Burson-Marsteller’s Rylance on Indian PR

“I think the Indian PR market is already sophisticated,” said Bill Rylance, President & CEO, Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific/Middle East. “It is a highly competitive market with many impressive firms, and, of course, an incredibly vibrant media. I think it is facing the same challenges as many other markets such as increasing scarcity of talent, spiralling costs, and demands by clients for improved efficiency.”

In January 2008, Rylance takes over as Chairman, Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific, and Vice Chairman, Global Development, Burson-Marsteller Worldwide.

During his tenure as President and CEO (since 1999) of Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific/Middle East, Rylance has seen the Asia Pacific network more than double in size, reports exchange4media’s Pallavi Goorha.

Talking about India’s perception of PR as a profession, he said, “India is rapidly changing in the way it looks at the public relations profession, and its emerging role in the entire communication spectrum. Just as India is converging with the global economy, so is the public relations industry.”

How digital are we?

Cellphone users in China sent 429 billion text messages in 2006, while India added more mobile subscribers in the year than Britain had in total, as the two countries joined Brazil and Russia in driving growth in the sector, reports Kate Holton in Reuters at the week-end.

A report by Britain's media and telecommunications watchdog Ofcom said mobile phones had driven most of the communications sector's growth and accounted for 53% of total telecoms revenue.

In India, the number of new mobile subscriptions doubled to 150 million during the year -- an increase of more than Britain's total of 70 million mobile connections.
However only 14% of the Indian population had a mobile connection, showing its remaining growth potential.

In China, mobile users sent 429 billion text messages, an equivalent of 967 per user, more than any other country.

The findings were part of the research included in the Ofcom International Communications Report which looked at the $1,787 billion global television, radio and telecommunications sector in 2006 to analyze growing trends.

It found Britain had the highest take-up of digital television and the joint highest digital radio coverage of the 12 countries surveyed -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the United States.

In the television sector, Japanese and U.S. viewers spent the most time watching TV, both averaging 4-1/2 hours a day in 2006, while the U.S. also led the take-up of high definition TV, with 10 percent of homes capable of showing HDTV in 2006.

Internet-based TV or IPTV was most popular in France, with 1.5 million subscribers.

Delhi Metro PR team bags 3 awards

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's Public Relations team has received three awards from the Public Relations Society of India at its national convention in New Delhi.

The awards were received at the week-end by Anuj Dayal, Chief of Public Relations, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

The Delhi Metro bagged the awards for the best corporate website, the second best corporate film and the third best corporate brochure.

The DMRC webiste covers almost all areas that are of public interest and gets over one lakh hits every month. The recruitment and tender sections of the website are the most popular and receive the most page visits, a statement from the company had said.

The 20-minute DMRC corporate film narrates the growth of Delhi Metro, its present status and future plans.

The 60-page corporate brochure titled 'Towards New Horizons', gives an in-depth account of the Delhi Metro and its operations.

The communication strategy of the Delhi Metro had been acclaimed internationally also, with the Government of Japan represented by the Japan Bank of International Corporation (JBIC) in India recognising the Metro Public Relations as a centre of excellence to be emulated by other JBIC-funded projects in the country.