MxMIndia

Category: PR

  • The next stage of evolution of PR will be linked to how well professionals rally communities around, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Smart communities will be the bedrock of PR

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Word-of-mouth marketing, influencer relations, key opinion leaders, buzz creation are terms that are commonly used and heard of in the world of Public Relations. All these hinge upon a critical aspect of strong communities that can be harnessed for greater good of society. Public Relations is constantly evolving and the next stage of evolution will be linked to how well professionals rally communities around.

     

    When I toyed with the idea of bringing together the community of professionals in 2012, I had never imagined several things. When I look back today at the years gone by, I feel good that I was able to make a small contribution to the communications consulting business by bringing together fellow professionals both online and offline to enhance the reputation of the profession. Today, practitioners are aware that there is an annual event to look forward to alongside several other touchpoints.

     

    There are several other communities that are waiting to be bound together. More often there is a link missing that brings together people of a similar background. Public Relations firms have tried doing that in different ways over various periods of time but there always will be a conflict of interest. There is a growing need for companies to get into the business of bringing like-minded people together and thus building smart communities. These smart communities in the short and medium term will play the powerful role of being influencers.

     

    With influence comes responsibility which very often is not given importance. Influential communities can do a lot in supporting causes, working for justice and offering services to society that go a long way in making a difference. Most importantly, communities of influence will be a great tool for PR practitioners to meet the objectives they set out for their subjects – a subject could be the client or the organisation one works for.

     

    Media relations and stunts was how PR began to get its prominence, that evolution led to crisis management and reputation counselling. The future will depend a lot on how communities of influence are built and how these communities are harnessed. The key is to understand the opportunity and maximise its potential.

     

    Communities are built step by step through outreach, content, events and an offer that has never been made before. These communities can only grow if they are nurtured through a healthy mix of offerings. When they begin to get what they had never thought they would get stickiness emerges. Taping into them for mutually beneficial reasons is of utmost importance. Knowing the thin difference between a community and an association is critical.

     

    Communities build trust. Communities bring credibility. Smart communities will indeed be the bedrock of smart public relations.

     

  • With retainers hitting rockbottom, the talent being hired is directly hampering quality of work, giving PR a bad name, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Is the future really bleak?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    In a recent survey of journalists, conducted by Skribe, respondents cited the following:

    1. Frequently being targeted with irrelevant pitches

    2. Lack of knowledge about beats and right contacts

    3. Poor understanding of editorial and content strategies

    4. Cold calls – speculative calls to connect with no research and background checks

    5. Mass emails of press information without proper context

     

    This is going to increase as a problem in the days and weeks ahead. At last count, I had a list of 125 PR firms. These firms had more than three people including the owner, at least a two-city presence, a website and seemed legitimate and not just fly by night operators. On an average, every month a PR professional who thinks he or she is smart is moving out from established consultancies and from other domains including from media outlets to start a PR shop.

     

    Three things are happening. Retainers are hitting rockbottom as these newbie entrepreneurs in their quest to survive are working at a low fee. In the process, the talent they are hiring is coming from anywhere and everywhere which is directly hampering quality of work. Most importantly the business of Public Relations is getting a bad name than it already has in certain quarters.

     

    How are we going to fix each of these?

    1. Frequently being targeted with irrelevant pitches – This will not change for a long time and there does not seem to be a fix in place other than solid training and accreditation.

    2. Lack of knowledge about beats and right contacts – This seems to be a perennial problem and a solution does not seem to be in sight.

    3. Poor understanding of editorial and content strategies – This is the most disastrous of all. Half-baked consultants masquerade as know-it-all superhumans

    4. Cold calls – speculative calls to connect with no research and background checks – This is an age-old issue which can never be fixed

    5. Mass emails of press information without proper context – Enough said

     

    So, the bottomline is we will have to live with this larger problem. A few firms will get this right and are trying to fix this by hiring and training better professionals. But most are not including some of the big names. All this spells bad news as the future is far from bright until we shake it up sooner than later.

     

  • The industry will evolve, grow and get acknowledged by our customers only and only if we do not confuse PR Monitoring with PR Measurement, Audit and Research, writes Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: PR Measurement & Monitoring are two different worlds: Which one have you chosen?

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    While many in the PR industry are still yet to adopt the discipline of numbers, research and analysis in their day to day course of things, as for the ones who do, there is a clear demarcation among them. On one side, are those who believe in generating and torturing quantitative and qualitative numbers for their planning, benchmarking, evaluation and audit purposes. On the other, are those who do not enjoy numbers beyond some top line, self gratifying data and charts which actually mean nothing to PR and Corp Comm’s internal customers within the organisation.

     

    The former represents the progressive class of our industry who believe in PR measurement, audit and serious research. The latter are those who are either aloof or do not want to acknowledge the importance of one very basic key question – Why do we do PR for a brand? This company of professionals normally and only use the nomenclature of PR Monitoring.

     

    The industry will evolve, grow and get acknowledged by our customers only and only if we adopt PR Measurement, Audit and Research and not confusing it with PR Monitoring. It will help if the PR industry body, captains representing the PR Agency community and influential corporate communications heads get together and drill this realisation into the various corridors. PR Measurement is strategic, PR Monitoring is tactical.

     

    Unfortunately, today, a majority of our Industry is majorly fixated with PR Monitoring but not the measurement bit. The reason is that clients and their PR firms are still not clear as to what the actual objective behind doing PR can or should be. Sadly, for most in the industry, the following is still felt as the reason or objective for doing PR:

    a) My competition is doing it, so should I!

    b) Feels good to see our name on paper – makes us look good in front of family members/friends

    c) To keep negative stories at bay

    d) To justify its existence through Ad Equivalent Value

     

    …there could be more such reasons.

    Precisely why, our Industry has largely demanded PR Monitoring and not strategic services like Measurement, Audit and Research.

     

    Some traits that indicate that the Brand Custodian comes from the world of PR Monitoring:

    1. Instead of working with neutral PR auditor, depends on his/her PR Agency to evaluate the quality and quality of work done by them

     

    2. Daily/Instant News Clips Updates (especially negative news) is one of the key expectations from the PR Monitoring service

     

    3. Advertising Value Equivalent (AVEs) form a key unit of measurement to evaluate success or failure of the PR machinery

     

    4. Share of Voice & Rankings are the full and final litmus tests for PR success

     

    5. Corporate Communications machinery does not set targets for itself or give one to its PR Agency

     

    6. Proactive PR happens largely during “product launch” month

     

    7. Corporate Communications desk is not directly or indirectly aligned with the Organization’s central research desk

     

    8. CxO expectation from Corporate Communications/PR is only media relations and to get editorial coverage on the company, important faces of management and control negative stories

     

    9. Fixation for increasing count of articles by getting coverage in any media title irrespective of the relevance of the title

     

    10. By looking at the quality and media plan of coverage, we find that there is no sync with the basic but serious question of “Why are we doing PR”.

     

    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.

     

     

  • If done properly earned media can achieve much more for a product than paid media can, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: PR is never about great products alone but about great storytelling

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Tesla’s announcement of launching the Model 3 on March 31 sent media into a tizzy with Elon Musk leading from the front via Twitter. The frenzy was so high that only a few days after the announcement did one realise that none of all the hype was created by paid media or what has traditionally been referred to as advertising. In fact, the entire buzz was created by earned media or how Public Relations has come to be known as.

     

    The best part if the car has neither been reviewed or test driven and yet witnessed an unprecedented advance booking. The fact is, that there was no great product to be seen or felt, only to be heard of. Thousands of people were putting a $1000 down payment with a blind belief.

     

    The storytelling prowess was winning. In some online discussions I was part of some worthy experts cited how this was not about Public Relations but about a great product. That itself was a self-defeating argument as there was no product at present but there would be one in the future. And people had reposed faith in something they had not seen and touched but just heard of through earned media.

     

    This happens once in a way. The goodness of a movie is known only when watches it. But more than often some movies are house full for the entire weekend of their release through advance booking just because the producer, director and actors created a great impression on the minds of moviegoers in the days preceding the release. But movies spend heavily on advertising.

     

    Have you ever seen an advertisement for the Model 3 by Tesla? Despite there being not a single ad the cars sold like hotcakes on the internet creating history. The reasons to own one could be diverse. On Quora there was a thread that suggested that potential buyers wanted to be the first to own one. There were more fans of the company and its founder than believers of a great product.

     

    It all boils down to great content being created to connect with stakeholders about a product that is easily two years away from hitting the roads. This traction has been carefully built by using media carefully to reach out to future buyers who have put down a thousand dollars without spending a penny on a brand ambassador but using Elon Musk as one instead.

     

    In the political world, a great example of this situation is Narendra Modi. He was an interesting political product. Most of India had never experienced but only heard of his dynamism. Yet, his powerful storytelling won him a 30% vote share in the summer of 2014. The aftermath is there for all to see. He did spend a lot of money on paid media or advertising but that came at the later stage. His rise to the top was mostly a function of earned media.

     

    The bottomline is that Public Relations is never about great products alone but about great storytelling. If done properly earned media can achieve much more for a product than paid media can. Time will tell how the Model 3 will perform.

     

  • There is still a long way to go as the market matures and a large focus is put on digital marketing and crisis management like it is done in more evolved markets, Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: PR in India has indeed come of age

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Last week I wrote my 150th column. That means for close to three years a weekly column on PR has been written without a break, thanks to the vision of Pradyuman. As I write this, my 151st column in the week of April 18, I’m excited to play a small role in creating India’s first print magazine for Public Relations this week.

     

    It all began in November 2012 during the first edition of Praxis when we created an independent newsletter called Prism. The idea was to transform that initiative into a magazine. It took three years to find the right mix of people to bring it to life. While the venture is not financially viable it had to be done. All good things will find partners in due course. That is the only way to achieve things in life. I’m glad I found rank outsiders to Public Relations in Lovejeet Alexander and Anubhuti Mathur to do the heavy lifting.

     

    Keeping with the spirit of the headline, I was in Patna on Saturday to attend a conclave that was originally supposed to be a PR roundtable. While the event took various shapes and forms it was good to see Public Relations and its little cousin Events getting its pride of place in the address of the Chief Minister. Though the context and connotations were different from the normal, he did say things that made the headlines.

    Well, on a different note, this week will also witness the first time in Gurgaon half a dozen CEOs will share insights on communications and reputation at one event addressing mainly senior communications professionals. The aim of the conclave is to enhance the reputation of the profession by getting business leaders to share insights on various aspects of strategic communications.

    There is still a long way to go as the market matures and a large focus is put on digital marketing and crisis management like it is done in more evolved markets. A lot of Indians based abroad are returning to home to take India specific jobs in public relations. Several other Indians are getting internally transferred to foreign locations within communications departments.

    This article is about four stories, starting with book keeping about the number of columns, followed by the fact that there will soon be a print magazine for PR, then moving onto a PR conference in Patna and finally talking of the leadership conclave. All these nuggets have one thing in common. That PR in India is coming of age.

     

  • Barring a few genuine cases, a majority of today's industry professionals consider journalists simply as a "means" and not a "customer", writes Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: Media Relations is dead! Long Live The…

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    Till the time the corporatisation of media does not become a complete reality, which hopefully is a long way to go, media or journalist relations will continue to hold prime importance towards a brand’s perception management within the editorial news and views segment.

     

    However, when compared with how our generation maintained relations with journalists, what is followed by today’s generation of PR professionals is as good as dead! Barring a few genuine cases, a majority of today’s industry professionals consider journalists simply as a “means” and not a “customer”. As a result, there is no interest or willingness to know or understand this “means” beyond the elementary details such as name, publication, designation, beat and the contact details. Treating this person as a customer would have made a world of difference.

     

    I remember that my generation (and my seniors) always believed in executing media relations with the maximum possible personal touch – a basic example being that of meeting journalists personally. On an average day, more than 50% of our work time would get devoted to visiting/meeting the journalist personally and having a two way conversation/discussion.

     

    Today, however, this personal touch is missing. Emails, Whatsapp, phone calls, and more importantly, lack of personal meetings has eroded a PR professional’s ability to have a fruitful, holistic discussion about the ecosystem that the client brand survives in. Conversation is largely one way. The journalist does not have a reason or urgency to meet the PR professional.

     

    No wonder then, in most of the PR firms that I know of, the health of the PR firm’s relationship with journalists is managed and guided by seasoned professionals who belong to the old (our) school of thought.

     

    If journalists are today’s (and tomorrow’s) potential brand builders, one can’t afford to perceive them as “means”. Before we try to share or convey our story, we need to understand our customer’s (journalist) story. Here, speaking to a journalist approach needs to shift to discussing with a journalist. This needs patience, knowledge, and more importantly, a belief in the discipline of personalized media relations.

     

    I see no harm if, only in this case, PR firms go back in time and take a leaf or two of learnings on media relations skills and pass it on to today’s generation.

     

  • The first edition of the Fulcrum Awards 2016 will kick off with 37 categories divided under four sub heads with an objective to recognise both Individuals and team contribution

    Fulcrum Awards announces entry submission for India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Fulcrum Awards to honour excellence in Indian Public Relations aimed at both in-house and consultancy professionals was announced by PRmoment.in – a leading online magazine for PR professionals in India along with Event Capital – an event IP specialist. The Fulcrum Awards will be hosted on September 24th, 2016 at Aamby Valley soon after closing of PRAXIS. The submission phase has begun.

     

    The Fulcrum Awards is the only award of its kind which will ensure separation of jury, sponsors and participants to ensure utmost transparency. The invited jury members have been carefully selected to leverage their experience to position the awards as the most prestigious in India The jury members, as of now, include :

    • Arijit De (Senior Vice President & Head of India Marketing and Corporate Affairs -Bank of America Merrill Lynch)
    • Daniel Feiler (Senior Director, Communications ,eBay Asia Pacific)
    • Dimple Kapur (Former Regional PR and communications lead Qualcomm)
    • Meena Vaidyanathan Founder NIITI Consulting
    • Paarul Chand (Editor PRmoment.in)
    • Rashmi Naik (Director Marketing  and Communication, Omidyar Network)
    • Roma Balwani (President, Sustainability, CSR & Communications, Member of the Group Executive Committee,Vedanta Resources plc)
    • Sabiana Anandaraj  ( Chief Operating Officer, Trilegal)
    • Sanjiv Kataria (Strategic Communications and PR Counsel for the Services sector)
    • Sunil Gautam (Serial entrepreneur, strategic communications veteran)
    • Suvodeep Das (VP Marketing at Sodexo SVC India)
    • Veena Gidwani (PR Consultant, Corporate Trainer and Teacher Retired as CEO Madison Public Relations)

     

    The first edition of the Fulcrum Awards 2016 will kick off with 37 categories divided under four sub heads with an objective to recognise both Individuals and team contribution and they will be:

    • Technique Awards: There are 12 sub categories under the technique awards that will be judged for outstanding campaigns
    • Consultancy Professional Awards: There are 10 individual categories that will honour professionals from PR consultancies
    • In-house professional: There are 10 individual categories that acknowledge the stars from corporate communication world
    • Special awards: These will honour five  outstanding entities.

     

  • Starting next week, this column will continue under a new name on India’s first independent and exclusive reputation management portal, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Thank you for the care!

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    While this may possibly be the last column by me on this portal in a long time to come there is a feeling of nostalgia. When Pradyuman first asked me to write this column around three years ago I was at first reluctant not knowing if I could sustain it beyond three weeks. Today, one thing has led to the other and several ideas that were shared here have become ventures.

     

    Starting with Praxis, moving to the Conclaves and ultimately the print magazine that was launched last week. In all these ventures, mxmindia.com has played a silent, supportive role and I am indebted for that. Starting next week, this column will continue under a new name on India’s first independent and exclusive reputation management portal.

     

    Over the last 150 weeks, several of you have shared your feedback in the comments section and with me privately about your perspective on the column I wrote. I am grateful to the regular readers for your encouragement hat sustained this endeavor. Every Friday, I would wrack my brain to find a suitable topic for the subsequent Monday.

     

    I enjoyed December and January when I would bring out half a dozen lists that would get several people excited. My traditional June end column on India’s evasive Cannes PR Lion was another piece I enjoyed writing. Over the 36 months, I have learnt a lot in the process of writing and I’m hopeful you as a reader has benefited too.

     

    My joy knew no bounds when I was able to self-publish the first set of 55 columns into a book called Taking Pride in Public Relations in 2014. A lot of corporate communicators have debated the meaning of the term Public Relations and how it is irrelevant. In the three years, I have been able to debunk several myths and share a point of view without bias.

     

    As this space here may find a new writer and as this column finds a new home under a new name I’m certain that over the next few years more such columns will emerge. Viewpoints of practitioners will be curated across various portals in time to come. And my wish is that more professionals come forward to write and each and every one of them flourishes.

     

    What began as an experiment has found resonance! The columns that have been written in the past will reside here for future reference as a body of work that chronicled the progress of Public Relations in India during the period. I am certain that our paths will cross and I’m grateful to have been chosen to make this weekly column a possibility. The first of its kind in India.

     

  • The PR Agency, the Client and its Neutral Research, Planning & Audit Agency are meeting to celebrate the Client’s Annual PR Plan success story, writes Siddhartha Mukerjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: Good see client, PR agency & auditor getting together

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    The PR Agency, the Client and its Neutral Research, Planning & Audit Agency are meeting to celebrate the Client’s Annual PR Plan success story. (Psst…This is actually happening today!)

     

    For those from the old and conservative school, it is a sham and wastage of time. For those with a progressive or futuristic thought process, it is a bullish trend setter and who would want to know more. For me, additionally, things have just got started…and yes, it is a sign of good times to come!

     

    An ideal client is one who encourages use of Research, Planning, Benchmarking and Auditing at every step. An ideal agency is one who uses the right Research, Planning and Benchmarking initiatives to ideate and implement the on-going or annual PR Calendar. An ideal PR Research, Planning and Auditing service provider is one who understands the Client’s communication objectives and proactively provides i) The right sets of credible data and perspectives ii) Validates the PR Plan well before it is implemented.

     

    When does it all converge into a success story? When, after all the hard work and contributions by each of the three stakeholders through the year, the Client’s PR monthly and annual initiatives hit the targeted score on the neutral PR Auditor’s report card!

     

    This is the sign of good times to come. To me, this, albeit small, is a significant trendsetting initiative. Reasons:

     

    1. Indicates realisation and acceptance of the role of Neutral PR Research, Planning & Audit service within the Client-PR Agency relationship. I always believe that a neutral service’s core job is to strengthen the relationship between the Client and its PR Agency.

     

    2. Indicates that the In-house Communication Team is working towards scientific data driven monthly plans and targets.

     

    3. PR Agency accepting the world of data, research and neutral audit work comes as a breath of fresh of air!

     

    4. PR as a tool becomes more valuable and strategic to the internal customers of PR/Corporate Communications machinery – the CXOs!

     

    5. This will not only set the trend of cohesive work culture among the three stakeholders – PR Agency, The Client and its Neutral PR Research & Audit service but also keep personal egos at bay to enjoy common client victories together with humility!

  • GolinOpinion India will lead a creative and integrated communications strategy to continue to assert Porsche as the leading sport luxury car brand

    Go­­­linOpinion wins the India PR mandate for Porsche and Lamborghini

    By A Correspondent

     

    GolinOpinion has won the PR mandate of two brands in the automobile sports and luxury sector – Porsche and Lamborghini. The agency was appointed after a multi-agency pitch and will work closely with the leadership team to provide decisive and dynamic strategy for both iconic brands.

     

    Pavan Shetty

    GolinOpinion India will lead a creative and integrated communications strategy to continue to assert Porsche as the leading sport luxury car brand and Lamborghini as the most aspired luxury car brand in India.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Pavan Shetty, Director – Porsche India said, “A strong communication strategy is essential to achieving Porsche’s goals in India. GolinOpinion’s innovative ideas and dynamic approach resonates with our ideology and approach. We are confident that they are the right partner to build and communicate our vision.”

     

    Sharad Agarwal

    Sharad Agarwal, Head – Lamborghini India said, “Our choice for GolinOpinion is not only because of the fantastic credentials that it holds, but also the deep consumer insights and creative strategies that the team brings with it. Our communication in India will be in sync with our global strategy and we look forward to an infusion of their thinking for developing the next phase of the brand and all our communication seamlessly.”

     

     

     

     

    Ameer Ismail

    Commenting on the win, Ameer Ismail, Executive Director, GolinOpinion &dCell said, “We are delighted to have won this prestigious mandate. We believe that in the management, we have found a partner who understands and believes in the power of all-inclusive branding and strategy, and with whom we will achieve the path-breaking results that the brand aspires to. In this ever evolving industry, Porsche and Lamborghini are both prestigious brand legacies that believe in driving passion and taking every aspect of communication and brand value to the next level.”

     

  • The agency added over 34 marquee brands to its growing client roster

    Madison PR bags 34+ clients

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Public Relations has announced that 2015-16 has been yet another year of continuous and strong growth. The agency added over 34 marquee brands to its growing client roster. The agency attributes its success to its innovative campaigns, strong results delivered for clients, and a company culture that promotes professionalism, performance and fun-at- work.

     

    Madison PR in the past few months has added significant new and market-leading names, including ITC Foods, Arvind Fashion, Arvind Sports, Madhya Pradesh Government,  Asian Paints, Crompton, Welspun (SPACES), Gemfields PLC, Zivame, Monarch Cruise, Indigo Deli, Bosch Power Tools, Sun Pharma, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturer’s Association, Kellogg’s, Bisleri and Cargill Foods among

     

    Madison PR also recently launched 2 new Practices for IT and BFSI, which have added new clients like Karvy Financial, Synopsys and GSN Games.

     

    The agency has some long-standing clients such as P&G, Café Coffee Day, Bunge India and Hamdard Labs and also continued to expand its portfolio in Luxury, Lifestyle; Health Care categories with clients such as PUMA, Soch, Levi’s, Shangri-la, Marriott Group, H & R Johnson, Nitco, Apollo Health and Lifestyle, Apollo White Dental, GSK, Trivitron and Maxivision to name a few.

     

    On the milestone, Paresh Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer, MPR   commented: “The past year has been very exciting and encouraging for MPR. With our full-suite of PR and Communication capabilities, the past 5 years has seen substantial growth, year-on-year. With our 34 new clients, we’ve strengthened all our existing Practices, especially in FMCG, Lifestyle, Hospitality and Healthcare sectors – and added two additional new practices to our overall offering.   Our team’s growing reputation to constantly innovate, our emphasis on long-term strategic partnerships with our clients and the determination to improve client experiences has played an important role in both our growth and the multiple awards that we continue to win in India and abroad.”

     

  • The PR Industry, which is working hard to claim custodianship of Corporate and Product Brand Reputation, can use the approach of Pre-mortem to showcase its effectiveness to the CXOs, the actual consumers of their service, writes Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee: PR Communication Management needs the Science of Pre-mortem

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

     

    Pre-mortem, the opposite of Post-mortem, is an approach in which a management team imagines that a project or organisation has failed, and then works backward to determine what potentially could lead to the failure of the project or organisation.

     

    The Public Relations Industry, which is working hard to claim custodianship of Corporate and Product Brand Reputation, can use this approach of Pre-mortem to showcase its effectiveness to the CXOs, the actual consumers of the service.

     

    If you look at a typical average monthly PR Plan that the Client-Agency work on, it smacks of:

    a) Absence of any thought process of the desired end result

    b) No detailing of past trends and scenarios

    c) Prevalence of Tactics over Strategy

    d) More importantly, no detailing of how to achieve what the plan proposes

     

    As a double whammy, a common disease that still plagues most of the Corporates even now is the lack of clarity on “Why do we do or need PR”

     

    The final nail in the coffin comes at the stage of doing a post-mortem of our communications initiative through monitoring, measurement and audit. However, this becomes an absolute waste of time given that the PR planning phase has been unkempt.

     

    The immediate advantages that Pre-mortem will bring to the PR Communications machinery will be as follows:

    a) It will force us to set tangible and intangible desired targets or scenarios

    :: The flipside of this is that it will help us ideate on “What if we fail to achieve the desired targets”?

    :: What could be the reasons for failure one, two, three …and so on

    b) It will help us work backwards and build the various possible blocks of media plan

    c) It will help us set targets/benchmarks

    d) This will help individuals, desks and groups be accountable towards specific KRAs and KPIs

    e) This act of Pre-mortem or backward planning will ensue excitement within the CXO desk

    f) PR and Corporate Communication desk will get further boost of status internally within the Organisation

     

    What will ensure that Pre-mortem gets inculcated as a habit and works successfully day on day, month on month?

    a) Corporate Communications team will have to first convince its internal customers (CXOs) of the benefits Pre-mortem will accrue for the Organisation. Only then will CXOs find a reason to involve and consult Corporate Communications in their business and communications planning exercise.

    b) Corporate Communications desk will have to help their internal team members and more importantly, their agencies to transform their way of thinking from reactive to proactive. Pre-mortem is all about being proactive.

    c) The Training and Orientation facilities – both for Corporate Communications team and its Agency – will have to undergo a strategic facelift. For example, revisiting monthly and annual PR Planning will mean a sea change of approach and detailing.

    d) The KRAs, KPIs and appraisal system will need revision.

     

    Advertising industry, in a way, has long imbibed on the science of Pre-mortem. No wonder, looking at the size and stature of the Industry, it needs no argument to prove the effectiveness of Pre-mortem. Public Relations Industry has every reason to take it up quickly and prove its worth because of two reasons – a) effectiveness of conventional advertising in declining b) there is enough science readily available to implement the culture of Pre-mortem within team members.