Category: PR

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

 

Yesterday, yet again, we learnt of another celebrity suicide. Yet again, there will be plenty of news and views content across media platforms on this topic including how to prevent it. And again, there will be discussions on reasons such as depression and other downsides of human life.

My contribution to this clutter is slightly different. The world of social media uses sharp technologies, analytics and research to precisely track, understand and leverage individual common man’s up sides – dreams, happiness, and aspirations. Yes, that is the world and benefit of ‘narrow’casting or the nano version of hyperlocal segmentation – much different from the yester world of ‘broad’ casting and generic overview-based studies. This information is in turn used by social media platform owners to push more such newer or related content back to the same common man. In such cases, for social media platforms owners, their business bottom line is the bottom line.

My question is that why can’t the same social media owners use the same machinery to identify the common man’s depressive state and do something to divert or delay the victim’s thought process. In this case, their no top or bottom line. It’s a new age and realistic CSR contribution!

Of course, this is based on the premise that common man’s time spent on social media is only increasing. This uncontrollable stickiness is steering the common man to such an extent that social media has turned out to be both the cause but cure of one’s mental state of mind.

Now speaking about the dark side, it is therefore quite possible for social media owners to detect sudden or even gradual changes in the way a user is participating in or responding to social media activities across platforms. That monitoring, if passed through set of algorithms, can certainly predict or red flag a potential candidate with suicidal tendencies. This itself should enable the social media platform users to do the following:

1. Push positive, motivational, encouraging or diverting content to the potential victim
2. Create observation reports and alert the necessary action desks across crime prevention, counselling and candidate’s family members

Let me explain. One of the key responsibilities of social media platforms and their backend analytical tools is to keep track of the kind of content you and I like. Not just that, based on our past or rolling activities or lack of activities on social media platforms, it predicts and pushes back at you and me other or new content that we may like.  Social media backend algorithms do this 24X7, 365 days a year, for people, you and me, who are living on both the sides of the world – the bright side as well as the dark downside comprising of depression and other fatal emotions.

Now imagine a case where an individual’s social media activity has (gradually) shown a dip or the conversations show greyness or darkness. If Social media platform can intelligently push positive, aspirational, happy content that will pep up the person using similar algorithms, the candidate will re-think and if not anything else, delay the deadly act of suicide. It buys more time for family and the prime detection and prevention machinery.

With content oozing across out of every single corridor of the world wide web, there is enough to push such content to make the potential victim feel good, pepped up, human and one amongst us. More importantly, not leave him or her to decay in a desolate state of mind.

It is simply about making the victim divert attention from negative and dark thoughts into something that has hope, happiness and aspiration. It forces the potential victim to reconsider the act of suicide and if not anything else, simply delays the act. Not just that, this gives the social media analytics desk to create an observation report for dedicated desks and machineries like cybercrime desks etc which are trying hard to use social media intelligence to pre-empt suicides by individuals bring down the national numbers.

The most important point is that this single source of data goldmine gives impetus to the creation of holistic task force comprising of crime prevention desks, police, psychologists, counsellors and government policy specialists to work together towards social security.

 

 

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

 

The two cities are obviously giveaways that this column is about technology. However, a new point of intersection is that these two cities are quietly allowing India’s research & analytical industry to push their service variety and quality envelopes.

India’s Brand Research & Data Analytics industry was pretty much in a time loop till a few years ago. However, if you look at the last five years or so, these two cities have armed the primary & secondary research and data analytics industry with interesting service delivery possibilities.

To simplify, if brand communication management is a key component of managing the brand itself, then technology intervention is allowing brand owners and agency firms with new ways to manage the brand communication cycle – listening, benchmarking & target setting, execution monitoring, exposure, engagement and conversion evaluations.

In the secondary or media monitoring and analysis industry for example, data collation, processing, analysis & interpretation and report generation – all these key functional blocks were delivered through a high manual head count. Speed, quality and overall efficiency suffered.

In certain other cases, there have been fresh break throughs where technology itself was struggling to deliver efficient outputs all these years. One of the areas is that of audio or voice conversion into text. Not that these solutions were not available earlier – through google or other customized technology solutions. However, the problem they were facing was that not just of speed but more importantly accuracy.

Another example of a very handy solution, especially for the communication experts is being able to first transcribe a spokesperson’s English quote on television into English text, translate that into various regional or international languages and lip sync it back into the original television recording.

No, it is not always an AI or ML outcome. Many of these are outcomes are due to intelligent software designing and coding skillsets.

Innovative solutions like these are a reality. This means that solutions are available or there are brains that can deliver. Bangalore and Hyderabad can be looked as strategic hubs for innovative solutions that will further boost and allow brand research and analytics industry to deliver more width and depth wise.

In the area of secondary research and analysis, two specific areas come to mind. Advertising & Public Relations. Both these two industries are in crying need for much faster and sharper collation & processing of data, intelligent & friendly outputs followed by easy-on-the-go user access touchpoints.

The two cities are today dotted with many homegrown and international service providers. While the international players have come to India because they have a back up of successful business stories and infrastructure in other markets, however, they have been able to do wonderful job of localizing their offerings at the hyper local level.

Going forward, our media and marketing industry can look at considering formal, well organized exhibitions and seminars where these service providers from these two cities, and of course other cities, can exhibit and showcase the world of possibilities in the field of brand research and data analytics.

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

 

Syndicated Readership, Viewership, Listenership and many other industry studies through research and measurement initiatives have gone through turbulence. Nothing new, nothing abnormal! As members of the media, marketing and communications industry, we have all been preview to disagreements, allegations, frictions and arguments between the media measurement service provider and the subscribers – advertiser, media owners and planners.

 

In fact, I would say much of this is needed to make a neutral Media Research and Measurement machinery robust.

 

However, I believe that public or media debate on the shortcomings of an Industry Measurement and Research system will make the Indian households wary about surveys, research and therefor their responses. Indian Households will view and treat field executives approaching them for responses or feedback in a different or radical way. Marketing investments and Brand Management decisions will get affected majorly since respondent households will lose faith or question the rationale and credibility of the marketing and market research industry.

 

While these open, public spats in media have been common since more than a decade now, what we saw, especially, during the last one year, has been disturbing. Media stories dismissing organisations, individuals and processes along with use of words or phrases that suggest rigging, scam, etc. quite certainly will send a disturbing message within existing or prospective respondent individuals across Indian households.

 

Three immediate outcomes come to mind:

 

1. This will break the backbone of market research

2. Will impact employment of thousands of survey or research field executives

3. Will raise questions on the safety and social standing of those field executives

 

What can be done? Well, solutions are not so easy and simple to come. However, if we understand and acknowledge the problem or the Frankenstein the industry is creating for itself, I am sure industry stakeholders will stop being myopic and get together for a solution. If the industry wishes to do damage control and/or sustain the belief and credibility of respondent-based studies amongst Indian households, a perception management programme needs to be created.

 

For now, if media owners can take an editorial call on being selective about the type of news they will publish about the India’s Research & Measurement Industry. Second, if stakeholders can display the same personality and standpoint about government’s involvement in industry’s syndicated media and market research studies that they displayed around 2008-09.

 

Solutions can be many. Perception management programmes can also be many. However, the first step towards the cure is to understand that with ongoing public or media debates on media measurement and research, it is puncturing the future of India’s syndicated studies.

 

Siddhartha Mukherjee is a specialist in perception measurement and has now co-founded Brand Balance, a brand salience consultancy. His views here are personal

 

 

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

 

The reality is that businesses or corporate or product brands cannot afford to advertise round the year. Due to reasons such budgets, inflation, etc, sustaining ad push (digital or traditional) through the year is not practically feasible. During these months, the earned, owned and shared mediums, now combinedly known as Public Relations, comes in as the Saviour, Samaritan or the Superhero.

 

Covid-19 may have created some aberrations in the pattern but it will neutralise and offset soon.

 

The key question, however, is that are we directing Public Relations well? To make PR a superhero, it needs to be directed well. Who are the directors? Top management and the Chief Communications Officers.

 

However, for direction to work well, some of the key assumptions required here are:

 

1. The Top Management is very clear that Brand success goes beyond sales. In other words, they see the larger picture that Corporate Brand Reputation, Risk Mitigation, Multi-Stakeholder Engagement, Brand Demand Sustenance are some bigger challenges beyond sales. Towards this, Public Relations is the only saviour

2. Public Relations will not (just) be used for the personal agenda or the glorification of the individual Top Management members

3. Public Relations will not be treated as News or Headline or Journalist Management desk but as an integral engine for business survival and growth

 

Once the above is in order, the Public Relations can be directed as a SuperHero. It needs a joint commitment and orchestration by the three stakeholders:

a) Top Management and b) Communications Desk.

 

Top Management:

1. Annual or Periodic Planning: The business and the subsequent communications objective should include Corporate Brand Reputation, Risk Mitigation, Multi-Stakeholder Engagement, Brand Demand Sustenance as some of the key priorities with stakeholder beyond customers.

2. Involvement of Corporate Communications Desk: Often, Corporate Communications desk is left out in the business planning phase. While getting a seat in the boardroom is ideal, but even if not, Top Management needs to involve CorpComm in its planning process. This desk is not just about taking orders and executing it. This desk can and should counsel the management on the aspects to keep in mind for communications planning. Ofcourse, this requires CorpComm personnel to have that calibre or domain wavelength.

3. Create clear timeline-based targets and evaluation parameters: Breaking down Communications programmes into weekly, fortnightly and monthly activity chart backed with targeted vs achieved evaluation parameters is very crucial for last mile success. To think of a larger picture, Public Relations can not only play a crucial role during ad hiatus but also support advertising as a part of the IMC mix. Last mile planning and orchestration is very key.

4. Support CorpComm with required resources: Data, Budgets and People are three key pillars of resources. Designing, managing and allocating these need modulations for optimum output.

 

CorpComm Desk:

1. Profile of the team: The team profile and its mindset need to be far and away from news, headline and journalist management stereotype thought processes. The language of business & brands needs be understood extremely well. Understanding Management’s business KRAs and converting that into Communication activity grid effectively is very crucial.

2. Discipline of Account & Media Planning: To create high impact results like advertising or even more, public relations programme needs to be put through proper account and media planning process.

3. Using Analytics for showcasing outcome: The Comms Machinery needs to showcase the outcome of the public relations efforts and not output. Measurement & Analytics will play a key role here.

 

Typically, out of the overall advertising pie, product or marcomm expenditure is around 95%. The remaining 5% pertains to corporate brand advertising. Public Relations can establish itself as the superhero for both Corporate and Marcomm objectives during advertising hiatus.