Jonathan Shore takes over as CEO of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications has appointed Jonathan Shore, former CEO of Cohn & Wolfe, as CEO.

Shore presides over a staff of 300, and is based in Delhi.

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications services the Tata Group. The company has created a subsidiary, NeUcom Consulting to managing communications for Reliance Industries Limited.

Part of Shore’s brief is to look at how to meet the international needs of the company’s clients, which include Qatar Airways, Reed Exhibitions and Ebay, reports PRWeek.

”India has gigantic potential,” Shore told PRWeek. “It has the highest calibre of people which is a tribute to the wonderful education system here and the scale of the opportunity is immense.

“Look at the recent evidence of Indian businesses’ international expansion. The time has finally come for Indian business to be on the world stage.”

Shore headed up Cohn & Wolfe’s UK business for five years, before leaving last November.

He then took what he described as ‘a wonderful mid-career break’ prior to joining Vaishnavi Corporate Communications.

He was widely respected in the UK public relations industry and praised for being an ‘inspirational maverick’.

He was replaced by former Freud Communications MD Fiona Noble this summer. Cohn & Wolfe is now in the process of merging with sister company GCI.

43% Indians willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly goods: Havas Media study

A global survey has revealed that 43 per cent of the Indian respondents were willing to pay a premium for environment-friendly goods to save the environment.

The global survey was conducted by Havas Media in India, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US. The sample size was 11,000.

The objective of the research was to understand the impact of climate change on business. The report highlights a gulf between the attitudes of the richest countries and those in the developing world, reports exchange4media.

Brazil, China and India are among those who claim to be most alarmed by climate change, while respondents in the US, the UK and Germany demonstrate far lower levels of concern.

Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media India, said, “The survey suggests green marketing strategies and good environmental practices are no longer a ‘nice to have’ for brands, but increasingly a ‘must have’ in terms of not only maintaining brand image, but also in maintaining market share.”

The survey revealed that 86 per cent of Indians would rather buy from companies that are trying to reduce their contribution to global warming.

Indians believe the oil and fuel sector is the most damaging of all economic sectors in terms of the environment, while banking is perceived to be the least damaging.

About 57 per cent of Indian respondents also agree that their government is making a significant effort to combat climate change. In this regard, India occupies the second position, behind only China.

As for the number of eco-absorbed (those who are very focused on the issue of climate change), India stands third (50 per cent), behind Brazil (58 per cent) and Mexico (56 per cent). The three countries are far ahead of countries such as Germany (15 per cent) and the UK (17 per cent).

Only 12 per cent of Indians are eco-apathetic, compared to 34 per cent in the UK and the US and 32 per cent in Germany. The eco-apathetic typically marginalise the issue of climate change, recognising the concept but sharing none of the responsibility.