MxMIndia

Tag: Amith Prabhu

  • How many communications heads have made attempts to earn the seat at the table by acquiring a business qualification or being able to contribute to the bottomline, asks Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Where’s the Seat at the table?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    I was at two back to back events last week in Mumbai. One organised by the Association of Asia Pacific Communications Directors to launch the India chapter. And the other organised by yours truly to bring together senior communications folks from both sides of the aisle under one platform.

     

    Both events had much in common. One thing that stood out is the question that a member of the audience asked at both conferences. As to when would communications leaders get a seat at the table? Two interesting perspectives emerged from the respondents on stage.

     

    Before I share those responses in this column I would like to place my viewpoint on this question which should be a non-question. Communications leaders are hired by chief executive officers more often than not to assist them in a function that they love to lead from the front. Take the example of Anand Mahindra or Harsh Goenka or Tony Fernandes or any other vocal and communicative chief executive to understand this better.

     

    These CEOs and several others like them drive communications strategy, have a seat at the table and technically lead the communications function with the communications head reporting to them. That should answer the question in some part. Next, how many communications heads have made attempts to earn the seat at the table by acquiring a business qualification or being able to contribute to the bottomline?

     

    Other questions that come to mind are – Who are the outstanding communicators in India who deserve to have a seat at the table? What have communicators who have earned a seat at the table done differently? And what will communicators with a seat at the table do differently that they are unable to do now?

     

    Well, there are communicators who are senior enough to have been nominated as independent directors in companies other than their own and truly on merit. Roma Balwani and Veena Gidwani are two such names. This is a beginning as communications as an independent function is much newer a function compared to the traditional functions of sales, marketing and operations.

     

    This trend will certainly change and we will see more and more communicators earning that seat at the table in addition to the CEO who for all practical reasons is on that table? So the question we should be asking is when will communications earn the second seat at the table? And in order to find answers let us think innovatively to make a truly remarkable difference that will contribute to the business beyond the plain vanilla role of communications advice and execution.

     

    I think I have answered the question without mentioning it explicitly. Now it’s time for communicators to ask their CEOs for that second seat by building a fool-proof case to deserve that. The time is not far.

     

  • Just as a botched up surgery does not let surgeons lose their credibility. Public relations professionals who work with consultancies and in communications departments largely try and work within an ethical code that is unwritten but understood, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Has Public Relations lost its credibility?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This week, in Mumbai I’m co-hosting the first gathering of senior communicators. The half-day conclave hopes to become an annual feature by bringing together business leaders who share their thoughts on reputation management. Public Relations over the years has been referred to by different folks with different strokes.

     

    Some call it Public Engagement, some say it’s Public Communications, some call it Corporate Affairs or Corporate Communications, some others refer to it as Reputation Management or Strategic Communications. There are many other nomenclatures associated with the profession. But Public Relations, many think is no more as sexy as it used to be.

     

    In a recent twitter conversation on a different tangent, the consulting editor of Money Life (Veeresh Malik) raised a question that Public Relations in India had lost its credibility. [His response was – if PR was about real content told with style then why did it lose credibility?}. There were four others including me tagged to this thread. One of them (Prema Sagar) responded with a question – “Did it? And Malik responded saying Yes.

     

    My answer would be clearly NO. Public relations has not lost credibility. Just as a botched up surgery does not let surgeons lose their credibility. Public relations professionals who work with consultancies and in communications departments largely try and work within an ethical code that is unwritten but understood.

     

    There are certain stakeholders and certain professionals in Public Relations who will cross the line that leads to an incorrect perception. Public Relations has certainly failed in building its own reputation but that is less a problem of the profession and more a problem of competitors not coming together. The mediocre has always been given an upper hand because few think of the long term, rather focusing on the short term.

     

    I’m hoping the conclave aptly called ENGAGE gets professionals to engage with each other during and after the conclave to arrive at an outlook for the profession for the year ahead and the time to come. I hope senior folks both, who lead communications departments and lead PR firms evolve a system to make things better so people like Veeresh won’t live with a wrong perception that PR in India has lost its credibility.

     

    Maybe we need to start early and it’s never too late. We need to train professionals’ right. We need to accredit new and existing professionals. We need to get senior folks to talk more often and do a service to the profession. Because if we do not focus on the publics and the relationships around the eco-system of Public Relations we would only be leaving a messed up reputation of the profession for future generations.

     

  • Though Outlook was owned by a corporate house and had a style that was not very much liked by right-wingers, it definitely brought in a freshness to journalism, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu on Vinod Mehta: They don’t make editors like him anymore

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    It was my final year of high school and I still remember my dad coming home with this new magazine in hand. My home saw four daily newspapers and three weekly magazines that came through subscription, which meant the newspaper man or the postman delivered these. One of the three magazines had stopped abruptly (Sunday from the ABP Group). There was a vacuum.

     

    India Today was losing its shine and The Week was becoming predictable. This new magazine in my dad’s hand was a welcome read. It was called Outlook and was a weekly, versus India today which was then (in 1995) a fortnightly. Well, the rest they say is history and Vinod Mehta drove the magazine’s editorial content for almost 17 of the 20 years it has been in existence.

     

    It was always a joy to read the last page of the magazine when it featured ‘Delhi Diary’ authored by Mehta himself. I was at the entrance of Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi on 22nd November waiting for my cab. I had just left the venue of the HT Leadership Summit after attending a session on Twitter. As I was waiting feebly walks Vinod Mehta. We exchanged glances, then a smile and as he waited for his car I told him he was a much admired Editor.

     

    He asked me what I do and then quickly referred to the session we had both attended few minutes prior. He was quite upset that the social network site did not have a mechanism to prevent anonymous handles that were spewing venom. He was quite alright with the idea of criticism. He also mentioned that he was also not happy that there was a parody account on him called @DrunkVinodMehta. To which I told him he should have his own account (I have been successful at convincing couple of other Editors to get on to the medium), and he responded that he had created a twitter handle the previous weekend mainly to promote his memoir. (See @vinodedmehta)

     

    Just then his car arrived, followed by mine. He needed help to get down the final flight of stairs and extended a hand. I was more than happy to extend mine. Both, his driver and he thanked me followed by which my cab arrived as well.

     

    Barely 100 days later news trickled in that he had passed away. He stood for fearlessness. An attribute that few Editors can claim to have in this day and age. Though Outlook was owned by a corporate house and had a style that was not very much liked by the right-wingers, it definitely brought in a freshness to journalism and branched out create few other titles under its franchise. Vinod Mehta did not shy away from publishing the brickbats sent by the readers. He was loved or hated but never ignored. He definitely lived the 73 years of his life very well. I wish there are more like him in the journalistic fraternity. I also hope Outlook posthumously published the entire collection of Delhi Diary. And may his soul rest in peace.

     

  • Peer influence, word-of-mouth marketing, new connections are all taking place at these weekend events around the country, notes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: The art of Public Relations is changing

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    India is seeing a new breed of events that were never heard of until a couple of years ago. I just returned from one and my biggest takeaway is that Public Relations is changing faster than we thought. And it is happening through real-time human interaction.

     

    Peer influence, word-of-mouth marketing, new connections are all taking place at these weekend events around the country. The Coalition, Construkt Festival INK conference and The Goa Project are just few of the events that have mushroomed. These are the new media outlets where ideas are brought to life and discussed threadbare.

     

    We talk of PR professionals not getting their due.  If we PR professionals do not take time out and invest in attending events such as these we will for remain in a shell. Besides the learning and meeting with new people that these forums offer there is an amazing power to float trial balloons and test new concepts that these gatherings offer.

     

    Three things I liked at the The Goa Project, which I feel are reasons enough to attend such unconferences in the future. People from different walks of life who are complete strangers attend. I did not know a single person but at the end of two days I had made friends with nearly a dozen interesting individuals including an art therapist, a make-up artist, an in-film placement expert, a design thinker, an econometrician, a bespoke designer, a theatre actor, a linguist, a podcaster and a spa owner among others. Can there be a wider variety?

     

    The unconference meant anyone could apply to be a speaker and share a point of view. So one could attend sessions as diverse as women-centric cinema, fund raising in the arts, the power to change habits and stress management among others. Most importantly the sea-side ambience provided a relaxed setting for learning with fun.

     

    Lastly, one goes back with entirely new perspectives on life that one would not get at a gathering of like-minded or fellow professionals. So why are PR professionals not at such events? I don’t have an answer. All I know is that there is a need for such events and these are great places for communicators to create traction for brands and organisations they work for.

     

    We cannot complain that we do not have adequate forums to meet and discuss ideas. We must make use of these platforms to evolve ideas. Until the next unconference, then.

     

  • Q&A with Ketchum Sampark founder & MD N S Rajan and columnist & Praxis founder Amith Prabhu who have announced a PG school for strategic communications

    SCORE high with PR!

     

     

    For people who have spent all of their professional lives building the reputations of organizations and professionals, this duo just doesn’t believe in their faces doing the talking. Just use the logo, we were told. Thankfully, our phone was out of bounds so we couldn’t be reached, else we would have been persuaded to drop the pictures.

     

    Over the last few weeks, over phone calls, text messages and meetings, N S Rajan, Global Partner and Managing Director of Ketchum Sampark and Amith Prabhu, PR professional, MxMIndia columnist and founder of PR conference Praxis have been stitching together plans to set the Indian School of Communications and Reputation (SCoRe). Messrs Rajan and Prabhu were in Mumbai on Tuesday to announce the plans for the institute and meet select media to address questions.

     

    SCORE has been set up by a limited liability firm promoted by Messrs Rajan and Prabhu. Although there’s no direct monetary investment made by either of them, the broad arrangement is that while Mr Prabhu will run the institute, Mr Rajan will play the role of a Mentor and also bring in the monies if there is a need. The business plan expects the institute to be in the black from Year 1.

     

    The institute is is being established in Gurgaon and while admissions process will start soon, the classes will commence in July. SCORE, according to a communiqu̩, aims to be a centre of education and research focused on Public Relations, Corporate Communications and Political Communications. The vision is to be the best school for those who want to make a mark in the field of strategic communications. SCoRe will offer a Post-Graduate Diploma in Strategic Communications with two specialisations РPolitical and Corporate.

     

    Details of the programmes offered are at www.scoredindia.org

     
     

    Students will experience life of being in a workplace at SCORE

     

    Q&A with SCORE Chief Mentor N S Rajan and Founding Dean Amith Prabhu

     

    Congratulations on the announcement. But having heard more about it, and given that there are various media and management schools offering PR training programmes, one was wondering that since why set up another?

    The industry still doesn’t have good number of trained freshers who are pinning their hopes on a career in Public Relations. That explains the overwhelming support of all members of the profession. Moreover, there is a lot that a postgraduate programme in strategic communications can offer, both students and organisations that has been untapped so far.

     

    Don’t you think it would’ve been better if you had tied up with an existing player and offered your services to them? Some – if not all – of the institutes do boast of excellent faculty and have been producing quality PR professionals. So why reinvent the wheel?

    There is no institute that has been set up by practising professionals. And there is no institute dedicated to Public Relations. If PR has to get its due, it needs an academic management that is focussed on offering various specialisations within the craft without being attached to a larger educational set-up where it remains one of many specialisations. For example, SCORE will offer specialisations in Corporate, Political and Developmental Public Relations. Sometimes a new way of doing things is the best solution. More importantly, the school will aim to be the fountain of talent in the years to come.

     

    How is SCORE going to be different from the others?

    SCORE will be the only school of its kind dedicated to Public Relations. Something we have broken down into what we do and what we say – Communications and Reputation. Five things will stand out a) The school will be affordable by offering a well thought out programme at a price point that students can pay easily as they start out a career. b) By being located in Gurgaon the school will tap into a wide talent pool of professionals who will teach c) The accessibility of large organisations and PR consulting firms will enable students to work on live projects and real-time assignments d) This will be the first independent school that has the leadership of most of the Top 10 firms supporting it with guarantees of internships that will translate into jobs. E) And lastly, the curriculum is inspired by the leading communications schools of the world offering an intense programme with extensive in-classroom training

     

    So, why should students apply?

    The programme being offered is like no other. It is carefully planned with the work-life in mind. Students will experience life of being in a workplace at SCORE. They will learn from the best in the profession. Work on live projects. Solve case studies. Make campaign plans. Track news. Consult on projects. Plan events. Meet business leaders. Be equipped to tackle reputational problems. Trained in elements of brand communications, business management and strategic communications in small batches

     

    Rajan, when you are recruiting talent, would you prefer to hire talent that’s from a communications/PR school or someone with a general MBA. For, after all, the people at the other end of the table in the form of clients are pedigreed B-schoolers and hence it makes sense to hire people who can match up to them?

    As is the case with most graduates coming from school, the industry including the PR fraternity and the firm I have been associated with has had to invest substantially in their training and in many cases retraining to make them unlearn some of the concepts. So in the past we have recruited quite many Management graduates.  Hopefully, the curriculum of SCORE with its emphasis on practical training and case-study based learning along with a holistic learning approach would fill the current void and make the students ‘industry ready’.

     

    Or is the hiring of IIM/ISB/etc Tier-1 something that PR firms can never dream of given the price tag?

    There are several considerations in the minds of an IIM or an ISB graduate and salary is only one of them. For instance, my own son would prefer to join a start-up.

     

    Yes. I do agree as an industry, we have not actively tapped talent with a general management background. The Top management schools better prepare students to work specially in areas like FMCG . We hope the SCORE curriculum and the rigour of the programme places  those choosing a career in Strategic Communications  on par with their peers from general management in terms of being industry ready.

     

    Rajan, could you for the benefit of our readers and the fraternity, explain your exact association with SCORE? How did you think of mentoring SCORE? Post-Ketchum Sampark retirement planningJ ?

    I have been part of several discussions with industry leaders over time on the need for a practical curriculum for entrants as also training to current young professionals to raise the overall standing of the Industry. This project is to me in a waygiving back to the profession in a small measure the great joy and fulfilment it has given me. SoI am not looking at this as a business venture.

     

    Amith has done a yeoman service to all of us in PR by bringing us under one roof with PRAXIS and I felt if the School project was to be truly neutral and independent and stand for the PR industry in India, Amith is best equipped to anchor and run it.  I am gratified that the Industry as a whole and many of my fellow professionals have graciously accepted to participate actively in this venture and I thank them sincerely.

     

    At 55, I’m far from retired and I’m looking to build my firm in India. While I initiated the idea it was Amith who, having worked for the fraternity at large, immediately saw the opportunity and agreed to anchor it. I will not be actively involved in the day to day operations other than mentoring the young team that will run the school.

     

    Amith, given Rajan’s active association with SCORE and the fact that he’s a veteran PR professional but associated with a large PR firm, did the thought that some PR consultancy professionals/agencies who are rivals of Ketchum Sampark could possibly not encourage your institute?

    This institute is being created with a clear purpose. To offer a world-class education at an affordable price to the future managers and leaders of the profession. My biggest strength has been to work on challenging projects without letting biases creep in. Be it the weekly column I write or the annual event I organise, I never take sides. The school offers every PR firm CEO and corporate communications head the option to nominate an individual for the rigorous training programme on the condition that they will hire the student on successful completion of the programme As mentioned by Mr Rajan , I have the mandate to run the school independently and it will be company agnostic .The fact that a large number of leaders from across agencies and companies have agreed to participate whole heartedly is perhaps an indication of the need for such a school as also its neutrality.  I look forward to their continued guidance and counsel in my new avatar as they supported PRAXIS

     

    PR firms like having journalists on their fold?  Does the setting up of SCORE imply that trained PR professionals is possibly the way to go rather than getting bored-of-their-journalism-jobs editors?

    There is room for everyone. While journalists join PR firm at middle and senior levels bringing in the strength of content creation and media relations. There is always a need for good talent at the entry level as generalists and at other levels as strategists and planners. Some institutes offer PR as a specialisation but do not deep dive to train students in emerging areas where PR is in great demand like the developmental sector or the political arena. Besides, the institutes offer a programme that is expensive thus preventing good talent from embracing it because of price barrier and those that graduate want to work in jobs that have higher starting salaries compared to PR which leads to a brain drain of sorts.

     

    Amith, at 34, you would obviously be among the youngest professionals to get into education. Does the fact that you are not been an educator or have too many years into the profession, do you think SCORE wouldn’t be taken too seriously as an educational institute?

    I turned 35 this monthJ. Well, I was expecting this question from the media but this question has not come from parents of potential students I have spoken to or from fellow ‘senior’ professionals who have signed up to be on the Academic Council and to teach. Age is no barrier to the success when there is an idea whose time has come. That is why Rajan and I chose to collaborate in creating this programme. A good mix of youth and experience can always create wonders. When I floated the idea of PRAXIS in early 2012 I was 31, and many dissuaded me saying it would have no takers but when people saw the product which was of high calibre and independently done there was overwhelming support. My role is three-fold. To attract the best students and faculty. To be the custodian of something that the professional community has been yearning for. And lastly, to let the programme do the talking. 

     

     

  • Several organisations hire journalists to handle their communications who deal with the storytelling and media relations bit but there is an entire bit of strategy and campaign planning where they lag, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Reputation is not everything. It is the only thing

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    It takes a jolt to make amends. The unexpected events that come our way in our public life can prompt us to get drowned with them or take steps to salvage the reputation at stake. The last week was interesting in terms of various incidents in political and corporate India.

     

    The repercussion of Delhi elections was the subtle blame that BJP put on its leadership attributing it to the famous suit that the PM wore, blaming Obama for lecturing India on religious intolerance and the attacks on places of worship. And the PM who is the master of communicating through actions was quick to act. First, he addressed a Christian event and spoke against religious intolerance, next he put up that ill-fated suit for auction with the proceeds going to charity and lastly attending the wedding of the progeny of his arch rivals (Lalu and Mulayam) in rural UP.

     

    Just as the Budget session draws near, does the news of the Corporate Espionage fiasco prop up. This incident is a can of worms which will bite many a corporate for a long time to come. The big daddies of energy are involved and it will take a long while to wriggle out of this mess.

     

    In faraway Patna, Nitish Kumar tried doing a Kejriwal by apologising. But his circumstances were different and how people react to him cutting a sorry figure will be known in the elections. The three stories above are just instances of how people take reputation management seriously.

     

    While all this played out in the media, it is important to understand that few individuals took decisions to make or break their reputation. It also underlines the adage that Reputation is not everything, most of the time it is the only thing.

     

    This being the case, several organisations are taking narrative management very seriously and hiring senior journalists to look after corporate communications. While hiring journalists in corporate communications is not new, the number of journalists making the transition has grown exponentially. While they deal with the storytelling and media relations bit, there is an entire bit of strategy and campaign planning where they lag. However, if all that companies look for is relationships that help stop a negative story or to plant a positive story, that will do more harm than good in the long term.

     

    Well, there will always be tough mazes to navigate. One has to be mindful that there are really no shortcuts. And for every shortcut one is shortchanging oneself in the reputation game.

     

  • How many PR professionals across the below-30 and above-30 category innovate or do something remarkably outstanding, asks Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: 30 under 30 and what they need to do

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    I was a member of the jury that chose the first list of 30 under 30 in Indian PR. Two things that clearly stood out were, that there is great talent out there and the future of our profession will be in great hands in the years to come. The other interesting takeaway is that some of these should also feature in the list that Forbes India brings out and there are some who would make the cut but do not nominate themselves.

     

    Now that brings me to a Twitter discussion I was having with Deepa Dey who heads Corporate Communications at a leading consumer healthcare company (it’s a different matter that she refers to the discussion as an argument). She felt it was saddening that PR professionals did not feature in the Forbes India list whereas I felt how does Forbes find out that some bright sparks exists unless they do some PR for themselves or come under the radar of the journalist compiling the list. I think it is really optimistic to want to see PR professionals in this list and never impossible.

     

    I’m reproducing the methodology that Forbes India used to arrive at the list from their website:

    The research process was three-fold: One, interviews by Forbes India staffers with sources across relevant categories as well as through studies of databases and media coverage. Two, an online application on forbesindia.com, inviting applications from entrepreneurs/ professionals who felt they qualified. Three, by spreading the word through social media. This helped arrive at a long list which went up to over 300 names across 13 categories. (Finance as a category was dropped for lack of adequate representation.)

     

    Now the question is whether Public Relations as a category even featured at all? And if it did, whether PR professionals featured in the minds of sources that Forbes India staffers spoke to. Also, did PR professionals who felt they qualified, even apply to be in the list. When I refer to PR professionals I mean both – those who work inhouse and those who work in consultancies.

     

    Keeping both the above in context the question I have is how many PR professionals across the below-30 and above-30 category innovate or do something remarkably outstanding? If they do, why is it not brought into the fore? Well, the answers to these will never be found.

     

    The point I’m trying to make is that PR professionals get into the profession to contribute towards building reputations using the power of communications in different forms. Very rarely do PR professionals want to hog the limelight. It is a strategic backroom job with a lot of power and responsibility.

     

    Now that we have our own list that features not one or two but thirty bright, smart professionals we should celebrate and get more people to apply next year. Let’s hope these 30 contribute in outstanding ways to themselves, their organisations and to the profession. And may some of these apply to be in the Forbes India List in 2016.

     

    More importantly, may some of our own who are in the 40s and 50s get to be the people Forbes India speaks to next year! Till then here’s cheering up the 30 under 30. May their tribe increase and may our optimism grow.

     

  • They did ABCD: Aimed (to make a difference), Believed (that nothing is impossible), Committed (to the cause), and Dreamt (really Big)…

    #AAPHEW! | Amith Prabhu: Another election where Public Relations won

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    It is easy to do a post mortem of an event but rarely possible to accurately predict outcomes before the event. The Delhi election, counting to which took place yesterday, was more historic than the 2014 watershed general elections. It was historic because in 2014 the incumbent was written off and the challenger was going full-steam. Here, in 2015 the victorious Aam Aadmi Party was written off and rose like a phoenix. It was the original incumbent in Delhi which resigned after 49 days in power. The President’s Rule in Delhi gave the national government an opportunity to make an impact but they got most things right. I’m not even making a reference to the other grand old party of India because lesser said the better.

     

    What did BJP do wrong that led to a massive victory for AAP with a vote share of 54%. The list is long but let’s pick out the key factors:

    a) BJP ran a negative campaign both externally against the opponent and internally with long standing party members. There is no scope for negativity.

     

    b) BJP imported its CM candidate at the eleventh hour thus creating unrest in the party. There is no scope for haphazard parachuting.

     

    c) BJP’s leadership allowed the likes of Sakshi Maharaj to spew venom and other sister organisations ran a mindless campaign of reconversion and attack on places of worship. This is no more an option.

     

    d) The BJP-led government invited the US President not expecting that his final speech in India and his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast would be without mincing words. This definitely played a role in the minds of undecided voters.

     

    e) The famous million rupee personalised suit of the Prime Minister was the most ill-advised stunt from a man who has been following a playbook. The perception of being elitist was created.

     

    The list can go on and on. But I’m only focusing on the key factors. Contrast that with the way AAP went about with its campaign:

    a) They figured that ‘the early bird catches the worm’ and launched their campaign much before the election dates were announced, anticipating the event could come upon them anytime

     

    b) The leader of the party did something very few politicians have ever done. He went about apologising for his ill-fated 49 day government. Imagine politicians in this day and age doing something like that!

     

    c) They used the Arvind Kejriwal muffler which was otherwise ridiculed to their advantage. They ran a social media campaign to drive home the message that they were truly one like us.

     

    d) They communicated right at every step of the way. Be it their manifesto, their focus areas, their candidates. They did it with élan.

     

    e) Last but not the least, they managed to recapture the imagination of the ordinary folks, the common citizens despite all the odds being stacked against them.

     

    And they did something very basic. They did ABCD: Aimed (to make a difference), Believed (that nothing is impossible), Committed (to the cause), and Dreamt (really Big)…

     

    In simple terms, they did what Public relations is supposed to do. They organised well, they engaged with the audience, they communicated strategically and built a formidable reputation that got more than half of those who voted to vote for them. They not only won, but Public relations won, as well.

     

  • While events like Praxis are great ways to celebrate the profession and they attract professionals of all levels there is a need for another gathering that is introspective in nature, writesAmith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Time for more meaningful Engagement with the most important stakeholders

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Without doubt the customers are the most important stakeholders of an organisation. But more often than not we forget our immediate customers who are internal and only focus on the end user. In communications consulting and inhouse communications management, the CEO for the corporate brand and the CMO for the product brand are invariably the key stakeholders – they are the primary customers of the counsel we offer.

     

    While inhouse leads and teams interact with the CEO or CMO, whichever the case maybe. And the consulting firm engages with the CEO and CMO either during a media training, or a media conference or a review meeting, we miss out on cross-learnings that a variety of this business leaders can offer to us collectively in the form of a forum of learning and exchange. A conclave style approach that outlines a futuristic outlook for the profession in the short term is missing.

     

    While events like Praxis are great ways to celebrate the profession and they attract professionals of all levels there is a need for another gathering that is introspective in nature. Wherein the real customer of the communications service spells out his or her experiences and expectations from counsel and support. This could also lead to the fraternity getting a general outlook for the year ahead, if held annually.

     

    The CXOs need to understand in an increased manner how Reputation Management which is called by different names is a management function and not just another vendor service, just because purchase departments get involved in procurement. An integration of ideas and an assimilation of thought process is definitely a need of the hour for mutual benefits. Where the corporate or brand leadership derives more out of the communications function and communications professionals – both inhouse and in consultancies benefit from the knowledge of the experienced leaders.

     

    That being said a possibility of organising a day-long annual conclave is on the anvil and may see the light of day before the next financial year begins. To make it easier to pull off, both in terms of budgets and logistics the plan is to host this in one of the three main metros. The format will be straightforward where a group of CEOs, followed by a group of CMOs and then a group of Chief Communications Officers share perspectives either through a panel discussion or through a short presentation.

     

    The audience will only be senior professionals from inhouse departments and consultancies. The rest of the fraternity can track the conclave through a webcast. The outcome will not only be great insights but also a white paper that guides investments in terms of training, hiring and planning for the year ahead.

     

    So here’s to another gathering that will help do PR for PR. The profession is getting its due. But it needs to happen in smarter and quicker ways.

     

  • Quality, affordable post-graduate education for a career in strategic communications is the need of the hour, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: The PR Business in India needs a school of its own

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    It is high time that the fraternity of over 5000 professionals get together to invest in the future of the profession. Good talent is becoming increasingly scarce. The handful of premium schools produce talent that is either not looking at jobs in PR firms or corporate communications. The few that do are not up to the mark and I have personally worked with several of them over the past year.

     

    Where do we go from here? Where do we source trained talent from? How do we solve this epidemic? There is no one clear answer. But there are umpteen possibilities. And we have to make all three come together in a synchronised way. The writing is on the wall. The PR business needs a school of its own. And the time is now.

     

    It requires the coming together people from big and small organisations, both global and local, from in-house and consultancies and this dream needs to be realized. Quality, affordable post-graduate education for a career in strategic communications is the need of the hour. We need to bring together future talent and organisations to make it happen.

     

    What comprises a good school? There is no defined answer. But there are indicators. It needs to be run by practising professionals. It needs to guarantee that the programme translates into jobs. And it needs to ensure stickiness, where organisations want more of the talent they hire and the talent dos not want to leave organisations.

     

    Can hiring organisations offer a reward for loyalty? Perhaps, the comparable low-fee should excite organisations to offer graduating talent the entire sum on completion of a certain number of years in the organisation. For example, students should be nominated to the programme after being interviewed by professionals with a letter of intent to hire them on the successful completion of the programme. These students then spend a pre-defined time in the organisation in order to reap the rewards of loyalty. A retention bonus that is truly meaningful.

     

    Unless freshers spend three to four years in their first job they are not going to be able to be impactful in the middle to long term. The continuous learning that the early year’s offers is certainly an important aspect in becoming well-rounded professionals. There needs to be a futuristic syllabus that students learn with a focus on understanding creativity and respecting research. The clear message the school should send is that there are no shortcuts. I’m certain a school of this kind will have takers. And I’m hoping it is an idea whose time has come.

     

    Disclaimer – I’m putting together the building blocks for such a school and I’m hoping it will be the dream come true for those who want to enter the domain of strategic communications and for organisations who are desperately seeking well-trained, well-groomed and well-educated talent. 

     

  • A list of 15 people in consultancies and in-house in organisations to watch out for in 2015, by Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: 15 people to watch out for in 2015

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This should have ideally been the first column of the year but it is able to make it in the first month of the year, nevertheless. This is in my humble opinion the list of 15 people in consultancies and in-house in organisations to watch out for in 2015. Most of them donned new hats in the last 12 weeks and are in interesting profiles within their organisations.

     

    Valerie Pinto – One of India’s few employed female head honchos. By that I mean, most other women at the helm of large firms are founders (Prema, Nandita, Archana). But what makes Valerie stand out is that hers was one of the biggest movements in 2014 when she exited Perfect relations after a very long stint to join Weber Shandwick.

     

    Amit Misra and Chetan Mahajan – These two low profile gentlemen were in the limelight after the exit of Jaideep Shergill as they were appointed to co-lead the Publicis Groupe’s flagship PR firms in India. It will be interesting to see how Chetan and Amit take MSLGroup to the next level.

     

    Dilip Cherian and Bobby Kewalramani – Both these pioneers made news throughout 2014 for a proposed sale of Perfect Relations, a company they founded two decades ago from the house of a member of Parliament. One won’t be surprised if they sell out this year.

     

    Rakesh Thukral – Rakesh was appointed Edelman India’s first Indian CEO in October and continues to build on the legacy that Robert Holdheim leaves behind. 2015 will be interesting for this company in India which is the world’s leading firm in revenues as it consolidates some great wins and deals with the absence of two pillars of the Mumbai office – the late Allwyn Fernandes and Roger Darashah.

     

    Madan Bahal – Madan’s is a rags to riches story that very few know of. His 17 year old company is India’s number one firm in revenues. One needs to watch closely if Madan will be the first Indian PR firm that will make inorganic inroads into the Americas this year.

     

    Nikhil Dey – Having spent a decade at Genesis Burson Marsteller, it will be interesting to see how Nikhil under the guidance of Prema Sagar takes the WPP flagship firm to greater heights in the year ahead.

     

    Manish Kalghatgi – Manish is establishing himself as the aviation communications specialist. After stints at GVK managed Mumbai airport and GMR led Delhi Airport Manish moved to Jet Airways to lead its communications function. With Etihad infusing new lease of life into India’s iconic private airline one needs to see how they handle reputational issues in the months ahead.

     

    Chhavi Leekha – After a fair amount of time spent in traditional companies Chhavi began the new year by joining Uber Technologies to be the first Director of Communications to this start-up which is in great need of strategic communications support.

     

    Rohan Vyawaharkar – Rohan became Twitter India’s first head of corporate communications when he moved on from Red Bull late last year. How Rohan, a former journalist brings his learnings to this social networking company will be watched closely.

     

    Neha Mohanty – Neha will have a daunting task to build a stronger reputation for Air Asia after one of its aircrafts in another market crashed in the Java Sea in the last week of December. Instilling traveler confidence and positioning airline safety will be top on every airline’s agenda, especially those that have faced recent disasters.

     

    Paroma Roy Chowdhury – As Head of Communications at Google India, Paroma has one of the most challenging and interesting jobs. How Google continues to build on its strengths and conveys that will be important as it expands and grows through numerous ways.

     

    Sukanya Ghosh – This will be the first full year for the new CEO of Infosys. Handling global communications of the IT giant will be a herculean task after various phases it has gone through during the leadership changes. Sukanya is the only Bangalore based professional to feature in this list.

     

    Girish Huria – Girish made an exciting transition from Delhi to Mumbai late last year. A transition from Avian Media to eBay India to head the e-commerce portals India communications remit. In an age where Amazon and Flipkart are the flavor of the season positioning and promoting eBay will not be easy but Girish could be the right person for the job.

     

  • Political communications is tricky and at the same time it can also be a straight forward business, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: Time for real Reputation Management professionals in Politics

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    There is an interesting piece of news last week on how the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is hiring a plethora of journalists to manage media monitoring and relations in the state. I wish evolved politicians like him thought differently and went beyond media managers to hire reputation managers. People who can advise on what is the right thing to do and also on doing the right things.

     

    That reminds me of another state which is largely managed by a few bureaucrats and a super chief minister which recently organised an international business event. The event was high profile and one of the biggest organised by a state government. But several shortcomings of the event were in the area of reputation management because the bureaucrat in charge thought he knew too much.

     

    Then there are states where friends and family are given the task of managing communications and building reputation with or without the support of consultancies. The question I repeatedly ask is why is that politicians can’t professionalise this aspect of their public persona. Of hiring professionals to manage communications and reputation who are trained and are experts.

     

    Well, the only three answers I can think of are: That politicians do not know that professionals exists. Or if they know they do not want to trust their reputation management with these professionals. Lastly, the professionals that exists are not good enough or according to the politician not well qualified for the task at hand.

     

    Political communications is tricky and at the same time it can also be a straightforward business. There are few who can pull off political campaigns from a communications perspective and they need to train more professionals to follow suit. I have been contemplating starting a programme to train political communications specialists because I believe it is the need of the hour.

     

    By the time we head into 2019 there will be a need for over a thousand political communications specialist. This is based on the back of the envelope calculation that at least two candidates in every constituency, if not more is looking for one. I hope this dream of seeing a new professions emerge can see the light of the day.