, US elections and Summer Olympics – Three major events will take place that will have repercussions around the world. The Rio Olympics in summer, the US Presidential elections in the winter and the UN declared International year of Pulses dominate headlines as they happen

     

    4. Good talent will come at a premium – Good talent, especially at the entry and leadership level will be much sought after. There will be good offers made galore and the best women and men will take home higher pay packages.

     

    5. Influencers will be in demand – Influencers from all walks of life, especially those who are neutral, social media savvy and have a huge following will be on speed dial of brand and communications managers. Differentiating between the credible and not so credible among them will be key.

     

    6. The lines between paid and earned will continue to blur – Advertising agencies will continue offering public relations services for a song and PR consultancies will keep hiring from creative agencies and media planning companies to offer paid media solutions.

     

    While the six trends above are my perspective in the Indian context I have curated 10 other trends from around the world to look out for.

     

    1. Search Engine Optimisation will be part of Public Relations campaigns – SEO can no longer be part of a digital shop working in silos. Closer integration between those building earned media will be seen.

     

    2. Despair across the world will affect brand marketing – The migration crisis, the rise of ISIS, corruption in emerging economies and economic instability will continue have its impact on marketing.

     

    3. The Internet of Things will play a role in Public Relations – Whether it’s an app to track media output or a website that aggregates influential blogs, there will be innovation galore in 2016.

     

    4. Purpose and Professional Development – Professionals will continue to seek greater purpose in what they do and look for a higher degree of professional development.

     

    5. Focus on Authenticism (I just coined that word) – A movement towards being authentic which in turn builds trust and makes it more credible will be keenly sought after.

     

    6. Livestreaming will get bigger – Tools like Periscope and Meerkat will become more popular and will help in sharing of news and events better than ever before.

     

    7. Pitching to Journalists will be back in fashion – Over the last few years thanks to the 140-character influence, written pitches lost their sheen. This tool will gain some resonance.

     

    8. Care to share what’s sharable – Journalists have immense pressure to carry news that will take off on the world wide web. News that can be shared wide and far will get prominence.

     

    9. Climate Change will be a big topic – A lot of what will be said and written will be linked to one of the all-time big problems on climate change. So keep a ear to the ground on this one.

     

    10. Crisis can come anytime and from anywhere – After what Maggi went through in India, brands better watch out for similar activism elsewhere.

     

    If you’d like to add other trends, feel free to comment and also share on Twitter.

     

  • Vandana Sandhir moves from Genesis Burson-Marsteller to lead the consultancy

    WPP integrated marcom firm PPR Worldwide launches India ops

     

     

    Professional Public Relations (PPR) Worldwide has announced the launch of its India operations. A part of WPP, PPR is a full service consulting firm and has been in the public relations and strategic marketing communications business for more than 45 years. The consultancy is building on this experience as it establishes offices in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

     

    “With a heritage of 45 years as Australia’s leading PR agency, and accolades such as ‘The Top 10 Fastest Growing PR Agencies’ by The Holmes Report as well as consecutively awarded the PR World Awards ‘World’s Most Innovative PR Agency’ in 2014 and 2015, we are incredibly excited to launch PPR’s South Asia presence. India is an important milestone in our international expansion given the potential for future growth in the marketing and communications industry here. We are confident that we will continue to build on our promise of being a creative and an integrated specialist that finds the right solutions for our clients,” said Richard Lazar, Managing Director and CEO of PPR Asia-Pacific.

     

    The core start-up team at PPR South Asia comprises seasoned professionals – Vandana Sandhir, Country Lead; Bhuvnesh Chawla, Business Lead; and Mona Puri, Managing Partner – North.  Prior to taking over the PPR South Asia role, Vandana was the India Practice Chair, Corporate & Financial, at Genesis Burson-Marsteller wherein she led key client relationships across financial services, infrastructure, consulting, defence and aviation, travel, healthcare, loyalty programmes, manufacturing, automotive, energy, oil and gas and education.

     

    “As a strong believer in the power of insights-based communications, we are excited to introduce PPR in India. We have the heart of a start-up: We are entrepreneurial in our culture and passionate about our clients’ business. We are putting together a mix of integrated communication capabilities that can deliver the right stories, to the right people, in the right places and at the right time,” said Sandhir.

     

  • A listing of 16 things one hopes to see happen in the Indian PR world this year from Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: 16 things we hope to see in Indian PR this year

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Here is a list of 16 things one hopes to see happen in the Indian PR world this year… the concluding part of the series of
    1. A united communications fraternity – There are several groups online and offline. There is PRCAI, PRSI, PRCI, ABCI. They all need to come together under a Federation for the greater good.

     

    2. A book or two by PR veterans – We hope Prema Sagar and Madan Bahal or Dilip Cherian and Sunil Gautam bring out a book on Public Relations in India this year. It will be a good for future generations to gain inspiration from.

     

    3. An Indian PR campaign from a PR firm winning at Cannes – Indian PR firms have never won a Lion at Cannes and we hope this June changes that once and for all. Some great work does happen, some great packaging needs to happen.

     

    4. A PR professional becoming a corporate CEO – A career PR professional has rarely become a CEO of a corporate organisation.  John Fallon of Pearson, Dave D’Alessandro of John Hancock, and Richard Plepler of HBO have done it in the US. India’s turn now.

     

    5. The next 100 crore PR firm in India – This can only happen if the second largest Indian firm merges with another global firm, which maybe a difficult proposition but it is still possible. I’m referring to Perfect Relations becoming part of the Edelman or MSLGroup network.

     

    6. A Deputy Secretary General at PRCAI – PRCAI has great potential but needs more hands and feet. While Jayoti is doing a great job, time for her to have a full-time assistant and potential successor.

     

    7. A really solid awards system – There are couple of awards systems but these have the same companies on the jury, on the sponsor table and on the winners’ list. The three need to be separated with no further comment.

     

    8. A PR magazine in print – Print is not dying anytime soon. The profession needs to have its own print magazine so that the profession gets its due with a variety of stakeholders. High time this cat was belled.

     

    9. A few more women leaders in the top 10 firms – I shared a list of the 16 leading ladies in Indian PR consulting but majority of them are not in the Top 10 firms. We need more women in senior leadership (Top 3) at the larger firms.

     

    10. An Indian in the global leadership of a Top 20 international PR firm – Very few Indians have gone beyond regional roles. It is time for an Indian to make it to the global leadership of a leading firm beyond tokenism.

     

    11. Indian consultancies hiring from the top IIMs and from ISB – I hope 2016 is the year when IIMs and ISBs see a beeline for placements on Day Zero from at least five PR firms in India. This will be the day when the profession has truly arrived.

     

    12. A repository of Indian PR case studies – There is no online or offline repository of great case studies of work done in Indian Public Relations for reference. I hope this year that changes in some form.

     

    13. An Indian solution to the measurement problem – We have heard the Barcelona Principles for the last several years

     

    14. A PR professional being appointed by the government as communications advisor – This government may never hire a formal communications advisor like most previous Prime Ministers did. If they do, I wish it will be someone from the PR fraternity.

     

    15. A better work-life balance for PR professionals – PR often features in the most stressful jobs list. PR people are part of a vicious cycle. Maybe, it’s time to get that act together and focus on better health and less stressful times.

     

    16. A structured association of corporate communicators – There is no single association that brings together corporate communications professionals. There are WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups. But a registered association could do wonders.

     

  • A list of the ladies who have built brands and businesses from scratch or have been hired by global companies to lead their India office

    Amith Prabhu: The 16 leading ladies of Indian PR consulting

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    The penultimate in the series around the number 16 is a special focus on Women leaders in Indian PR Consulting. These are the ladies who have built brands and businesses from scratch or have been hired by global companies to lead their India office. If I have missed out on someone you think who ought to have featured here, please bring it to my attention.

     

    1. Prema Sagar – The undisputed queen of Indian Public Relations consulting. She started Genesis Public Relations in 1992 and has built it into a powerhouse in its own right. Sir Martin Sorrell and Harold Burson vouch for her.

     

    2. Nandita Lakshmanan – The only PR firm among the Top 10 that is headquartered in Bangalore. The PRactice is linked to the Porter Novelli network.

     

    3. Archana Jain – Archana is the authority on luxury and lifestyle PR. She has created a niche for PR Pundit that few have been able to match.

     

    4. Radhika Shapoorjee – This advertising executive made the switch to Public Relations early on and has been at the helm of H+K Strategies (formerly IPAN) for close to a decade.

     

    5. Radha Roy – As country manager of Ruder Finn, Radha leads client mandates in India which is one of six countries where this consultancy has a presence.

     

    6. Papri Dev – Papri spent over a decade at Genesis like most of the other leaders mentioned above and then moved as to Danile J Edelman Inc company Zeno Group India as its second managing director.

     

    7. Bela Rajan – Bela is the original founder of Sampark which her husband later joined and later got sold to Ketchum. She is one of the most down to earth professionals around.

     

    8. Valerie Pinto – Probably the only CEO of a global company’s Indian operation who is under 40, Valerie made big news when she joined Weber Shandwick from Perfect Relations last year.

     

    9. Sunayna Malik – Sunayna is one of the few leaders who moved from corporate communications to consulting when the trend was not yet in vogue.

     

    10. Madhuri Sen – Madhuri runs the iconic Seattle headquartered company’s India operations and has been at the helm of Waggener Edstrom since they launched in India in 2010

     

    11. Kavita Lakhani – Kavita is President at Golinopinion and works closely with Ameer Ismail in delivering client delight.

     

    12. Kavita Bhaskaran – Kavita is the brand new head at Ogilvy Public Relations. She joined the firm in late 2015.

     

    13. Praveen Rikhy – Praveen Rikhy runs Melcole PR, arguably India’s oldest PR firm that is still in existence.

     

    14. Shivani Gupta – Shivani cofounded SPAG Asia year before last which has gone on to win some major global awards.

     

    15. Manisha Chaudhry – Manisha is the co-founder of Value 360 which has become the go-to place for startups

     

    16. Jayoti Lahiri – Last but not the least. This list would have been incomplete without Jayoti featuring in it. As Secretary General of PRCAI she is like the first lady of Indian PR.

     

    The above list is in no particular order and was long overdue. One more in the series of 16 coming up next week. Happy reading!

     

  • Siddhartha Mukherjee lists possible tactical and strategic demands that may come from clients in 2016

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: PR Industry’s Key Challenge in 2016: Bridge the Gap between Demand & Supply

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    It will be interesting if our Public Relations industry were to revisit the basic principles of Economics – Demand & Supply. For years now, the suppliers, the PR Firms/Agencies, have always supplied what they thought will be the quantity and quality of demand by the clients. For the same period, clients, on the other hand, have always believed that their demands were not completely understood and therefore never met. On a different note, rarely has there been an effort towards comprehensive reconciliation by the two sides.

     

    Let us hope that the twain shall meet some day. For the moment, let us focus on the possible demands – some tactical, some strategic – that may come from the clients in 2016. More importantly, are there ways in which suppliers (PR Agencies) can meet those demands.

     

    TACTICAL:

    1. Be punctual; Come for Office Meetings on Time: While I do know of some agencies where they follow very strict punctuality protocols, by and large, however, the general perception prevails that punctuality is a rarity in our Industry. Respecting timelines, honouring start and end time allotted for meetings, etc. form one of the first basic or elementary requirements by clients.

     

    2. Be presentable: Fashion is good. Experimenting with Fashion is interesting. However, that need not border towards shabbiness or indecent attire. Let us not forget that a large part of the Industry Clientele, who occupy important Chairs within Client organizations, have risen the corporate ladder through sheer hard work, dirtying their hands, humility and discipline – work attire being one of them.

     

    3. Be well-prepared – anytime, everytime: The conundrum of PR Agency vs Consultancy may come to halt by this basic tactical move. Orienting and Training the Client Servicing to think and converse as Client partners and not agents or fixers. The ability to ask the right questions and get the right brief often works miracles.

     

    4. Think beyond Press Releases; 1-on-1s and Conferences: It is not necessary that a Client’s right from its Agency or the latter’s duty towards the Client is restricted within the realms of Media Relations. Think of ways in which Clients Brand will get better exposure, scientific engagement and effective conversion by its Target Audience. You may think of solutions from the overall domain of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).

     

    5. Database Management should go beyond Media List and Ad rates: Why can’t my Agency maintain database that extends beyond Publication/Journalist details to Household level data, Media Penetration, Brand Saliency, Consumption Behaviour, etc.

     

    STRATEGIC:

    1. Don’t talk EAVs; Tell me something new: My ROIs from Advertising are coming down. My dependency on Earned Media/PR, ideally, should go up. However, the current unit of measurement, EAVs, is not helping me beyond self gratification and making my some of my internal desks happy. I am not getting a sense of how it is impacting my brand or the business at large. Can there be other yardsticks and unit of measurement to achieve this purpose?

     

    2. Correlate PR with the nodes of Communication Cycle: Establish the correlation of PR effort with Brand Exposure, Engagement and Conversion.

     

    3. Infuse Account & Media Planning into PR: Planning is not just about sprinkling Client’s monthly plans with some 1 on 1s, Press Conferences and Media Releases. Sadly, even today, some of the largest PR Agencies continue to speak this language of – “…ok, lets get a cover story in a magazine done!”I have never been able to fathom how does this help the client and why do clients encourage such below average approach? Planning is an elaborate process that includes modules of listening, benchmarking, target setting, audit etc.

     

    4. Can we Fortify or Strengthen the Client-PR Firm relationship: If PR and PR Firms are expected to partner Client growth, there has to be a way towards strengthening and creating long term marriages. While it is a rarity nowadays, however, the PR Agencies will have to position themselves as Long Term partners.

     

    5. PR and IMC’s interplay: As a Client, internally within my Organization, I will never look at PR in isolation. It is one of the triggers or stimuli or touchpoints for my brand and its target audience sets. How can PR work in tandem with other IMC dynamics.

     

    6. Can Research be infused into or support PR: Well, Research in Public Relations is an ocean. It can be applied at every step – Listening, Planning, Benchmarking, Target setting, Outcome…well sky is the limit.

     

    7. How can Measurement & Audit help me justify my PR efforts: Well, a simple yet effective starting point has to be – why do you do PR? One may not believe till they see it! Amazing measurement and audit grids fall in place that can not only reposition Corp Comm on to a pedestal within Client Organization but also bind the Client and its PR Agency into a healthy long term marriage!

     

    8. Is PR Monitoring/Tracking same as PR Research and Audit: There has always been a difference and right fully so. PR Monitoring and Tracking is tactical. News (Aaj ki taaza khabar) is a commodity. Whether it affects your plans, your long term targets, your brand objectives, your media relations dynamics, competition moves, nothing of these can be gauged through this tactical service. For these and others, such as – budget planning, positioning, key messages, prioritisation, etc. – Research and Audit is key! Research & Audit is for CXOs utility.

     

    The challenges of 2016 need specific attention. Best if we start with the tactical ones. They are easy to achieve and in a much shorter time. More so, they are internal in nature. Strategic ones are slow burners and will need a lot of external synergies with various corridors of the Industry.

     

    Demand needs to be collated and documented. On whether Suppliers can meet those demands, well, I know of many isolated cases where some PR Agencies have over delivered beyond a Client’s imagination! It is just a matter of sharing those practices and making it a mass movement!

     

    Siddhartha Mukherjee is a senior PR industry professional and currently Senior Vice President, Eikona – Earned Media Planning, Audit and Advisory. The views expressed here are his own.