MxMIndia

Tag: ETC

  • Compare the status of office punctuality, client interaction, quality talent, physical space and professional events and you'll know why PR in the United States is better than what we have in India, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: 5 reasons why PR in US is better than India

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Thanks for the encouraging feedback that has come from various readers. Prof Meenakshi Upadhyay in a tweet requested if I could share some comparison between functioning of the PR business between the world’s two diverse yet well-integrated PR consulting markets.  I have the privilege of having worked in India in the past and a clear plan of working in India in the future. I’m doing a two-year stint in Chicago of which three quarters is complete. While the basics remain the same, the approach to several aspects is different. Here, I will touch upon are Office punctuality, Client interaction, Quality talent, Physical space and Professional events.

     

    I would start off with a comparison of day in the life and this seems to be the norm across businesses in the United States. Thanks to a great marriage between discipline and superb public transportation, staff are in the office between 8.30am and 8.45am to start off at 9am. Come 5.15pm, the offices are deserted and by 5.30 pm there is no one in the office. This cycle percolates down to the clients as well. In India there is a vicious cycle of starting late and ending late. Last-minute client requests that lengthen the day and an attitude where one feels one can come in late because one left office late the previous day and this becomes a chain.

     

    Productivity is higher thanks to a high reliance on technology. Employees at every level are given smartphones so as to be accessible in real time. But, more importantly, this helps one stay connected with clients and other stakeholders without the need to meet face-to-face. So the number of physical client meetings is far lesser thus saving time and energy to focus on quality time strategizing and brainstorming to help the client succeed.

     

    The quality of Public Relations is far superior as course content is in keeping with the times and access to internships with large organizations is greater which in turn gives PR firms the ability to hire from the best universities and organizations. This translates when the PR firm executive makes the switch to becoming a client, who is then well-versed with his or her role and able to manage large budgets to add value to business objectives of the organization.

     

    The work environment also makes a big difference. Thanks to larger turnovers, companies can afford bigger office spaces where individuals get space they deserve unlike in India where thanks to our mindset the space is rationed to staff. I have had the fortune of visiting almost all the offices of the 10-12 leading PR firms across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi as the placement coordinator of my batch way back in 2004 and therefore can state with confidence that the office space story is similar across organizations.

     

    Events for professionals are plenty. There are several associations that a PR professional can become a member of and benefit from. The IABC, the PRSA, the Publicity Club are some of the prominent ones and they all organize high quality events for learning and networking through the year. Unless this trend comes to India, a professional will have limited exposure and be like a frog in the well.

     

    There are other aspects like packaging content, presentations and the self that I will write about in a future column. These are some of the key differences and they truly stand out. But most important the humility and simplicity with which some leaders carry out their duties including travelling by public transport, not having an office despite being the head of the location and instead sitting with other employees in regular cubes are truly inspirational.

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in their Chicago office. He spent the first eight years of his post graduation career in India and is in the US for two years of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present, future employer or of MxMIndia. You can connect with him on Twitter @amithpr

     

  • Public Relations is definitely a lot more than what it is perceived to be and ironically suffers from a perception problem that it created for itself over the years, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: One size does not fit all!

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    This blog is for everyone but especially for Himanshu Agarwal who was the first to make a comment on my first blog with some vital questions.  I’m not an expert but I can do my best with a decade of experience to offer some thoughts on some important issues that have constantly come up in the business of PR consulting.

     

    On his first question of how Public Relations is measured there is no one straight answer. Public Relations is no longer about media relations where one issued a press release, organised a press conference or pitched a story and then waited for the output in order to measure the outcome. It’s important to understand the difference between output and outcome and critical to decide with internal stakeholders (the client for the PR firm or if it’s the corporate communications manager, then the CMO if it’s brand reputation management related or the CEO if it’s corporate reputation management related) how each programme is measured when completed. There is no one size that fits all. There are new metrics evolving for digital outreach programmes and these differ depending on the social network used.

     

    There is now an emergence of three to four compartments in media output that impact business outcomes. These compartments are referred to as Earned, Owned and Paid which make them self-explanatory. Traditionally, Public Relations-led activities that were in the realm of Earned media but the lines are blurring and all the three categories of organisations are doing what they always did in addition to dabbling seriously in the other compartments. So you have ad agencies hiring PR managers to offer clients earned media opportunities and PR firms hiring media buyers to let clients co-create properties with outlets.

     

    Public Relations is definitely a lot more than what it is perceived to be and ironically suffers from a perception problem that it created for itself over the years. However, this is changing with the emergence of the true-blue professionals. Those who started out in Public Relations after earning a qualification that had Public Relations theory as a subject. The leading PR firms of the world are evolving newer points of view and changing the course of direction by becoming Public Engagement companies in some instances, Public Communications companies in some cases among other things. There is no right or wrong answer as long as clients are convinced about what is being promised and what is being delivered and the leading firms of the world strive to create ethical outreach programmes. Because there is no one size that fits all.

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in their Chicago office. He spent the first eight years of his post graduation career in India and is in the US for two years of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present, future employer or of MxMIndia. You can connect with him on Twitter @amithpr

     

  • The ABC Award which will launch this year to award two young professionals – consultancy-based and in-house, writes Amith Prabhu

    Amith Prabhu: It’s time to give ace communicators their due

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    I got a lot of interesting feedback on my blog of last week regarding the Cannes PR Lions including a thought that I had been toying with. A thought that is as simple as – should PR firms even bother about being part of one category in what is largely an advertising festival. The point is you can love it or hate it but one cannot ignore it. What we need to do is participate in our own national and regional awards and we have a handful of them. PR firms need to set aside budgets for submitting entries and sending employees to these events. For those who are unaware, the exchange4media group and The Holmes Report run two separate awards for work done on campaigns for brands and organizations.

     

    That being said the individual in the profession also longs for recognition and reward. To give this long felt need a fillip we now have The ABC Award which will launch this year to honour two young professionals – consultancy based and in-house. Another award you may think. But the award is unique in so many ways.  First, it is the only award of its kind for the profession in India where the winner takes home cash and access to mentorship from the best in the business. Secondly, the judging is based on a self-application that requires endorsement of the branch head or departmental head and a reference check of shortlisted candidates from individuals the nominee has worked with, who maybe a client or media professional. Thirdly, a peer dipstick is undertaken to select the winner that puts the focus on integrity and value system the person stands for. Lastly, the cash prize for young professionals is sponsored by practitioners who are passionate about Public Relations. An award for the young corporate communicator is being sponsored by ICG – the Indian Communicators Group.

     

    In the business of reputation management, having a great personal reputation is paramount. This award hopes to celebrate people with high reputation in what they best do – consult on credibility and influence. In the near future these awards will be extended to three more age categories across both sides of in-house and consultancy based.  Mid-level professionals, senior professionals and to veterans who will be inducted into a Hall of Fame. Besides this, a scholarship for postgraduate students of Public Relations was introduced last year.

     

    Now the question is remains if whether individuals will apply or just sit back, relax and enjoy and choose to be bystanders!

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in their Chicago office. He spent the first eight years of his post graduation career in India and is in the US for two years of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present, future employer or of MxMIndia. You can connect with him on Twitter @amithpr

     

  • In his weekly column, Chicago-based PR professional Amith Prabhu says internal communications is the key to public outreach.

    Amith Prabhu: Do you know who your biggest ambassador is?

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    Over the last two weeks one witnessed two interesting happenings that would make for good Public Relations case studies. One took place in Mumbai and the other in Goa. While the former had low intensity coverage and most of it on Twitter and a handful of portals, the latter was making waves both as a trending topic and headline news for days together with national ramifications and reactions of great proportions. The two cases I’m referring to are what I would like to call the Forbes India Fiasco and the Modi Advani Drama. While I don’t want to take a position on both these events in this column I think there is lot to learn for students of reputation management.

     

    For those who are unaware and can learn more here, the Forbes India parent company unceremoniously ousted its Founder Editor and along with him three other senior editorial leadership members. While who was right and who was wrong can be debated, on the face of it based on the facts publicly available it seemed another instance of management high handedness. But let’s move to the Public Relations handling of the episode. A reputed media organization like Network 18 could have handled the episode better by having an amicable settlement with transparent communications. There are several stakeholders involved. But key among these are viewers and readers of the various outlets that the group owns, fans of Forbes India and most importantly the employees at the magazine. One way of managing the situation would have been to use social media and the owned media to put out a statement that shared the facts of the case. The media outlets of the group have in the past commented on other conflicts especially among rival media houses. So this would have been a step in that direction. What is happening currently is stories trickling with periodic gaps that will certainly hamper the reputation of the Group brand in the short term. Though insiders may deny any brand damage since there may not be any metrics to prove that, the conversations on Twitter and Facebook as well as the three reports that have been doing the rounds puts the spotlight on unhealthy HR practices as well as corporate high handedness that are rarely spoken of. While both sides of the story will float someday some damage has been done.

     

    The second incident I mentioned is about how the elevation of a regional leader to a national role (based on the mood of the party members) was managed without prior internal buy-in leading to a messy situation in the principal opposition party’s management, less than year away from elections. The UPA government has literally thrown away its chance to win a third consecutive term but the current situation in the NDA and especially its main constituent make it seem like the race is wide open. The bottom-line is that internal communication is key to any change.

     

    It is time for organizations to realize that their biggest ambassadors are the employees or members and with them feeling negatively about the functioning there is no way the trickle-down effect of positivity will move to external stakeholders.

     

    We, as PR professionals are part of organizations (in-house and as consultants to clients) that go through similar situations. Public Relations is not only about what is written in newspapers but a great deal about what goes on at the water cooler. If there is one thing we can learn from these two happenings it is as basic as communicate well internally to build strong external reputation.

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in their Chicago office. He spent the first eight years of his post graduation career in India and is in the US for two years of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present, future employer or of MxMIndia. You can connect with him on Twitter @amithpr

     

  • In week 2 of the new weekly column 'PR, etc', Amith Prabhu on how and why a journalist can never do justice to the role of communications advisor.

    Amith Prabhu: The case for Public Relations in governance

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    The Indian Government’s Public Relations among its most important stakeholder – the citizen, is in doldrums. Public Relations is no more about plugging a story, dining with a journalist, preventing a negative article from being published or sending bland releases to media outlets expecting them to carry the news or information. All this used to be Public Relations in its early avatar. Today, Public Relations encompasses a variety of specialized tasks that include social responsibility, crisis communications, internal engagement, content creation and a lot more. Governments cannot ignore this important function and need to quickly embrace the modern digital offerings to connect, communicate and co-create. The Arab Spring is an example of how a new generation of digital enthusiasts deployed social media to bring about change in the regime.

     

    What should the present or future governments do in order to be in sync with the times? How will future tax payers – the youth of today view the government’s that run the nation? And who will take the lead in bringing about this change? These are some questions that do not have concrete answers as of now but a few thoughts exist on what can be done and all of these in the realm of Public Relations.

     

    Internal Communications – A government that does not communicate with citizens in an interactive manner will lose the right to govern.

     

    Social Responsibility – The government at the centre along with the states needs to go all out to make the five basic amenities available easily to every individual and without making it look like a favour is being done – Clean Air,  Affordable Housing, Motorable Roads, Uninterrupted Water and Power Supply & Quality Education. With these in order, the rest will fall in place.

     

    Crisis Management – The incumbent government has navigated crisis after crisis by being dwarfed because it not only did what was inappropriate but did not accept, admit and acknowledge wrongdoing with transparent communications. The imperative during a crisis, and every scam unearthed is a crisis, is to allow for a flow of information that is clear-cut.

     

    Citizen Outreach – A multi million rupee advertisement a year before elections will fall through as trust levels dwindle. The government needs to ensure it does some are all of the following: A monthly address by the Prime Minister on the state of the nation, an annual town hall by members of the cabinet in various Indian cities to connect with the masses and a clean administration that touches people’s lives meaningfully.

     

    Is this asking for too much? Do all of the above resonate in what we advise our clients or chief executives? Can businesses learn from governments and vice versa?

     

    I someday hope the leader of the government hires a professional Public Relations manager with a dedicated team to drive all of the above and more. A journalist can never do justice to the role of communications advisor.

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full-time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in Chicago. He spent the first eight years of his career in India and is in the US for two years of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present or future employer. You can connect with him on Twitter at @amithpr

     

  • Introducing a new weekly column titled 'PR, etc' by Chicago, US-based public relations professional Amith Prabhu

    New weekly column ‘PR, etc’ by Amith Prabhu: To new beginnings!

    Introducing a new weekly column titled ‘PR, etc’ by Chicago-based public relations professional Amith Prabhu

    By Amith Prabhu

     

    It’s summer and it’s the season of awards. That’s when people can make travel plans, look at the year gone by and plan for new beginnings. It’s that time when I make the new beginning as a columnist on the invitation of the Editor of the media outlet you are reading. Public Relations as a profession is coming into its own in India with two awards for the business, with at least two credible conferences for the community and with two portals dedicated to Indian news and views that interests fellow professionals.

     

    Writing a weekly column should be fun but it won’t be easy. I took up the challenge because our profession needs these platforms to exchange ideas. You, as a reader can contribute in two ways – sharing ideas for forthcoming columns and commenting on the columns with a point of view. And yes, two words you will never see in these columns are ‘industry’ and ‘agency’, other than in this paragraph for the first and last time. Because in our profession these don’t exist as of now. For the first column I wanted to focus on how the last decade has witnessed three major milestones for the profession and how fortunate I have been to be part of these historic times.

     

    Firstly, a new group of individuals began to flow into the business in the form of natives that will eventually replace the immigrants. Given the advent of media institutes offering robust courses at the under graduate and post graduate level a new breed of professionals began to emerge at the dawn of the new millennium. Until then a large number of pioneers moved from into Public Relations from varied disciplines including but not limited to Publishing, Marketing, Advertising, Journalism and even Hoteliering. This is great for the cause of the profession as people get grounding in theory at these institutes that some smartly apply to the practical world.

     

    Secondly, almost all the major Public Relations firms headquartered in Europe and the United States have made inroads in one of the fastest growing economies either by starting up from scratch or by acquiring existing firms. This is great for professionals as it gives instant access to global knowledge and best practices, transfers across the world and opportunities to interact with colleagues from across the world thus changing the rules of the game entirely. I joined an Indian PR firm in 2004 after a rigorous campus recruitment process. When I moved on in 2007 the firm was international by virtue of being acquired.

     

    Third and lastly, several senior communications professionals have made their way into boards and found a seat at the table, thus giving the art and science of public relations its due. This to me is the hallmark of the last decade and something that needs to become a rule rather than an exception. That will happen only when we are able to show value we bring to a business in terms of strategic thinking and innovative tactics.

     

    I have set myself a target of writing about 500 words (not more) each week and will stick to it. Here’s to new beginnings as I await your suggestions for future columns and points of view on this one.

     

    Amith Prabhu is the founder of The PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS – the annual summit for PR & Corp Comm professionals in India. During the day he is a full-time employee at a leading Public Relations firm in their Chicago office. He spent the first eight years of his post-graduation career in India and is in the US for two years, of which he has completed 18 months. Views expressed here are the author’s own and don’t represent those of his past, present or future employer.

     

  • Shahrukh Khan wins The Most Profitable Actor (Overseas), Kareena Kapoor is The Most Profitable Actress

    Salman Khan is ETC Most Profitable Actor (India)

    By A Correspondent

     

    The second ETC Bollywood Business Awards commemorated the dream merchants who minted highest amount of monies for Bollywood in 2011. The awards will be telecast on ETC76 on January 9, 2012 at 8:30pm.

     

    Of the approximate 120 films released in 2011, five films (Ready, Bodyguard, Singham, RA.One and Don2) saw domestic box office collections of more than Rs100 crore each; while some more, most notably The Dirty Picture (Rs80 cr), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Rs92 cr) and Rockstar (Rs67 cr) came close.

     

    Last year also included quite a few hits and successes that raked in the moolah. Bollywood collected a total of Rs1740 crore from the Indian box office (BO). If one adds the revenue garnered from overseas and satellite rights and the revenue goes up to Rs2590 crore.

     

    With movies which earned Rs200 crore plus at the domestic BO under her belt, Kareena Kapoor emerged as the unquestionable money spinner female actor in 2011. On being presented the ETC Most Profitable Actress Award, Kareena Kapoor said that a commercially successful movie is evidence to the fact that viewers loved watching your movie. “Receiving an award wherein you are being judged considering the economic quotient as a cornerstone for mapping the success gives you a sense of pride. I’ve always maintained that commercial success is as important as the critical success of a movie. I appreciate the initiative, ETC Bollywood Business Awards, which recognizes the awardees by evaluating BO performance. I thank my viewers, people who I have worked with and ETC for appreciating my work,” she added.

     

    While Salman Khan won the ETC Most Profitable Actor (India) Award, the King of Bollywood, Shahrukh Khan won the ETC Most Profitable Actor (Overseas) Award.

     

    “Now I can safely say ‘har mulk ki public mujhe dhoondti hai’”, quipped the ‘Don’, on receiving the ETC Most Profitable Actor (Overseas) Award. On receiving the ETC Best Marketed Movie of the year Award and ETC Highest Single Day Collection Award, both for RA.One, Mr Khan said: “RA.One, Bollywood’s most expensive movie, was my dream project. It feels great that my long cherished dream has been applauded by the viewers and moreover acknowledged by ETC Bollywood Business Awards; which gives its verdict only on the basis of BO collections. These two awards are a reply to all the naysayers who tried to discredit my film. Allah has been very kind to me and helped me to entertain my audiences and it is quite literally my audience’s love that has fetched me these awards.”

     

    Speaking about this unique initiative, Anurag Bedi, Business Head, ETC, said: “We started ETC Bollywood Business Awards last year, after having identified the need to evaluate Bollywood on the basis of commerce. From the first look of a film to interacting with actors, directors, producers, marketers, musicians to bringing out BO reports -with every film we undertake a journey as intense as the filmmakers. This initiative is our way recognizing the various people and entities, associated with a film, which are equally as important as people visible on-screen.”

     

    And it is precisely for this reason that ETC Bollywood Business Awards have increased the number of categories from 13 in 2010 to 18 in 2011. Innovative categories include Most Popular Trailer, BO Surprise Hit of the Year, and Excellence in International Distribution.

     

    The success of 2011 augured well for Bollywood and the biggest winner was the Indian viewer. “This has been a fine year for Bollywood with five films earning upwards of Rs100 cr each and quite a number of hits and successes. This initiative is a recognition of Bollywood’s achievements and I hope our industry enjoys continued success in 2012,” summed up Komal Nahta, host, ETC Bollywood Business.