MxMIndia

Tag: Amith Prabhu

  • 6 keynotes by 6 global leaders, 6 panels, 6 special sessions… at the two-day Praxis 2017 in Jaipur starting today

    It’s PRAXIS yet again!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    PRAXIS, the annual conference of Public Relations and Corporate Communications professionals in the country, is holding its sixth edition starting today. What started as an experiment by a keen PR agency professional and likeminded friends with the blessings of biggies in the business, is today being billed as the biggest PR and corp comm convention in the world.

    In between running around ensuring all the arrangements are done with the finesse of an international event, founder and curator Amith Prabhu took time to ask the questions.

    It took some convincing to get Prabhu to speak since he prefers to stay in the background, and have some young professionals take the lead in fronting the effort.

    A disclosure before you read this. MxMIndia has been an early and active supporter of Praxis from even before it was launched. In fact we like to believe (perhaps incorrectly) that it was an article on MxMIndia by Prabhu post a dismal showing by Indian PR agencies at Cannes that led to the birth of the idea. This year too our support stays. However, this support will not influence our coverage on the event, if any.

     

    So we are on the sixth edition of Praxis. As we get set for Praxis 2017 to take off in Jaipur, your sentiments having scripted the journey?

    I am in disbelief that we have come this far. What was planned as a one-off as grown on to become an annual signature event in the calendar of the discerning Indian professional. The support from the fraternity is what makes it what it is. I feel humbled to have been the catalyst of this movement.

     

    Everything as per plan?

    So far so good. This is bigger in every sense. 12 international speakers. 606 delegates. 350 hotel rooms. 36 commercial and brand partners. It could not have been better than this. The theme Beauty of Communications – Integration of Content, Community and creativity will come alive.

     

    So what according to you makes Praxis, the world’s largest PR congregation? Surely the PR fraternity elsewhere in the world is larger…

    I have been to some of the biggest PR summits in the most evolved markets including those in New York, Chicago and Miami. They have about 300 people who come for a day or two, stay on their own. Here, we offer the entire package in an offsite location where every delegate comes from outside the host city. More than 50% stay in the same hotel. The summit includes two dinners, a live concert – it is an entire package at a price that is a fraction of what global conferences are priced which include just two lunches.

     

    The highlights this year?

    Everything hovers around six for the sixth edition. 6 keynotes, 6 panels, 6 special sessions. We have managed to bring 6 Global leaders of which four are CEOs of some of the largest PR firms. We will also bring out the list of the Top 100 important professionals ranked by the editorial team of Reputation Today – a magazine that was born out of Praxis. The Raghu Dixit Concert will be a major draw. All in all, it will be a memorable experience created by a three member team supported by a dozen volunteers.

     

    A word to those who’ve missed out this year… why they shouldn’t have missed?

    Every leading PR firm in the Top 30 will be there. We do not repeat speakers so some who have spoken in the past do not choose to come because they feel they know it all and we respect that. A few who won’t be here and had registered are cancelling plans due to personal reasons.  Those who missed out have forfeited a great opportunity of learning and meeting 600+ professionals under one roof over two days.

     

    And PRAXIS 2018… where will it be?

    As per our policy of rotating the venue to different zones without repeating the city, we are likely to take it to Hyderabad. We are tentatively aiming for September 28 and 29 in 2018. We have already opened registrations at bit.ly/PRAXIS2018 at a 70% offer for this week.

     

  • 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.

     

  • 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.

     

  • 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 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.

     

  • The CCO of today is at a critical inflection point, notes the Arthur W Page Society's 53-page report on the role of Chief Communications Officers, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: What are CCOs doing to transform enterprises?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    I have avoided writing about the public relations of Sri Sri Ravishankar and Vijay Mallya. May be, we save it for another day. Today’s column is about the new Chief Communications Officer (CCO) that we will increasingly see in 2016.

     

    For those of you who are uninitiated, the  Arthur W Page Society is one of the most premium associations of communications leaders. Last week, it brought out a 53-page report on The New CCO – Transforming Enterprises in the Changing World. I want to focus on some aspects from the executive summary. The entire report is available on the website of the society. I’m sharing some excerpts:

     

    The CCO of today is at a critical inflection point. The environment in which enterprises operate is fraught with emergent challenges: new competitors reinventing traditional business models; changing demographic, regulatory, and sociopolitical conditions; new modes of work; and an ongoing paradigm shift in how individuals communicate with one another and engage more actively with organizations.

     

    In The New CCO, the Page Society proposes a contemporary framework of the CCO role based on three core dimensions:

     

    The Foundational CCO: The CCO is a strategic leader and counselor to the enterprise, capable of leading and advising with a broad stakeholder view in mind.

     

    The CCO as Integrator: CCOs are breaking silos and emerging as leaders of and participants in cross-functional collaboration, both within the enterprise and across the C-Suite.

     

    The CCO as Builder of Digital Engagement Systems: The CCO has an emerging opportunity to devise sophisticated enterprise-wide digital systems for managing engagement with stakeholders at all levels, internally and externally. This includes establishing an ability to engage constituents as individuals, primarily through the application of insights derived from data.

     

    The research revealed five patterns of how the communication function itself is changing. First, Resources are being directed to owned publishing platforms. Second, Integration is becoming key with a greater emphasis on coordinating with C suite contemporaries for better stakeholder engagement. Third, Employees with new skill sets and responsibilities are being added. Fourth, External partnerships are becoming the new normal to build on capabilities. Lastly, Metrics to measure are evolving to include customer loyalty, employee engagement among other things.

     

    The report concludes with a Page Model for the new CCO and proposes a call to action which every CCO and CCO aspirant should read and gain inspiration from.  These are indeed interesting times for custodians of reputation and leaders of communications. Go, read the report today!

     

  • Of every five CVs I get, I know that four do not make the cut, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Of uncomfortable situations and more

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Ever so often my inbox receives a CV of a former colleague or professional acquaintance. And it is hard to tell several of them I would never hire them if I had a vacant position. My personal rule of sharing a CV is that the person would have been hired by me if I had the power to do so. Of every five CVs I get, I know that four do not make the cut. But as a formality I send the CV to either a couple of companies of my choice or in certain cases companies they insist I must share the CV with. Thereafter begins my nightmare. The CEO to whom I typically send the CV will call and ask about the candidate in question.

     

    I would love to share CVs of people who spend time and effort in doing up their CV in a style that is unique and outstanding. I would love to share such CVs if the person has done something remarkable both within and outside his or her current organisation. I would prefer people who pass the Social Barometer test – have an active blog which gets populated 3-4 times a month, have an active Twitter presence – one or two sensible tweets per day and a well-managed LinkedIn profile. More importantly, people should learn to approach jobs in a more straight forward manner. Where they are able to send the CV directly to the intended recipient than through an emissary.

     

    The worst is when someone gets hired because the organisation is desperate to fill a vacancy and then the person ends up being either a dud or a non-performer. That is when making eye contact with the one the CV was sent to becomes hard for several weeks at a time. This year I have made a resolution that I will only send one CV a month and to people that the creator of the CV specifies as long as they much the criteria above. I’m sure you face the same dilemma so often. Another situation I find it hard to deal with is when acquaintances send request for recommendations on LinkedIn. I have made a rule that I will only endorse professionals who have directly worked with me.

     

    Another difficult situation arises when people raise their hand to speak at the two events I organise. What many don’t get is an event is like a magazine where the editor or curator decides based on internal inputs as to who speaks without any favoritism. Proposing oneself or nominating someone is fine. But when people hanker for an opportunity to stand behind the microphone it gets messy. Well, this column is not intended at anyone in particular but was written to share a common situation many of you face. I hope people realise on their own that their comfort should not come at the cost of someone else’s discomfort.

     

  • Public Relations companies are not putting enough effort to raise the bar and make things better, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: How do we make things better?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    In the last week I came across two incidents online where a content creator was peeved by a content catalyst. I’m coining these two words to refer to the journalist/ blogger on one side and the so-called Public Relations person on the other. As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

     

    In the first incident there was an exchange of emails between Pratishta Khan of Breakfast Project and Nishant Patel of K Media which looked something like this: https://twitter.com/pratishthakhan/status/703883861978013697. In the second incident there was a blog shared by Tanmoy Goswami of Fortune India on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dear-pr-manager-how-you-make-enemies-less-than-2-minutes-goswami) that has an interesting tale of an interaction he had with a professional from a large Public Relations firm. These are glimpses of what the world of public relations is coming to. I’m not making a judgment call on this. All I can say is that Public Relations companies are not putting enough effort to raise the bar and make things better.

     

    It is also important to note that there are genuine public relation firms and there are the fakes. This happens in any profession. Even the medical profession has quacks and there are half-baked lawyers and engineers. But since they do not deal with media on a frequent basis, they seldom get exposed. This seems like a perennial problem with no solution in sight. One option is to introduce a code but who will ensure the code is adhered to? Another option is to launch an accreditation system on a war footing to standardise certain practices and increase the quality of the talent.

     

    In the coming days the four Cs of public relations – crisis counsel, content and community – will become more important than ever before. The professional of today needs to be a jack of all these four and a master of one. I’m not sure if the talent coming into the business is ready to embrace these changes. While the client hires from B-schools where there is a stringent focus on academics, the consultancies are compelled to hire from a mixed bag of institutions and this will lead to a quality deficit in the time ahead. The two examples I shared at the start are just few of the many mishaps that happen on a daily basis. All hope is not lost. I was fortunate to be on the jury to select the 30 under 30 in PR for a second time in a row. And some of the entries were definitely fascinating. It will be important to see how these 30 fare in time frames of five and ten years.

     

    In the meantime, we will need at least 400 under 40 who do the heavy lifting so that the reputation of the profession is taken a few notches higher. Please share your ideas in the comments section as to how can things be made better? It is better late than never.

     

  • How will new recruits get any better if we do not invest time and resources collectively to make them get better, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Securing a better future

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This is probably the only column I will write on February 29. Because the next time February has 29 days the last day will be Saturday and Thursday. Not sure I will change my day of writing. And definitely not sure I will be writing beyond 2024.

     

    Well, a once in a lifetime date calls for a once in a lifetime column. Today also marks the 12th anniversary of 12 others and I starting our formal career in Public Relations at one of the finest management trainee programmes that we were the first to sign up. The Associate Learning Programme at what was then Genesis Public Relations.

     

    Earlier this month, I wrote about Leaving a Legacy and Creating an Impression. And last week I penned my thoughts on the Universal Service Obligation in Public Relations. All these put together make for a potent mix of ideas that the veterans should run with for the future of the business.

     

    I still do not understand what stops the largest and most powerful association of practitioners from wanting to replicate an Associate Learning Programme community-wide. Just imagine if the 30 PRCAI members made an investment of Rs 1000 a day or Rs 3.5 lakh a year over five years to produce 150 talented business managers. This is what ‘made of great’ consists of.

     

    We hear whines of new recruits not being upto the mark. How will they get any better if we do not invest time and resources collectively to make them get better? It requires thinking beyond traditional ways with innovation and courage.

     

    If we look carefully at the services business in India, two or three players in the airline business got their act together and left Air India far behind. Similarly, two or three banks and a similar number of hotel chains got their act together. Unlike what it was five years ago, it is difficult to count a third consulting firm which has produced talent that is to swear by.

     

    When will we build a McKinsey among Indian PR firms? How will we secure the future of the business? What is the succession plan at the macro level that we have set up for ourselves?

     

    All of this needs taking a step back and immense amount of reflection. Every good plan requires swift execution. Opportunities do not keep coming back. Time is running out and great minds need to come together. If we believe that we are creating great talent as an individual firm, that talent will not stay forever. Great talent in consulting firms are usually offered more lucrative deals at in-house departments. The vicious cycle grows and mediocrity thrives.

     

    I wish we all wake up and smell the coffee and put on our thinking caps. We can only secure the future if we start now. For tomorrow will be too late.

     

  • We need to change the game and tap into very bright talent that is hiding in Tier 3 cities because of lack of exposure and limited opportunity, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Universal Service Obligation in Public Relations

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    We have all heard of the concept of USO or Universal Service Obligation where certain services are offered to all sections of society and at times by charging a higher fee in urban areas to offer the service to rural areas. Recently, we all witnessed one of the biggest crisis of 2016 when the government ruled in favour of Net Neutrality. Facebook which was trying to bulldoze Free Basics had to put it in the cold storage.

     

    This column is about a Walled Garden we are creating in the world of Public Relations. First, by offering services to the elite. Second, by only letting people from more affluent backgrounds to enter the profession. Both, by having a high fee at centres of learning and by expecting a level of sophistication in aspirants that only urban areas can offer.

     

    I went through to interesting events last week. On Thursday, I was in Ludhiana to address girls from Khalsa College on Careers in Communications and then on Friday I was on a panel to interview students aspiring to do their Masters in Communications. In both these cases, I came across students who came from Tier 3 cities like Jalandhar and Gorakhpur. They were smart, able to speak good English and were eager to make a career in the big cities. But coming from single income families had limited means to pursue higher studies. A student loan would be an option but having only one parent as a breadwinner would make it hard to have a guarantor for the bank.

     

    We need to change the game and tap into very bright talent that is hiding in these cities because of lack of exposure and limited opportunity. There are two ways to do it. One, is for Public Relations leaders to make a structured plan to visit a certain number of Tier 3 cities that has potential to offer some really outstanding talent and talk about the profession to undergraduates in the final year. Two, is to create internship programmes targeting these cities where every year a few dozen boys and girls get a chance to work in large companies during the summer where both parties benefit.

     

    If we do not start a Universal Service Obligation for Public Relations with baby steps, we are staring at an entry-level talent deficit in the foreseeable future. I would also appeal to the leading corporate communicators to join the bandwagon of evangelists who commit a day or two in a year to visit the hinterland and inspire a new generation of bright youngsters about embracing career choices that communications has to offer. If not now, when?

     

  • Love is in the air, and Amith Prabhu lists fourteen couples from various PR consultancies and corporate communications responsibilities

    Amith Prabhu: Couples in PR & Corp Comm

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Public Relations in India has seen over a several couples met each other at the work place. I have had the good fortune of working with some and knowing others. It’s a day after Valentine’s Day. A good enough  reason for another list. I’m listing fourteen couples in three categories. Because love is in the air.

     

    Those who run consultancies they have built:

    NS Rajan and Bela Rajan – They founded Sampark in the early 1990s which was acquired by Ketchum few years ago. Rajan is an angel investor in India’s first independent school of strategic communications.

     

    Kunal Sinha and Manisha Chaudhary – These were college sweethearts who later started Value 360 along with another partner. They are bullish on the future.

     

    Aman Gupta and Shivani Gupta – After a long stint with Perfect Relations they together created SPAG Asia couple of years ago. They are young and raring to go.

     

    Udit Pathak and Pooja Pathak – This is a couple to watch out for. They are steadily building Media Mantra together.

     

    Sachin Khurana and Shruti Khurana – Sachin is building on the 17-year-old legacy created by his father to take Quik Relations to the next level along with his wife. This is a leading regional communications firm.

    Those who have their better half working in-house while they are in senior positions in consultancies.

     

    Nikhil Dey and Deepa Dey – This is the power couple I have known the longest. While Nikhil is President at Genesis Burson Marsteller, Deepa runs communications at GSK Consumer Healthcare.

     

    Murali Sashidharan and Sarah Gideon – Murali ran his own firm for a while and is now with Adfactors, Bangalore. Sarah manages communications at Infosys.

     

    Vinod Moorthy and Snehhal Chitneni – Vinod is a Director at Rediffusion – Edelman, which has the Tata mandate. Snehhal is a senior executive at L’Oréal India

     

    Karan Punia and Garima Misra – Karan Punia is CEO at Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees. Garima heads marketing and communications at iYogi.

    Those who have made the move to corporate communications after spending their early years either in a consultancy or another domain.

     

    Manish Kalghatgi and Rashmi Naik – This is my favourite couple of all and I have known them the shortest. Manish heads communications at Jet Airways and Rashmi does the same at Omidyar Networks.

     

    Vivaan Gideon and Archana Mohan – Vivaan and Archana work at VM Ware and Dell respectively. Disclaimer: This is the only pair that I have worked with in the past. Archana has been a batch mate too.

     

    Manish Mallick and Shveta Singh – Manish leads communications at Arvind. Shveta who was formerly a trainer is now at the helm of the communications department at Ambit Holdings.

     

    Pradeep Rajshekharan and Nitisha Agrawal – Pradeep is a globetrotter who heads communications at Franklin Templeton. Nitasha heads Public Relations at Volkswagen India.

     

    Raza Khan and Pooja Garg Khan – Raza leads group communications at Bharti. Pooja is a vice president of communications at PNB Metlife Insurance.

     

  • While legacies take a long time to be built, impressions are created every moment there is an interaction, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Creating Lasting Impressions

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Do you remember your first day at your first job? Do you recall that first client meeting? Do you remember the first time you met that Editor who is became a friend for life? Do you remember your last job interview? What is the one common factor that played in all these scenarios? Well, in my humble opinion it is impressions. There is a saying that the first impression is the best impression.

     

    I spent the last weekend in Goa and the more I visit this state the more I’m inclined to believe India has a great potential to become a more tolerant country learning from this tiny state. The impressions Goa creates in the mind are manifold and it is the collective will of the Goan people that has led to the state being a liberal place for thoughts and ideas to converge. The citizens of Goa are the best brand ambassadors for the state and help a visitor take back lasting memories.

     

    Last week, I wrote about leaving a legacy. The first step to leaving legacies is creating the right impression that lasts. I began by asking questions that resonate and then wrote about the state I was in over the weekend to bring out the thought that we are what we make out of ourselves. Public Relations people have a role in creating lasting impressions for the brands and organisations they work on.

     

    While legacies take a long time to be built, impressions are created every moment there is an interaction. Many good impressions lead to a better legacy. Not too many professionals care about creating lasting impressions because they feel they are secure in a job and will only need to create an impression within the environment they work in.

     

    The reality is that, everyone is being noticed all the time and the collective impressions stands us in good stead when someone is hiring a team member or a consultancy. Therefore, it is our interest to continuously work towards building lasting impressions. How does one do that? It takes some effort but does not require overdoing. Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking are attributes that come from practice. Add to that a good body language, a smart sense of dressing and great style in grooming are critical. If we pay attention to these we are certainly on our way to creating a good impression. There on we need to focus on working on great campaigns and the work will speak for itself. Have you made plan to creating lasting impressions? There is never the perfect time. Start now. It is never too late.