PR giants coming to India

The giants of global public relations industry will be in New Delhi in October 2006 to address the 2006 ICCO Global Summit.

Among those who would address the meeting include Burson-Marsteller Founder Chairman Harold Burson, Weber Shandwick CEO Harris Diamond, Porter Novelli CEO Helen Ostrowski and Text 100 CEO Aedhmar Hynes.

ICCO is the apex body of over 850 public relations consultancies across the globe. This is the first time in its history that the annual summit is being organised in Asia, reflecting the growing importance of the region in the world economy, according to press release.

The summit has been organised in association with Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) and is supported by The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

“The ICCO Summit is a great platform for global communication leaders to see the vast opportunities that India offers,” says Nandita Lakshmanan, President, PRCAI. “It is also the right time for both the Indian PR industry and its counterparts worldwide to explore the synergies and dichotomies between economies, to leverage the opportunities and beat challenges posed by globalisation.”

For further details, see their website.

PR will see exponential growth

“The PR industry in India will mature,” says Tara Kapur, Vice-President, Euro RSCG PR & Event, in an interview with exchange4media’s Pallavi Goorha. “There would be consolidation with the big global consultancies on the one hand and the ‘boutique’ specialist agencies on the other. Besides, there will always be small-time freelancers.”

With over two decades' experience in marketing and PR, Tara has worked with clients like World Gold Council, Philips, Singapore Tourism Board, SBI Capital Markets, SBI Mutual Fund, IL&FS, Reckitt Benckiser, Seagrams, Glaxosmithkline, Britannia and Godrej.

Tara feels the industry will also become more professional. “There will be higher standards of delivery and wider use of evaluation tools,” she says. “There will be exponential growth. More and more companies will appreciate the value PR brings to their communications.”

Mobile TV: ‘Huge revenue opportunity’

Telephia, a measurement information provider to the mobile industry in the US, has announced a research undertaken shows that more than two million, or 1.4 percent, of the US wireless user base subscribed to a mobile video plan during the first quarter of 2006.

The average US mobile TV subscriber spends $40 a month more on wireless services than non-TV subscribers.

Telephia President and CEO Sid Gorham says, "Mobile TV represents a huge revenue opportunity for companies in all parts of the communications and entertainment value chain."

Electronic public relations

“There are opportunities galore for building cultural, interpersonal, technical and multi-dimensional relationships through e-communications and Internet,” said Professor Nabarun Ghose, Tiffin University, Ohio, at the weekend.

Professor Ghose was giving a lecture on 'Electronic Public Relations: Building and Assessing Profitable Relationships on the Net' under the aegis of the Chennai Chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), according to News Today.

“Big companies and academia in the US maintain EDIs (electronic data interchange) for sustained rapport with stakeholders,” he said.

Earlier, V S Ramana, Head, Corporate Communications, Larsen & Toubro Limited, briefed the gathering about the recent activities of the Chennai Chapter of PRSI.