Public Relations India

Trust in business steady in India: Edelman Trust Barometer

2011-01-26T05:19:00.000-08:00

Trust in business is holding steady in India and China, according to Edelman Trust Barometer study conducted by Edelman, the world’s biggest independent PR consultancy, in 23 countries across the world.

Richard Edelman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Edelman, writes in his blog, “The lead of the story must be that trust is transformed. In the wake of the financial market meltdown at the end of 2008, we have gone through a series of corporate crises during 2010 -- from oil spills to product recalls affecting the leading enterprises in five sectors to the near-bankruptcy of five nations in the EU. The result is an even more profound shift in the expectation of companies to operate with increased transparency and in a manner that delivers profit while improving society, captured by my client Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, in her phrase, ‘Performance with Purpose’.

“We also found unprecedented skepticism, a need to hear, see or watch news as many as 10 times before achieving belief, plus an increased reliance on those with credentials and expertise.”

The key findings of Edelman Trust Barometer study are:

State of trust

Trust in business — There are now three clear country groupings – the Trusters, the Neutrals and the Distrusters. The Trusters, notably Brazil, China, and India, withstood the financial crisis and had positive economic performance this year. There is evidence of rising trust in business over the past two years even in flat-lined economies such as France, the Netherlands and Italy. The key change in 2011 is the switch of Germany and the USA, with the former now in the Neutrals with Japan, while the USA moves to the Distrusters along with Russia and the UK. Business is as or more trusted than government in 19 of the 23 nations we surveyed this year.

Trust in government — There are fewer countries in the Truster category for government, including Brazil, China, Singapore and the UAE. The largest drops in trust in government were in Germany and the USA. Note that in general, trust in business and government is now in sync, a change in the past two years. Though there are exceptions, such as Germany, where rising trust in business is observed despite less confidence in government.

Trust in media — We note that trust in media continues to rise in the developing world and to slide in the developed economies. The most depressing findings for media were in the US and UK, respectively 27% and 22%, which we attribute to increased politicization, aggressive tone and scandals.

Trust in industries — Technology continues to wear the halo as the number one industry in both developed and developing economies (98% trusted in China). Banking and financial Services are now the least trusted industries of the 16 we review annually. The reputation of banks continues to plummet, especially in the US, UK and Ireland, down nearly 50 points in the US in the past three years to a new low of 25%. Automotive has made an amazing recovery, to rank as the #2 trusted industry in the world, attributable to the GM IPO, the launch of electric cars and the association with modernity in the developing world.

Trust in nationality — The companies headquartered in Canada, Germany and Sweden continue to enjoy a trust advantage, while the UK and Switzerland are closing the gap. American companies are much better regarded in the past two years, especially in Germany and Russia, while preserving a strong reputation in such key future markets as Brazil and China. The companies based in the BRIC nations saw rising trust scores in developing nations, but a decline in markets such as the USA.

Earning trust

What drives corporate reputation — The top four factors are: high quality products and services; Company I can trust; transparent business practices; treats employees well. The bottom two are: highly rated leadership and delivers consistent financial returns. This is the second year in a row that we see a reversal of constituent elements of reputation, suggesting a rebalancing of priorities for business.

Shareholder versus stakeholder — We asked specifically about Milton Friedman’s contention that the social responsibility of business is to generate profit; about 50% of respondents agreed. But, we also probed whether companies need to create shareholder value in a way that benefits society even if that causes a reduction in shareholder value; about 80% agreed with that point of view, from developed to developing economies. This indicates a desire for profit and purpose, a stakeholder approach to shared value.

Credible spokespeople — Given the uncertainty in the economy and plethora of sources of information, respondents said that they believe spokespeople with proven expertise, in order academics, technical experts from a company (for first time), financial analysts and chief executive officers. The recovery of the CEO in reputational terms is remarkable; this is the highest score we have seen in nine years, though in the UK and US that means only about one third believe a CEO is credible. We also found that in a crisis, the number one trusted source is the CEO, followed by an outside expert, followed by a technical expert from the company.

Information sources — More people go initially to search engines, then to online sources for information about a company. The brands most noted are the familiar mainstream media stalwarts such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Globo and CCTV. Blogs and social networks substantially lag the mainstream brands.

Benefits of trust — If you go into a crisis as a distrusted company, it takes only 1-2 negative stories for a person to believe negative news. If you go in as a trusted company, it takes only 1-2 positive stories for you to achieve belief. Trust is a protective agent, a facilitator of action. We find further evidence of desire to buy products, recommend products/services and buy shares in a trusted enterprise.

Trust is no longer a commodity that is acquired but rather a benefit that is bestowed, earned through action, reinforced by transparency and engagement. Business has the opportunity to build an enduring foundation of trust if its leaders commit to a strategy that brings value to both investors and society -- the What and the Why. However, today it must further explain as to how it makes money, a new level of transparency on business practices -- for instance, ingredients in products. Finally, it must build relationships across the entire stakeholder universe, the Where, by engaging audiences across the four leaf clover of media (Mainstream, New, Social, Owned) and joining the continuing conversation by adding value and learning from the critics.

Forbes expects global firms to redefine PR in India

2011-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

Rohin Dharmakumar writes in Forbes India. His report:

A wave of international firms is sweeping over India’s shores. They see the potential to take the business of public relations to a more professional, systematic and pro-active level. They are trying to shake up a smug Indian industry used to treating PR as a minor cost centre focussed on managing a few journalists; and help it prepare for a more assertive and connected consumer base. In the process, PR is becoming a more strategic but expensive affair for companies…

Indian PR firms are at the middle of this change. Before time runs out, they must shape up to fight the onslaught or sell out to foreign brands. Many have indeed sold out — Genesis to Burson-Marstellar, IPAN to Hill & Knowlton, Hanmer & Partners and 20:20 Media to MS&L and Roger Pereira & Associates to Edelman. A few foreign agencies have started from scratch — Text100, Fleishman-Hillard, Waggener-Edstrom and APCO.

But a few Indian firms are holding out. “I don’t need someone to tell me how to compete,” says Madan Bahal, CEO of Adfactors, one of the leading PR firms in the country.

The public relations business in India is fairly young; most firms trace their origin to the years following economic reforms. Using just sheer doggedness in chasing down journalists, a growing bunch of entrepreneurs fueled a mini-boom. For them, public relations meant little more than media relations. “Everybody who spent a few years doing PR opened up their own mom-and-pop shops, selling media execution. They worried about which hotels to hold press conferences in or what gifts to give journalists,” recalls Rishi Seth, founder-CEO of Six Degrees PR who earlier headed multinational PR firm Text100 in India.

The business was soon commoditised. Most worked on wafer-thin retainers and even slighter profits. To control costs, they began hiring inexperienced and cheaper employees. For many, the profession degraded to ‘planting’ nice stories about their clients or blocking negative stories. Journalists they managed to befriend co-operated…

All that changed with the Internet and mobile phone. There are more than 500 million mobile users and about 80 million Internet users in India today. Nearly 70 percent of Web users are on some social network. Their trust in newspapers, TV news and yes, business magazines, is down sharply: 35-40 percent lesser than two years ago, according to a 2010 survey conducted by Edelman. But they’re connected, eager for information and willing to speak their mind.

“This is the age of radical transparency. If you’re a company behaving in an unethical way, then you will be found out and castigated very quickly. And you cannot hope that your relationships with journalists — however good they may be — will protect your reputation then,” says Arun Sudhaman, managing editor of The Holmes Report, a London-based PR trade publication.

The entire market for agency PR in India is estimated to be just around $100 million annually, says Sudhaman. That’s about 35 percent of just Edelman’s 2009 global revenue. Average monthly retainers still hover around the Rs. 100,000-150,000 figure, a pittance compared against companies’ marketing or advertising budgets. “In New York I wouldn’t consider retainers less than $20,000 a month,” says Robert Holdheim, Edelman’s India head…

International agencies bring a whole new way of doing PR in India. Unlike the local firms which follow ad-hoc methods, they work with data, templates and processes. They try to understand the business problems of the clients rather than just look at the marketing problems…

International firms have become ubiquitous on the PR scene in India. The only three exceptions are Vaishnavi Communications, Perfect Relations and Adfactors. Even they are under constant wooing by foreign firms looking for a toehold in India. Dilip Cherian, founder of Perfect Relations, says, “We are constantly courted and are consistently one of the first ports of call for an acquirer. And though we have always believed that any deal that enhances all-round shareholder value is good, we are not in a hurry to sell.”

Bahal of Adfactors, is categorical that he will not sell out to an international agency. He sees Indian agencies selling out as a sign of weakness and a lack of vision or ambition among entrepreneurs to take their firms to a higher level. Worse, most entrepreneurs have sold out for ‘peanuts’, he says. Bahal is open to partnerships ‘by the hundreds’ though.

The fact remains that the top Indian PR companies like Vaishnavi and Adfactors are still the revenue leaders; they are no weak competitors.

At the end of the day, the nationality of the PR agency doesn’t matter, but the quality and ethics behind their work do. As Hill & Knowlton India’s head Radhika Shapoorji says, “Consumers are getting more empowered. They know their rights and will not stand for nonsense. And in sectors like aviation, telecom and hospitality, due to the sheer number of customers and customer touch points, you can almost expect a crisis a day. Therefore companies must treat each complaint as an issue, before it becomes a crisis.”

(With additional reporting by Samar Srivastava)

Mumbai, Stockholm ahead in PR creativity: Global expert

2010-06-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Smaller countries – also emerging economies like India – are ahead in the PR creativity race, according to global experts.

Colin Byrne, CEO, Weber Shandwick Europe, says, “We tend to think that London and New York are the creative centres of PR, but it is increasingly places like Stockholm and Mumbai. It is a bit of a wake-up call for the industry. A lot of what I saw from the UK was pretty pedestrian.”

Byrne is on the Cannes Lions PR jury this year, where Gatorade’s Replay won the Grand Prix out of 571 entries to the Cannes Lions PR category.

Arun Sudhaman reports that 12 Gold Lions were handed out this year, with advertising agencies again proving more successful than their PR counterparts. Sweden’s Prime PR submitted a strong performance with two golds: for Carwinism on behalf of Audi Sweden, and Kraft Foods’ Save Christmas campaign.

“The other conventional PR agencies to win Gold Lions were Fleishman-Hillard, for a consumer campaign on behalf of the Papa John’s pizza chain in the US, and Italian firm Barabino & Partners, which scored two golds for Heineken’s Auditorium Football campaign,” Sudhaman reports.

The jury, which was rather disappointed with the performance of the more mature PR economies of the US and the UK, praised the work done in Sweden, Brazil, Australia and Spain. While the US won two golds and three silvers in addition to its Grand Prix, the UK bagged just four Silver Lions. The Asia-Pacific region won six silvers while Germany secured three golds and one silver.

“The small countries are giving the large countries a run for their money,” says Paul Taaffe, Jury President and Global Chairman and CEO, Hill & Knowlton. “Those markets have a tradition of risk-taking.”

As “the quality of entries was not enough” in categories like crisis communications, public affairs and internal communications, no awards had been given this year.

Dovetail PR into marketing: Jain

2010-06-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

Archana Jain, Managing Director, PR Pundit, says that “norms rendering PR as distinct from marketing are no longer appropriate in this age of consumerism, in which consumers aggregate all messages in making a decision to interact with the brand or company”.

In an interview with Ashish Pratap Singh of exchange4media, she says, “Since marketing and communication is all about perceptions and not a battle of products, we believe in winning the battle of perceptions creatively. Thus, we pursue a systematic approach to gaining insights that drive ideas and creativity for effective, smart PR campaigns to build brand reputation. We strive to communicate brand promises in a fresh and relevant manner.”

PR boom in 2010 with accent on ethics: Shergill

2010-05-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Jaideep Shergill, CEO, Hanmer MS&L India, has taken the lead in addressing reputation issues associated with the PR industry.

“Current research supports a historical trend of associating public relations with all things unethical – lying, spin-doctoring, and even espionage,” he says in an exclusive interview to Pallavi Goorha Kashyup of exchange4media. “But today, there are concrete strides made in modern public relations toward becoming ethical advisors in management... A PR professional is in some ways a very important brand manager for a company, brand meaning in this case, a promise a company gives to a customer and keeping that promise. If a PR professional determines that a company is doing something against their promise, it is their role to speak out within the company and ask the company to address that issue. And this trend has been consistently increasing with PR consultancies becoming more structured and process driven.”

Shergill also urges PR professionals to revisit their obsession with media for message delivery. “Public relations has changed significantly over the last few years,” he says. “Even if you don’t buy into the idea that online communities and relationships are part of the public relations function, it’s hard to deny the rising importance of blogs, the gradual decline of traditional media and the impact that online conversations can have on brands.”

Considering the rapid changes in the industry, there is a need for public relations professionals to upgrade their skills while acquiring new ones. “PR pros still need the basic attributes and skills that they’ve always needed such as writing, communications skills, an eye for detail and pro-activeness, and of course, media relations,” he says. “But going forward, we will require talents and personality traits somewhat different from today. It is all about relationships. A PR person who approaches the market from a relationships standpoint will win. Decisions need to be based on data, not gut feelings. Listening and absorbing what the customers, media, influencers, analysts, employees, neighbours and community are saying is important. Professionals should have the ability to understand and design strategies based on the needs and perceptions of the target audience, and value truth and transparency above all.”

Shergill says that “recession has forced PR consultancies to get their houses in order, and evolve or they will be in deep trouble... The challenges the economy had posed for our profession in 2009 was quite bad. Clearly, revenues in our business dipped in 2009, but the news was not all bad. Generally speaking, public relations performed better than other communications disciplines in 2009.”

The Hanmer MS&L CEO is bullish about the Indian PR industry in 2010. “The size of India’s public relations industry is poised to be on a substantial growth curve due to increasing competition among companies to build brands,” he says. “The year has started well for everyone, but going forward, it is important to continue to create value beyond just providing media relations.”

Indian PR industry basks in glory

2010-05-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today is probably a red-letter day for the Indian PR industry with the key media acknowledging the invaluable contributions made by the communications campaign leaders of the Ambani brothers in the big gas battle.

Perhaps this is one of the rare occasions when public relations professionals are being single out for praise as ‘key people’ and ‘top generals’. The Economic Times today wrote about both Niira Radia, Chairperson and Managing Director, Vaishnavi Corportate Communications Pvt Ltd whose subsidiary NeUcom Consulting manages PR for Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited, and Tony Jesudasan who heads the communications department of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

“The chairperson of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications is possibly the most successful public relations entrepreneur in India, as her company handles the PR business of two of India’s largest business conglomerates — the Tatas and RIL,” writes The Economic Times. “She has emerged as Mukesh Ambani’s key Delhi ally in the past two years.”

The paper continues, “Radia is known for her connections in the government and media and is reputed to be an astute barometer of political and media dynamics, apart from being a charming conversationalist. Her colleagues describe her as thorough, hands on and very demanding.”

“Chief troubleshooter and ace spinmaster of the Anil Ambani establishment, Tony Jesudasan manages the group’s media needs from his second-floor office on 6, Aurangazeb Road,” writes the paper. “His involvement goes back to the days of the undivided Reliance empire.”

Jesudasan has “the rare ability to think and function calmly under great pressure. Chose to join the younger sibling when the brothers split, and has since then remained Anil Ambani’s trusted lieutenant in Delhi as Group President, Corporate Affairs, R-ADAG.”

Pickard sees rapid changes in PR

2010-04-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

Bob Pickard, President and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific, has been the co-founder and leader of successful award-winning PR consultancies in the US, Japan, Korea and Canada in his PR career spanning over two decades. He has provided consultancy to clients like AstraZeneca, British Airways, De Beers, EMC, GlaxoSmithKline, ING, Johnson & Johnson, Kia Motors, Merck, Microsoft, Nissan, Nomura and Pfizer.

In an exclusive interview with exchange4media’s Preeti Hoon, Pickard speaks about the rapid changes in the communications industry in view of the changing needs of companies. “Clients are now looking to PR agencies for ‘big brain’ consulting in a way that I’ve never seen before,” he says. “As the digital media revolution gathers momentum, PR firms have earned a seat at the table and we are being given every opportunity to showcase an agility and nimble nature that is perfectly suited to mastering the relationship imperative on social networks. Clients are also looking for more tangible proof of PR’s contribution to business success, and that’s good news for us, because digital is by its very nature so measurable. Now, we can showcase the value that PR adds as never before.”

According to Pickard, PR is no longer about “communicating key messages top-down along a vertical axis from corporations to a mass consumer audience by earning editorial coverage. Now, PR is also about stimulating conversations between stakeholders on a peer-to-peer basis, where brands are co-created horizontally. PR these days really stands for ‘Public Relationships’, where we apply our traditional skills with journalists to many more communities of interest. These days, we are increasingly becoming ‘digital storytellers’, where we are becoming content providers, programming information for news streams that scroll on people’s computer and mobile screens.”

As for the biggest challenge facing the PR industry in Asia, Pickard says, “There is a rising tide of expectations for compensation among PR agency workforces, which client budgets are not currently increasing rapidly enough to support. Therefore, to avoid the kind of staff turnover that such a problem presents, PR firms need to focus on the quality of their training and the quality of their service to earn higher demand for professional time that is worth more because clients come to agree that it has a higher value. At the same time, PR firms need to reduce the gigantic generation gaps between digital generation newcomers and analogue generation veterans so that clients benefit from the best blend of traditional and emerging consulting skills.”

Consumer firms ahead in US reputation race

2010-04-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Johnson & Johnson is the most reputable company in the USA, followed by Kraft Foods, Kellogg, The Walt Disney Company, PepsiCo and Sara Lee. Johnson & Johnson is winning the laurel for the second consecutive year in a study conducted among by Reputation Institute.

The study is based on 24,977 online interviews about the respondents’ perceptions of the USA's top (by annual revenue) 150 companies' products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, financial performance and leadership.

All the toppers are in the consumer space. According to Laurie Burkitt of Forbes, “Warm-and-fuzzy household names are most loved in tough times. Consumers are still critical of financial service giants. With big names like Tiger Woods and Toyota Motor stepping into the spotlight of public scrutiny this year, reputation is a hot topic in the media and in corporate boardrooms. No company wants its public image to be the reason it has a hard time rebounding from the recession.”

Burkitt continues, “The secret to Johnson & Johnson's success rings true for all of this year's top reputable companies: Each has direct connections to their consumers and their families.”

India's PR industry full of paradoxes: PRWeek

2010-02-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

“Few people tire of pointing out that India is a country full of paradoxes,” Arun Sudhaman writes in his indepth article on India in PRWeek. “This also applies to the country's PR industry, where pockets of dazzling sophistication co-exist with the most time-honoured of media relations techniques.”

“Often described as undervalued, India's PR market remains difficult to gauge accurately,” adds Sudhaman.

“The ICCO World Report classes India as a 'fast emerging market' and points to energy, healthcare, retail and telecoms as some areas with strong growth prospects. Specific practice areas that are expected to grow include consumer marketing, financial, public affairs and technology.”

On the paucity of talent, Sudhaman says, “Talent remains the critical commodity, with high turnover levels particularly evident among younger PROs. He quotes Genesis Burson-Marsteller CEO Ashwani Singla as saying, “It is the most significant issue both in terms of availability and cost.”

B2B will accelerate growth of digital, mobile, social media in India: Experts

2009-12-18T04:54:00.000-08:00

Digitas Global Chief Creative Officer Mark Beeching and Chief Marketing Officer Seth Solomons feel that the biggest space for growth of digital, mobile or social media in India is in the B2B space.

Digitas is the digital arm of the world’s fourth largest communications group, The Publicis Groupe.

In an exclusive interview with Preethi Chamikutty of The Economic Times, Beeching and Solomons say, “Businesses today are adopting digital much faster than customers…

“India would have to leap frog some of the bad marketing that the West has done and go directly to the ones that give results to the brand. For example, in the West, financial institutions were attracting customer by giving them low rates of interest, which put them in a soup in the long run.

“So, today Indian companies should help the customer in the decision-making process and give them offers that they would value. A 30-second spot cannot alone connect with the customer. There have to be activities before and after the TVC to connect with the customers. Digital and traditional media are like Siamese twins, you cannot separate the two.”

Online banner ad spend growth slows down as clients switch to search marketing, mobile ads

2009-12-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

The growth in online banner ad spend is expected to slow down this financial year as clients have been switching to search marketing and mobile advertising.

In 2008-09, the online banner ad spend grew by 38 per cent to Rs 325 crore. In contrast, the growth rate is expected to drop to 32 per cent (Rs 430 crore) in 2009-10, according to a study by Internet and Mobile Association of India-IMRB.

Search marketing and mobile advertising are expected to reach Rs 325 crore and Rs 50 crore respectively in this financial year, according to afaqs!

Prasanth Mohanachandran, Executive Director, Digital Services, OgilvyOne India, has told afaqs!, “Advertisers have started to experiment, and must have increased their spending on other formats such as search marketing and social media marketing.”

The IAMAI-IMRB study revealed that the growth in banner ad spends in 2009-10 would be driven by sectors such as education (expected to grew by 76 per cent to Rs 34 crore), IT/telecom (41 per cent to Rs 68 crore), FMCG (46 per cent to Rs 47 crore) and auto (40 per cent Rs 39 crore).

The study indicated that the traditional online advertisers - banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and online publishers - have not increased spends on banner advertisements significantly.

Banner ad spends in the BFSI sector is projected to increase by 17 per cent to Rs 64.5 crore in 2009-10. Online publishers' banner spend is anticipated to reach Rs 107 crore in 2009-10, compared to Rs 84.5 crore in 2008-09.

PR agencies gear up for growth: Survey

2009-12-09T22:56:00.001-08:00

Public relations consultancies are gearing up for robust growth in the years to come. Increasing profits and headcounts are expected in 2010.

Top global PR consultancy heads are convinced the industry has turned the corner, reports Gemma O'Reilly in PRWeek. “The latest PRCA PR Leaders' Panel showed confidence returning to the PR market after a troubled 2009,” according to the report. “Some 84 per cent of agency heads expected an increase in staff numbers, while 88 per cent predicted higher turnover and 82 per cent expected more new business.”

Major marcoms groups WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic all recently reported third-quarter year-on-year revenue drops in their PR divisions. But steep share price rises over the year, especially for the PR-centric groups, indicate that investors retain confidence in the industry. Several experts share their views:

Media analyst Jonathan Barrett at Singer Capital Markets: Share price improvements have been driven by the thought that they are not heading into the abyss like last year. Conditions remain uncertain but people are generally confident.

Hill & Knowlton Global Chairman and CEO Paul Taaffe: 2009 had been a challenging year, but we are optimistic about 2010. Recovery will take place at different speeds across different geographies and sectors. Brand and reputation will be increasingly influenced by online consumers, so we expect a continuing shift in marketing spend from traditional advertising into digital and PR.

Edelman President and CEO Richard Edelman: This is the first recession in which PR outperformed advertising. We are now seen as a critical asset in re-establishing trust in business. 2010 will see more global consolidation such as Ketchum Pleon or MS&L and Publicis.

Weber Shandwick Global CEO Harris Diamond: This year was better than expected. Our largest clients helped us because they did not cut back like they have in previous recessions. We are expecting a good year in technology, consumer and healthcare. We expect business to improve in 2010.

RK Swamy Media Group’s invaluable Media Market Guide

2009-12-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

The 12th edition of RK Swamy Media Group’s Media Market Guide India 2009 has been released. The Guide is a ‘handy reference book for media and advertising professionals”.

“The Market Guide offers all the relevant information on markets and media in a crisp and easy-to-use format,” according to exchange4media. “Be it market demographics, audience description, information on various media, down to even a very succinct section on penetration and usage of products, the Guide has it all. In addition, important information compiled from various sources is given in the form of snippets for quick reference.”

R K Swamy BBDO Senior Advisor P R P Nair is quoted as saying, “The pocket guide is always useful when you need to access information during meetings with your clients and colleagues. With this thought in mind, we came up with the concept of a pocket handbook over a decade ago. The growing demand for the Guide each year has encouraged us to improve on the content and the value it brings to its users. It encompasses our 15 years of deep understanding and experience of the market and media scenario.”

RK Swamy BBDO makes this Media Market Guide available free of cost to clients and media owners. Professionals interested in this may write from their official mail ID with their names, designation and phone number to: prp.nair@mediadirectionindia.com.

Harjiv Singh on changing face of Indian PR

2009-08-20T06:04:00.001-07:00

Harjiv Singh, Co-founder & CEO - International Operations, Gutenberg Communications, spoke to Puneet Bedi Bahri of exchange4media.com. Excerpts:

"In India, it is true that PR is primarily media relations. But, this is changing as Indian companies that aspire to have a global brand are increasingly realising the value of strategic communication counselors in the C-suite and at the board level. The Satyam scandal was a classic example of why communications is now an important imperative for companies even in India and why roles like the Chief Communications Officer need to be seriously looked at by corporate India.

"Companies like Delta Airlines, Yahoo! and SAP have such senior executives who are responsible for managing corporate reputation and aligning such functions as media relations, policy communications, investor relations, internal communications, crisis communications, and branding under a single head.

"In order to change the perception of PR, the industry needs to view communications as an integral part of strategy, rather than a sub-set of marketing. Further, it is crucial to understand the role of both internal and external communications to drive change in organisations, rather than viewing it from the lens of media relations.

"I strongly believe that agencies need to understand the business of our clients much better than is the case currently."

How to make email marketing more effective

2009-08-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

Companies should refrain launching desperate email campaigns in order to meet their financial targets.

This is the advice given by Steven Permuy in his write-up on email marketing and high stakes.

Permuy says the ‘spray-and-pray’ (or ‘batch and blast’) approach of mass mailing customers is counter-productive. “The growth of email marketing has led to an increase in the number of communications sent to customers, due to ease of execution and low-cost of implementation. Ironically, omitting to apply the rigour of established direct marketing principles to online marketing, such as testing, measurement and relevancy of content, results in less leads as customers increasingly unsubscribe, report emails as spam or implement their own spam filters, and use multiple email addresses to guard their privacy.”

Permuy says it’s important to gain a better understanding of the customer through periodically planned analysis that identifies patterns that trigger dynamic content.

5 steps to richer customer experience

2009-08-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

More and more companies are finding value in making customer service experiences multilingual and multicultural: delivered in the business and regulatory context of local markets and tailored to the language and culture of the customer, writes Anand Subramaniam in Harvard Business.

His five-step approach to making customer service experiences multilingual and multicultural focuses on the following: assess the importance of customer service; assess target markets; assess the scope of customer queries; train agents; and adopt culturally-nuanced policies and practices.

Don’t downsize CSR budgets during turmoil, says Harvard Business School professor

2009-08-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School, V Kasturi "Kash" Rangan says that CSR or Corpororate Social Responsibility budgets should not be downsized during turbulent times.

CSR means activities undertaken by businesses that enhance their value in the community and society and thus benefit their reputation and brand, according to the eminent scholar.

“CSR should be treated as a business discipline and practiced with the same professionalism and rigour as other aspects of a firm's strategy,” he says. “Good examples are the early childhood literacy initiative of PNC, a financial services organization based in Pittsburgh, and the 10,000 Women initiative of Goldman Sachs, which facilitates a business education for underserved women.”

Chinese are superior marketing professionals

2009-08-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Marketing professionals in China would put their counterparts in the US and the UK to shame, according to Mark Ritson, consultant to some of the world's biggest brands, in marketingmagazine.co.uk.

In Shanghai, the evolution of marketing skills in executives trained by Ritson has been very impressive. “Before my eyes they have transformed from anxious graduate students with no practical experience into the best marketers I have ever seen,” says Ritson. “I have been a marketing professor for 12 years and taught all over the world, but it is only in China where I have seen my instruction executed to perfection in the field.”

Narrating an anecdote related to WuMart, the Chinese Wal-Mart, Ritson says that the Chinese should not be understimated. “The 21st century belongs to China, and there is not a lot anyone in the UK or the US can do about it,” says Ritson. “It's time for new leaders. They are on the way.”

International Organization for Standardization’s brand evaluator

2009-08-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Marketing Magazine reports:

Superbrands, Interbrand and WPP with its BrandZ list are among the companies that are into brand valuation.

The latest effort, headed up by the International Organization for Standardization, differs, as it comes from an internationally respected organisation outside of the marketing industry.

The draft standard specifies three approaches to brand valuation. The first is the income approach, which measures the value of the brand by reference to the present value of its economic benefits. The others are based on what other purchasers in the market have paid for similar assets and the value of the brand based on the cost invested in it.

Brand evaluation specialists have greeted the news with mixed views. Stephen Cheliotis, CEO of The Centre of Brand Analysis and Chairman, Superbrands Council, believes it to be too subjective an area for the ISO to become involved in.
David Haigh, CEO of valuation consultancy Brand Finance, welcomed the standard as an attempt to 'create a consensus on how brands should be valued'.

‘‘Brands are the largest single source of intangible assets, yet historically, brand valuation has been viewed as opaque, subjective and unreliable -- and a bit of a black art,’' he says.

Amit Chaudhery is MD of Text 100 India

2009-07-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Text 100 India has appointed Amit Chaudhery, Motorola India's former Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs, as its new Managing Director after a six-month search, reports Benjamin Li in Brand Republic. He replaces Rishi Seth, who left the post at the end of last year after nine years of service.

Chaudhery will report to Regional Director Asia-Pacific, Rowan Benecke, and will be responsible for end-to-end operations of Text 100 India, Vox Public Relations, and GRO, Text 100’s global resource optimisation centre in-country.

Benecke said: “Amit was head of communications at Motorola, which was one of our clients in India, we know each other well. We’re very excited to add someone with Amit’s deep experience in corporate communications and broad industry experience in India to our leadership team in Asia. We are confident that Amit will lead our all-important India business and help chart and drive the next phase of growth in India.”

Radical changes foreseen in PR’s role

2009-07-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Claire Cain Miller reports in New York Times

In Menlo Park, California, Brooke Hammerling (publicist) and Erin McKean (entrepreneur) are in a Sand Hill Road conference room, hashing out plans to unveil McKean’s new website, Wordnik.

Hammerling, while popping green apple Jolly Ranchers into her mouth, suggests a press tour that includes briefing bloggers at influential geek sites like TechCrunch, All Things Digital and GigaOM.

But Roger McNamee, a prominent tech investor who is backing Wordnik, is also in the room, and a look of exasperation passes across his face at the mere mention of the sites.

“Why shouldn’t we avoid them? They’re cynical,” he says, also noting his concern that Wordnik would probably appeal more to wordsmiths than followers of tech blogs. “That’s where I would be most uncomfortable. They don’t know the difference between ‘they’re’ and ‘there.”’

Without missing a beat, Hammerling changes course, instantly agreeing with McNamee’s take. “I love you for that,” she intones. “I’ll leave the tech blogs out. Let them come to me.”

Instead, she decides that she will “whisper in the ears” of Silicon Valley’s Who’s Who — the entrepreneurs behind tech’s hottest start-ups, including Jay Adelson, the chief executive of Digg; Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter; and Jason Calacanis, the founder of Mahalo. Notably, none are journalists.

This is the new world of promoting start-ups in Silicon Valley, where the lines between journalists and everyone else are blurring and the number of followers a pundit has on Twitter is sometimes viewed as more important than old metrics like the circulation of a newspaper.

Gone are the days when snaring attention for start-ups in the Valley meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology websites and blogs. Now PR gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, websites or gadgets—a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change the role of PR in the business world, and particularly in Silicon Valley.

While public relations is just one arrow in the marketing quiver for most companies, it plays an especially crucial role in a region where dozens of start-ups are born each month.

“Few tech companies with absolutely no PR have built a user base successfully,” said Margit Wennmachers, a co-founder of OutCast Communications, a PR agency in San Francisco. “They need PR to put the booster under that rocket ship.”

In the new world of social media, PR people must know hundreds of writers, bloggers and Twitter users instead of having six top reporters on speed dial.

Dena Cook, Hammerling’s business partner at Brew Media Relations, recalls the boom years when start-ups sent PR firms handsome checks that the firms had to return because they didn’t have room for new clients.

At the time, tools of the trade were largely limited to press releases and pitch letters, embargoes and exclusives and, of course, the legendary and often criticized parties. But the rise of blogs and social networks, and companies’ ability to post information on their own sites, transformed all this.

For new companies’ trying to get the word out, there’s a healthy measure of liberation in all of this. For publicists, the era of email, blogs and Twitter has the potential to turn the entire idea of PR professionals as gatekeepers.

As with so many professions in the digital era, public relations boils down to a juggling act, an effort to weigh and exploit the varied strengths of old media and new.

Sir Martin Sorrell on recession, media, clients and his India plans

2009-07-05T22:33:00.001-07:00

Prajjal Saha of afaqs.com interviewed Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, WPP Group in Cannes. Excerpts:

On recession: You can argue that this recession has been more severe and shocking. I am not talking about the post-subprime scenario, but particularly the post-Lehman crisis period or the following weekend, which was really frightening. Noted economist Warren Buffet termed this recession as an economic Pearl Harbour.

We also hear that the British government was planning a bank holiday by statutory instrument if it couldn't agree with the bank. Though I am not as old as to go back to the 1920s or 30s, but I must say that it is a pretty tough time.

On whether advertising clients have been tougher this time: Yes, they have been tougher. As I said, the situation was so severe that people were looking at it more as a biss.

We were already facing a tough time since August 2007. However, I must say that the client was more aggressive, particularly on the procurement or financial side. In the time of recession, there are two words that get used a lot – these are effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness means quality and efficiency means cost. I think that in the current situation, efficiency is winning over effectiveness.

In the advertising business, the marketing function has also lost primacy or even parity.

On when and how recovery of the economy will shape up: The year 2009 looks like a difficult year but I think it will be relatively better in the second half. However, we will have to wait till 2010 to see a recovery. It will not be anaemic but a recovery of sorts in the shape of italic 'L'. The recovery will depend on what we all have been talking about – long term returns and not short term ones.

On whether recovery would start with emerging markets such as India and China: The conventional wisdom is that the recovery will start with America but I am not sure that's right. The rise in the Indian stock market has been quite interesting. There has been a sort of decoupling of stock markets in emerging economies, though in reality, there is no decoupling as such as we are all dependent on one another. However, India is less dependent on exports and imports.

Even in China, there was a flip up in the stock market in April this year, but that couldn't continue in May. We thought that it was a good sign, but we found out later that it was because of destocking in the post-Lehman scenario.

This actually reflected a belief which I would like to share - that recovery will be first in the emerging markets, China in particular.

Besides, India is in a relatively better condition than the other markets, although it did slow down around the elections.

On what he would like to convey to his 1,00,000 employees: Whether it's right or wrong, the strategy is very simple. First it's the new markets (which include the BRIC countries) and the next 11 markets – that makes 27 per cent of our business.

Next is new media, which is again 25 per cent of our business. The Consumer Insight business is $4 billion out of the $15 billion, which is another 26-27 per cent. So together with the direct half of our business, we are almost there, or rather we are there where we need to be.

Given that strategy, if I am in India, then I am feeling very good. First, India is one of BRIC countries. Second, new media is increasingly important in the Indian context, and third, consumer insight is also very important here, too. So it all fits together from the Indian perspective.

On whether the marketers' spends would continue to move away from mass media advertising: Yes, it's still moving away. The good news is that it's one-to-one, and the bad news is that it's one-to-one. The problem is - it's still one-to-one because it's highly fragmented.

Will Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or YouTube ever make money? The answer is that it's going to be a very volatile environment. And these brands will come and go, just like the magazines which come and go.

In fact, Jeff Zucker (President and CEO, NBC Universal) put it very well – 'We are moving from analog dollars to digital pennies'. Then he modified it to digital dimes.

That's the problem.

Steve Ballmer (CEO, Microsoft) also said – The problem is in monetising these brands. It's a fancy world for making money.

So we have to spot where the opportunities are.

On whether brands like Google worry him: Google worries our clients because there is no balance in the search marketing space, which we all think should be there. Google's disproportionate share is the problem. We work closely with Facebook, My Space, YouTube and Twitter, but in terms of money making business, the giants are Yahoo, AOL, Google and Microsoft. But I must say that they will all have their own challenges, and the core issue is to find a balance in the search marketing space.

On how he profiles digital companies: Last year, during the debate, I asked them – Who are you? They said they are technology companies but I didn't accept that. To my mind, they are media owners.

I don't think they are engineers with spanners trying to tighten the nuts and screws while we send messages to one another.

I think they have responsibilities relating to privacy and editorial contact.

On monetization of digital companies: They are used as advertising platforms, but tell me, if I am having a dialogue with you on Facebook or Twitter, do I want to be invaded with commercial messages. The answer is 'No'. Videos can be different, which is why I think there is more advertising potential in My Space and YouTube. It's much more difficult in the social media.

I know of two occasions when Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) had fallen fowl. There was another situation besides Beacon.

On the media decline: So, there is a general decline in activity, whether offline or online. Ironically, online looks cheaper, though offline looks even cheaper because there is a lot of radio, TV, magazine and newspaper inventory – all falling like flies.

Who would have thought that the New York Times would be in such a situation, when a few years ago, it was arguably one of the strongest newspaper brands in the world? Similarly, who would have thought that Rupert Murdoch will not be able to buy the Wall Street Journal?

Life is changing and so are the rules. Consolidation is taking place everywhere. For instance, as per a new rule in Spain, one owner cannot control more than 25 per cent of the market in the television business.

Similarly, rules in Brazil and Australia have changed a few years ago. Even in the UK – because a lot of these newspapers and magazines are falling away – they have to change the regulation if they want to maintain a competitive environment and an environment of choice.

Yes, one likes to see a healthy media business and I think fragmentation gives our clients more opportunities.

Until a few years ago, the cost of TV ad space used to increase more than the inflation every year, and in such a scenario, you either buy less of it or look for alternatives.

On PR and Cannes: If there is any criticism on the awards, it's about the way of handling the awards. For instance, this year in the PR Lions, there were no PR agencies. It's a joke and it's ridiculous.

After all, it is expensive to come here and also to put in your entries. So, you, too, learn the way to grab the jury's eye and win.

On his plans for WPP in India: We have a very strong share in advertising and media in India, and we need to maintain that growth. But we have more to do in areas such as PR, information and consultancy business, brand building and identity, healthcare and digital. It will first be organic growth, backed by smaller acquisitions. Unless Anil Ambani agrees to sell off Mudra - but he came from Wharton, so his price is very high (laughs).

Hill & Knowlton enters India

Look east, Sir Martin Sorrell tells global communications industry

Public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to start operations in India

Hill & Knowlton may acquire India’s Perfect Relations

Surge ahead with digital communications

2009-07-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

Kapil Ohri reports in afaqs.com

The Fifth Digital Marketing Conference, organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India in New Delhi, focused on 'Transformation of digital agencies from technology enablers to brand champions'.

Shantanu Sirohi, Co-Founder and Vice-President, Interactive Avenues, talked about the role of digital agencies. He pointed out that brand champions are media agnostic. To prove this, he gave examples of some of the ad campaigns that Interactive Avenues did for ICICI Prudential, Travelguru.com and Travelocity.com, wherein the core idea was conceptualised for the Internet and then taken forward, either as a print ad, a television commercial or an outdoor campaign.

Mahesh Murthy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pinstorm said, "Brands have to become technology savvy in order to derive the benefits of the digital medium." Citing the example of live Twitter posts updated by some of the conference participants, he said, "Technology enables you to carry out live researches, listen to consumers and track performance of your efforts and allows you to react quickly."

Pushkar Sane, Chief Digital Officer, North and South Asia, Global Head of Social Marketing, Starcom MediaVest Group, pointed out that in order to derive better return on investment (RoI), marketers need to become closer to consumers and understand their online behaviour.

Kushal Sanghvi, Managing Director, Media Contacts, said, "The definition of digital agency has changed." He explained that agencies have moved from buying exposure to extracting response from consumers.”

Prasad Shejale, Managing Director, Logicserve, said, "The basics of brand building do not change from one medium to another. It is the same for print, TV and digital medium as well."

Ruchira Raina, Managing Director, Dentsu Communications, and National Business Head, Dentsu Media, said, "Marketers should use the internet to connect, share and discuss with their target audience." She added that marketers should move beyond investing in the digital medium for experimentation only; instead, they should invest in the Internet with more seriousness and conviction.

Hill & Knowlton enters India

2009-07-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

Tasneem Limbdiwala reports in exchange4media:

Global communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton has expanded its operations into India by taking over the management responsibility of IPAN from JWT India effective July 1, 2009. The new entity, to be re-branded IPAN Hill & Knowlton, will become part of Hill & Knowlton’s Asia Pacific region with IPAN President Radhika Shapoorjee reporting to Hill & Knowlton Asia Pacific President & Chief Operating Officer Vivian Lines.

Making the announcement, JWT India’s CEO Colvyn Harris, stated, “There is never a dull moment in JWT India. IPAN and Hill & Knowlton have been associated for nearly two decades now and it was natural progression for us to formalise this link.”

Both JWT and Hill & Knowlton are part of communications services group WPP, and all existing management and staff at IPAN will continue in their existing roles.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank my colleagues at JWT for their confidence that this change of management will work to the benefit of all parties. We have worked with IPAN as an associate for 20 years. Now we have the opportunity to fully integrate them into the Hill & Knowlton network and to grow inbound and outbound business together in what is one of the most vibrant business markets globally,” said Vivian Lines.

Radhika Shapoorjee, President, IPAN, said, “It’s truly a double delight to become part of a specialist global PR network across 43 countries… Hill & Knowlton is one of the most well-known and well-established PR companies in the world. Its unrivalled expertise, extensive network and innovation in public relations best practice will ensure that standards are raised across India and that our clients and our people will benefit from world-class advice, insights and services.”

Look east, Sir Martin Sorrell tells global communications industry

Public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to start operations in India

Hill & Knowlton may acquire India’s Perfect Relations

How PR can help your business

2009-06-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

“When your audiences do what you want them to do, achieving your organizational objectives gets a lot easier,” writes Robert A. Kelly in an article which I just saw while researching on the Internet. Kelly was Director of PR for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding; Director of Communications, US Department of the Interior, and Deputy Assistant Press Secretary, The White House. An excerpt from his article:

Do you worry about certain behaviors among your most important audiences because those behaviors are crucial to achieving your organization's objectives? If your answer is yes, you need public relations.

The payoff? When those audiences do what you want them to do, achieving your organizational objectives gets a lot easier.
We learned long ago that people act on their own perceptions of the facts, leading to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. We call their cumulative perceptions public opinion.

Public relations tries to create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-action the very people whose behaviors affect your organization.

That's why it's quality planning, and the degree of perception and behavioral change it produces, that defines the success or failure of a public relations programme.

'Simple', 'single-minded' PR campaign wins PR Grand Prix

2009-06-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Matthew Creamer reports in AdAge:

Tourism Queensland's "Best Job in the World" campaign had netted the inaugural Grand Prix for the PR category.

The campaign, courtesy of CumminsNitro in Brisbane, Australia, has wowed judges early on at the 56th International Advertising Festival, the most high-profile of all ad award shows. "Best Job" netted two Grand Prix, in the PR and direct categories, besting much higher-profile agencies and brands -- not to mention higher-minded concepts, including Droga5's harnessing of comedian Sarah Silverman for President Barack Obama's election campaign and Sagami Rubber's award favorite, "Love Distance." These two campaigns were among the 18 that took home the first crop of PR Lions.

To be sure, "Best Job" did have its new-media flourishes. In fact, one was at its center. Tourism Queensland, which promotes the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, asked people to audition via video clips for a caretaker post that would get them a nice salary in exchange for exploring Hamilton Island and blogging about the adventures for a six-month stint.

These clips, which showed the lengths people would go to for consideration (e.g., stripping and getting a tattoo), of course made their way onto YouTube and other video-sharing sites, part of a massive viral explosion aided and abetted by an enormous amount of TV and print coverage. The tourism authority's effort outstripped expectations for the campaign, receiving more than 34,000 applications.

Disappointment for Indian PR pros at Cannes

2009-06-21T22:07:00.001-07:00

Noor Fathima Warsia reports in exchange4media.com:

It was a disappointing start for the Indian delegates at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2009 with India scoring zilch in the inaugural PR Lions category. There were 12 Indian PR works that were entered this year.

For comparison’s sake, Lebanon had entered two PR works, and one has proceeded to compete for the Lions.

In its first year, PR Lions had received 431 entries from 48 countries. Each entry was given four points, which made up the total vote. These marks were weighted as strategy (30 per cent), execution (20 per cent), creativity and originality (20 per cent) and results (30 per cent).

Lord Tim Bell, Chairman, Chime Communication is the Jury President for the PR Lions. Prema Sagar, Prinicpal & Founder, Genesis Burson-Marsteller is the Indian juror in the category.

The Indian PR professionals have been quoted on various occasions on the evolution and growth of the India PR industry. This result comes as a big disappointment for the PR professionals.

However, Ashwani Singla, CEO, Genesis Burson-Marsteller, said, “The important thing to remember is that India sent entries. It’s the first PR Lions, and the quality of entry is as important as the quality of work. I am sure the work submitted was great. This would be a great learning experience for all of us, and the Lions will further inspire the industry to raise the game.”

Tata Communications launches global communications campaign

2009-06-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hill & Knowlton to manage worldwide PR

Tata Communications has launched a global campaign to increase brand awareness and visibility among key decision makers, reports Asiya Bakht in Brand Republic.

As part of this rebranding exercise, Tata Communications has hired has also hired Hill & Knowlton to handle worldwide PR outside India.

Sridhar Ramaswamy, Head, Corporate marketing and Strategy at Tata Communications, has told Brand Republic: “Tata Communications undertook a rebranding exercise last year but since then we have not communicated the message to our customers and partners. Through this global campaign we are looking at increasing our visibility and awareness among influencers and drive the perception of Tata Communications as a leading global communications player.”

The campaign, launched today in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, includes TV, print and online elements and will run until 30 September. MPG, which recently won Tata Communications’ global media planning and buying account following a competitive pitch, directed the media aspects of the campaign, while the creative and online components were developed by STC Associates and Havas Digital, reports Brand Republic.

Tata Communications, which was previously called VSNL, is a global communications provider. It has strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka), Nepal (United Telecom) and, subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications).

Power of digital marketing

2009-06-16T00:10:00.000-07:00

More and more Indian entities have been leveraging digital media for business gains. This week, the Indian media featured two reports on the power of new media or digital communications. The reports are:

afaqs.com: Online ads generate 1,800 test drive requests for Honda Jazz in 2 days

According to a report by Kapil Ohri in afaqs.com, Honda Siel Cars has relied on banner ads and search engine marketing on major websites such as yahoo.co.in, rediff.com, in.com, ibnlive.com, moneycontrol.com, ndtv.com, zigwheels.com, gaadi.com and carwale.com.

The company has also employed the services of a few ad networks such as Komli Media, Ad Magnet and Tribal fusion to boost the reach of its banner ads. “Honda Jazz banner ads are already being placed across 150-200 websites in our network,” Akshay Garg, Business Head, Komli Media, told afaqs.com

Anita Sharma, General Manager, Marketing Communications, Honda Siel Cars India, has said, “Honda Siel received 10,000 test drive requests during the pre-launch phase as well, through SEM activity and the buzz, which was already there, directed consumers to HondaCarIndia.com/Jazz website, where test drive requests can be registered.”

Mint: Theatre goes to the Net to bring in younger audiences

“When a marketing glitch left Rahul da Cunha with a stage play ready to go but no audience to fill the theatre with, he posted fliers on social networking sites on the Internet,” according to a report by Neelam Verjee in Mint. “The message spread like wildfire, and when Chaos Theory opened five days later, it was to a full house.”
“I filled the house purely based on Facebook,” says da Cunha, one of the founders of Rage Productions. “Facebook is the killer one. Kids are coming in droves now because they are looking for new activities.”

Apart from Facebook, blogs and mobile phones, theatre producers are also relying on hoardings.

The two media above-mentioned reports on Honda Jazz and da Cunha’s Chaos Theory indicate the effectiveness of digital communications, though the Internet penetration is still in low in India. According to a study conducted by study conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International in September 2008, India had an estimated 45.3 million ‘active’ Internet users. Of this, 42 million were from urban areas.

This week, Media Research Users’ Council and Hansa Research’s the India Outdoor Survey (IOS) in Mumbai revealed the overall media reach in Mumbai was 94 per cent, reports Robin Thomas in exchange4media.com
“Of which, television (one week) has 86 per cent reach, cable & satellite (viewed week) has 80 per cent. Print (total readership) has 67 per cent of the reach while outdoor (IOS stretch) 66 per cent,” according to the IOS report. “Radio (one week), internet (one month) and cinema (past six months) have 31, 10 and 8 per cent reach respectively.”

The IOS survey had covered over 4500 sites of nearly 1000 stretches. Over 70 site parameters, for these 4500 sites in Mumbai, were collected and collated in nine months, with over 50 field executives. Range finder for measuring distances, binoculars for site dimensions, GPS meters for latitude and longitude, digital, still and video cameras were some of the technologies behind IOS.

CSR strengthens reputation: Nielsen study

2009-05-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Stakeholders expect companies to focus on health, education. Seven out of 10 respondents willing to pay a premium for products and services to enable a company to fulfil its CSR commitments

Corporate social responsibility or CSR is an effective way of building goodwill for a company, reports afaqs.com quoting a study done by the Nielsen Company among stakeholders in India.

Reliance Industries, Tata Motors and Tata Steel are the companies most admired by stakeholders for their CSR initiatives, according to the latest Nielsen India Corporate Image Monitor 2008, a study designed to measure people’s perceptions of the image and reputation of India’s leading companies.

According to the study, the top three social issues that stakeholders expect companies to tackle are: better health infrastructure (50 per cent); fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, cancer and immunisation programmes (38 per cent); and primary and higher education and adult literacy (30 per cent).

“Any education or other initiative to build health infrastructure will impact the CSR reputation of an organisation significantly,” said Vatsala Pant, Associate Director, Consumer Research, The Nielsen Company.

Environmental protection is now a hygiene expectation from organisations.

“Seven out of 10 members of the general public are willing to pay a premium for products and services to enable a company to fulfil its CSR commitments. Considering the impact of CSR activities on a company’s reputation, organisations will have to plot a developmental path for CSR, integrating it with the rest of the business,” said Pant.

The study revealed that more than 50 per cent of its respondents feel that corporates are honest towards their CSR activities.

The motive behind these activities are seen as: economic and tax benefits (47 per cent), enhancing corporate reputation (45 per cent) and building a competitive advantage (30 per cent).

About 28 per cent of the total respondents thought that charity, either directly or through NGOs, is the best way to demonstrate social responsibility. Other ways of engaging in socially uplifting activities considered beneficial by stakeholders is a written CSR policy (24 per cent), actively involving employees in CSR activities (20 per cent) and community work and providing employment to needy groups (both 12 per cent).

One-third of stakeholders believe that CSR is just a publicity stunt for most corporate houses.

Some initiatives that are not spoken of openly but have a potential to yield big returns on reputation are rehabilitation (especially in times of natural disasters) and building of infrastructure (building roads/ maintaining properties).

Hero Honda’s marketing excellence

2009-05-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

Structured macro and micro perception management have helped Hero Honda surge ahead of its rival Bajaj Auto in recent times

There was a time when Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda were neck-and-neck race in the two-wheeler market. In April 2009, Hero Honda’s sales were up 29.5 per cent (as compared to April 2008) to 370,575 two-wheelers while Bajaj Auto’s sales slid 24 per cent. The gap between the two companies increased to over 200,000 in the said month.

However, not so long ago, Bajaj Auto was giving sleepless nights to Hero Honda. In September 2006, it had come close to displacing Hero Honda from the top slot. Hero Honda’s rule as the leader of the Indian motorcycle market, second only to China in size, it looked would soon be history, writes Bhupesh Bhandari writes in Business Standard’s The Strategist....

Left with no choice, it took a decision that changed its face for ever. “We said we will focus on market share rather than profits,” recollects Hero Honda Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal.

Result? From a producer of fuel-efficient motorcycles, Hero Honda has morphed into a marketing-led organisation. Advertising campaigns, product refreshes and brand health — walk blindfolded into the Hero Honda office in a crowded south Delhi market and the language spoken there could lead you to mistake it for an FMCG company.

“Every two-wheeler company is focused at the product-end of the story. But all products are similar,” says brand consultant Harish Bijoor. “Hero Honda is the first to go beyond that. It shows in its domination of cricket, selection of youth and style icons, and association with shows like MTV Roadies which improves involvement with the hinterland.”

In those days, all motorcycles and their advertisements looked similar. The diagnosis was that the company’s differentiation in terms of propositioning to customers was weak. That was the first gap that needed to be plugged.

The second step involved discarding the earlier method of product categorization on the basis of engine size. This took the company to unchartered waters of consumer profiling — what is his lifestyle and attitude, what is it that he holds dear in life and so on. As a result, Hero Honda now comes out with new motorcycles, variants and refreshes keeping the customer profile of each segment in mind.

This shows in the commercials. Thus, the advertisement for the Karizma (premium segment) comes with the punch line, “Always game.” The ad for the premium segment Hunk doesn’t talk of speed or power at all — the focus is on the looks even while standing. The CBZ Extreme comes with the promise, “Thinking is such a waste of time.”

“Both the Hunk and CBZ Extreme are 150 cc bikes but talk to different customers,” says Hero Honda Vice-president (sales and marketing) Anil Dua, who joined Hero Honda around September 2006 from Hindustan Unilever. “We have created very sharp positions for all our brands. You can’t substitute one model for another in any advertisement.”

This is important. Hero Honda has a large portfolio of products (13 motorcycles and one scooter), so it has to create distinct position for each so as to avoid customer-confusion and cannibalisation of products.

Around mid-2007, Hero Honda was also quick to realise that there was a huge opportunity waiting to be tapped in rural India. A rural vertical was set up under Dua. Five hundred sales representatives were taken on board for the mission Har gaon, har angan (every village, every courtyard.) These representatives have been given work tasks and not sale targets — they need to meet potential customers and opinion leaders in villages. So far, Hero Honda has mounted three two-month long “waves” through these men. Each wave has resulted in additional sale of 15,000-16,000 motorcycles.

Yatish Rajawat on the power of Indian language media

2009-04-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

exchange4media’s Swapna Rahul Shah interviews K Yatish Rajawat

K Yatish Rajawat is the Editor-in-Chief of Business Bhaskar, published by the Dainik Bhaskar Group of Publications. Business Bhaskar’s growth has been phenomenal. Today, it is the largest Indian language business newspaper. Rajawat conceptualised, developed and rolled out Business Bhaskar in more than 17 cities, seven editions and six states in a record time of just three months.

He has a rich and diverse professional experience, along with the privilege of working with leading media conglomerates in India. Prior to joining Business Bhaskar, Rajawat had worked with Businessworld as an Associate Editor and with The Economic Times as Editor - Knowledge & Technology. He had also worked with The Hindu Business Line. An authority in his industry, Rajawat has bagged several awards, including the IT Journalist of the Year (2003) and Top Five Achievers in India Award (2004).

“As the center of gravity in the world is shifting globally from the US and Europe to Asia, there is a shift in India, too, especially on the media front,” said Rajawat. “Foreign multinationals have started understanding India much better now, and as their penetration rates increase, they are encountering the Indian language media.

Pradeep Guha to pump up digital advertising

2009-04-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Komli Media, which runs an online ad network, has appointed Pradeep Guha on its advisory board. He will be the fourth person to join Komli Media as advisor, reports afaqs.com

Guha has more than 30 years of experience across media and entertainment companies. He is currently a director of the International Advertising Association and a venture advisor with Nexus India Capital, a venture capital firm. He is also on the advisory board of Mukta Arts, Future Media and Whistling Wood International, a film training institute.

Earlier, Guha has worked with Zee Entertainment Enterprises as Chief Executive Officer and with the Times of India Group as President and Director.

In 2008, Komli Media roped in Greg Stuart, former head, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB); Munjal Shah, chief executive officer and co-founder, Like.com (a visual search engine); and Greg Coleman, president, Platform A, AOL’s advertising business, on its advisory board.

Prashant Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, Komli Media, says, “I believe that the growth of online advertising will be led by a greater degree of integration of the digital medium with the traditional media and a shift of the advertising budget from traditional to digital media. Since Guha understands the traditional media well, his presence on board will actually help us to grab a greater share of the online advertising pie, which will get a boost because of the integration of digital and traditional media in the near future.”

Mehta feels that the share of online advertising in the overall ad spends will increase from the current 2 per cent to 5-10 per cent in the next three to five years.

Marketing: Identify the right channels of communication

2009-02-17T19:27:00.001-08:00

Robert Gray writes in Marketing Magazine:

Generating high levels of response, conversion or brand engagement is never easy in direct marketing. Unquestionably, it is vital to pick the right channels. However, as channels have proliferated — mail, email, SMS, telemarketing— settling on the appropriate ones and giving them the optimum weighting is becoming more problematic.

“Consumers have preferences for different channels at different times of the day,” says Robert Keitch, Director, Media Channel Development Direct Marketing Association. “No one channel is going to do it for you — end of story. The days of having a simplistic mix are gone.”

It comes down to understanding who the customer is. ”Consumer habits are evolving; for example, people now spend more time interacting with the web or their mobiles than sitting passively in front of the TV. Richard Higginbotham, Head of Marketing, CDMS, a marketing services provider, believes many marketers have as yet failed to exploit this shift.

“Once the customer has been identified, successful multi-channel implementation allows the marketer to actually contact the customer through the channel he/ she prefers,” he says. “Ensuring customers are receiving communications through a medium to which they are responsive is key to producing customer satisfaction and improving RoI.”

There is plenty of evidence that a multichannel approach to direct marketing tends to deliver far better results than concentration on a single touch-point.

Channel selection plays a key role and should be based on an understanding of how the target audience wants to interact with a brand, coupled with knowledge of their stage in the buying cycle.

Growing importance of PR in education

2009-02-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

The Times of India has carried an interesting report last week.

Kamini Mathai’s Chennai datelined report City schools get CEOs to market them says, “When it comes to vision, it’s time to call in CEOs. At least that’s what several ‘international’ schools in south are doing in their attempt to get more corporate. So, while principals focus on admissions, academics, results and school activities, the latest trend seems to be to hire CEOs to define organisation structure, do budgeting, financial planning, hiring and firing, advertising and marketing.”

Kamini quotes Harish K E, who has been CEO of Sadhbhavana World School in Kozhikode for the last four years, “Schools today have to follow the four Ps of marketing - product, price, positioning and promotion - just like with any other consumer goods, and that’s where CEOs can help. All the best practices of the corporate world are being brought into school management.”

So Indian international schools are quickly adopting global marketing practices. Following the global best practices, Indian schools and colleges could benefit from public relations focusing on objectives like attracting better students and faculty as also funding.

Way back in 2005, Anna Fazackerley wrote in Times Higher Education of the UK that some universities are spending tens of thousands of pounds on hiring consultants to advise them on public relations, marketing and branding. This was revealed by a Times Higher investigation … Among the big spenders are Leeds University, the University of Central England, Oxford University and Birmingham University.

According to a paper submitted to the Louisiana State University, “college-level presidents understood that educational public relations would be an important tool to guarantee the future success of the colleges. A successful public relations program contributes to the amount and caliber of students attending a university as well as the feelings of alumni toward the college.”

“The role of the public relations officer in the American college and university has undergone dramatic change as a result of several major trends,” writes Machael Radock who had worked as vice president for university relations at the University of Michigan. “These public relations officers have moved from the boiler room to the board room.”

Gender bias at the top: Harvard Business Review on perception, reputation and reality

2009-02-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

The debate on the existence of glass ceiling in the corporate world is endless despite the fact there are outstanding women business leaders.

Among them are the powerful women business leaders like PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, HSBC’s Naina Lal Kidwai, Kinetic’s Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Apollo’s Preetha Reddy and Central Vigilance Commissioner’s Ranjana Kumar (earlier with Indian Bank, Nabard). ICICI Group has three women CEOs: Chanda Kochhar (ICICI Bank), Shikha Sharma (ICICI Prudential Life Insurance) and Renuka Ramnath (ICICI Venture). In the non-corporate sphere, who can forget late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi? In present times, we have Chief Ministers Sheila Dixit (Delhi) and Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh).

However, there are still perception issues regarding women business leaders. Not only in India, but globally.

“Many believe that bias against women lingers in the business world, particularly when it comes to evaluating their leadership ability,” write Herminia Ibarra and Otilia Obodaru in Harvard Business Review. “Women are judged to be less visionary than men in 360-degree feedback. It may be a matter of perception, but it stops women from getting to the top… But was this weakness a perception or a reality? How much did it matter to women’s ability to lead? And how could someone not perceived as visionary acquire the right capabilities? As we explored these issues with successful female executives, we arrived at another question: Was a reputation for vision even something many of them wanted to achieve?”

Ibarra and Obodaru’s research comes up with several interesting findings. Their research involved 360-degree evaluations of 2,816 executives from 149 countries enrolled in executive education courses at Insead . Apart from self-assessments, these executives invited their subordinates, peers, supervisors and business associates to evaluate them on a set of leadership dimensions. In all, 22,244 observers participated.

The key findings are: “As a group, women outshone men in most of the leadership dimensions measured,” write Ibarra and Obodaru. “There was one exception, however, and it was a big one: Women scored lower on ‘envisioning’ -- the ability to recognize new opportunities and trends in the environment and develop a new strategic direction for an enterprise.”

Mobile Internet boom: Not yet?

2009-02-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Robin Thomas reports in exchange4media:

Active mobile Internet users in the country number at 30 million, while nearly 100 million people have activated GPRS on their mobile phones.

“I don’t think it’s as niche as we believe it to be, because at mkhoj we are seeing a lot of traffic come through smaller towns,” says Naveen Tewari, CEO, mKhoj. “It will take another two years until it reaches a significant mass level. This is because the handset prices are certainly coming down. So also data charges are reducing all the time.”

“For Internet via mobile to have a deeper penetration in India what is required is a little bit of consumer education, on getting GPRS connection and access to relevant content,” says Pradeep Shrivastava, CMO, Idea. “For the urban users, there is a necessity of more aggressive promotion and a handset that is more GPRS friendly.”

“I don’t think there is a need to target the rural masses right now,” says Viren Popli, Senior VP, Mobile Entertainment, Star India. “I believe the first step really is to get our aids well and get the large cities sorted out. Second is to get into category A and B towns and cities. Mobile Internet is no longer niche, if the mobile Internet penetration is 10 per cent, you are talking of 35 million individuals. I believe as we go forward, what needs to be done for further growth is that the speed needs to be better, accessibility to the Internet needs to be better and most importantly services and content needs to be better.”

“Villages are perhaps the best bet for mobile Internet to breeze through,” says Saurabh Vartikar, Vice President – Mobile Marketing, Mauj Mobile. “In metros or even towns, we have multiple media that we can access, whether for information or entertainment. In rural India though, even a call on the mobile is an event. So, if there are regional portals and operators, people will learn about them and access them. We can then have a winner. Services like commodity prices, regional TV, etc. can fly.”

3G rollout

“With 3G, you are going to get a better GPRS speed on your mobile phone and the 3G users will get high speed, high bandwidth usage and so on, therefore, 3G rollout will definitely change a lot of things as and when it’s going to happen,” says Popli.

“Initially, 3G will be used more for network optimisation since there has been scarcity of spectrum for long,” says Vartikar. “Also, 3G handsets are still expensive for the general public. But, as time passes and handset prices rationalise, we will see the launch of newer and better services, and hence adaptation. We see a 2-3 year time frame for that to happen.”

Downturn, marketing, sales and PR

2009-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

Public relations is acknowledged as one of the most powerful marketing tools. Several global and Indian giants have been using the tool with increasing effectiveness.

“PR is an important and versatile marketing communications tool,” write Geoff Lancaster and Paul Reynolds, UK marketing professors who have been associated with the Charatered Institute of Marketing, in their book, Introduction to Marketing. “PR forms an intrinsic part of the integrated marketing communications mix. There is a PR aspect to most marketing communications variables whether this is personal selling, sponsorship, exhibitions, direct mail or telephone marketing. This has the effect of improving and increasing the credibility and value of marketing messages from other elements in the communications mix by enhancing the image of the firm and its products and services.”

Whether it is marketing a product, a service or a not-for-profit initiative, PR is credited with boosting both bottomline and topline growth. This cuts across sectors – automobiles, consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare, infrastructure, IT & ITeS, logistics, NGOs or not-for-profit, pharma, realty, retail and telcom.

Rely on PR

“Corporate managers are just beginning to recognize the power of public relations in the building of brands,” write Al and Laura Ries in The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. “They need to do more. They need to shift their thinking from an advertising-oriented mode to a PR-oriented mode… In particular, PR professionals have a unique opportunity to seize the marketing reins of their clients, to become the leading source of outside marketing counsel, to become the driving force in the building of brands.”

Several Indian brands have been reaping rich gains by relying on PR. With the slowdown affecting India’s economy, more and more corporates – small, medium and large – would now perhaps go the extra mile in leveraging the power of PR for all their key initiatives including those related to marketing.

Dell, Microsoft: Gains from PR

In times like these, where cost is a major factor, perhaps the fourth P (promotion) of marketing should be read as PR. Why?

“Last year (read early 2000s) Dell spent $430 million on advertising and $2 million on PR,” write Al and Laura Ries. “In other words, Dell spent 215 times as much on advertising as on PR. It’s going to be hard for Michael Dell to believe that PR is more important than advertising. Yet Dell is a good example of a brand built by PR, not advertising.”

More recently, Microsoft set a marketing success record through the low-cost launch of its Internet Explorer 7 or IE7. Again the credit goes to PR.

PR and trust

Why is PR so important? As we all know, public relations is the art and science of building/ restoring trust between an organisation and its stakeholders. Trust is the cornerstone of all transactions, both financial and non-financial.

What is more important, there is no alternative to PR in the business of creating trust.

Consider what Anne Gregory, Head of the School of Business Strategy and Assistant Dean of Leeds Business School, has to say. “If a company has a good reputation, the evidence is that people are more likely to: try its new products, buy its shares, believe its advertising, want to work for it, do business with it when all other things are equal, support it in difficult times and give it a higher financial value.”

Topline, bottomline growth

In India too, we have been witnessing the impact of reputation on topline and bottomline growth. There have been several success stories. There have also been badly battered cases including companies in sectors like real estate, IT/ ITeS, automobile, airlines, etc. In all these sectors, waiting for Mannah is one option, as it is being done now. Stealing a march over competition in these tough times with increased focused on corporate communications is another option. This is one of the secrets of success of brands like Procter & Gamble, Colgate and Reckitt Benckiser.

Also see:

Marketing mix: Larger role for corporate communications on anvil

Time to revisit communication strategy: Corporates should connect with customers’ emotions

PR is stealing the show from advertising and direct marketing

Why PR invigorates brands

Recession is the best incubator for ideas, invention -- even PR came into its own during Great Depression: Harvard Business Review

Communications budgets: Marketing lessons from past recessions
Slowdown: An opportunity for corporate communications?

Communications budgets: Marketing lessons from past recessions

2009-02-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

What are the marketing lessons from past downturns/ recessions? By cutting communications budgets during the last recession, did corporates gain or loose?

Martin Runnacles, the former marketing director of Jaguar and BMW and currently marketing director of Ultegra Consulting, says, “The key is to avoid distressful marketing and hold true to the quality of the brand.”

UK’s Marketing Magazine also reports that Mark Simpson, marketing director of Ford of Britain, has learned his economics lesson the hard way.

“At all costs, we have to continue to invest in our future products,” says Simpson. “We didn't do that in the last recession, and we paid the price. We gave every marketing cost a haircut back in 1990/91, including our future product plans, and we emerged from recession with poorer products as a consequence. That decision affected us for about five years, until 1998, when we replaced the Escort with the Focus, which marked a fundamental shift in our fortunes. We could possibly have done that earlier by maintaining our investment in product development… The lesson for big ticket items such as cars is that the desire does not change in a recession, so we have to work even harder to convert that desire into purchase.”

It is early days, of course, but the fact that Ford's retail sales were down only 18%in the year to November, compared with 45% for the overall UK retail car market, suggests that its focused strategy is paying off, adds Marketing Magazine.

One of the biggest differences between this and the last major recession in 1991 is what Hugh Davidson, author of Offensive Marketing and a former Procter & Gamble and United Biscuits marketer, calls 'the compelling evidence' that has accrued, indicating that cutting back on investment, innovation, product quality and customer service results in a market share loss that is impossible to recapture.

In contrast, those that maintain, or even increase, their investment can take advantage of falling media prices to steal a march on the competition.

“Companies like Procter & Gamble, Colgate and Reckitt Benckiser have been applying this formula for a long time,” says Davidson. “They rub their hands when they see a recession coming, because they know they can really score.”

Time to revisit communication strategy: Corporates should connect with customers’ emotions

2009-01-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink is a must-read for all of us in public relations, marketing, marketing communications or MarCom, brand consultancy and advertising. The book indicates that we have to revisit the way we communicate with our stakeholders, particularly customers and potential customers.

Writing about the book in Marketing Today, Daryl Travis, CEO, Brandtrust, says, “We’re confirming brands are about feelings, not facts. Buying decisions are made on promises that transcend products, and promises are rooted in human emotions. Quite simply, brands are built on trust. Making and keeping promises builds trust which is among the most basic of human emotions. To impact our company’s bottom line, we need to get in touch with our customers’ emotions. As marketers, we must have our own blink moments and embrace the reality that branding is about ‘brain surgery’ and psychology. Because how your customers feel about your brand isn’t a casual question. It is the crucial question.”

Gladwell talks about how consumers make decisions in the blink of an eye.

“Gladwell’s effort to share emerging insights into how our brains work is timely,” writes Travis. “In this decade, we are learning more about how humans think and feel and what drives our behavior than the whole of our discoveries in the time since Sigmund Freud dreamt up the idea of psychoanalysis. This has profound implications for marketing and brand professionals.

“It is critical for marketers to understand the role of emotions in human decision-making and behavior. Raised in Western culture, we are well indoctrinated in the forces of logic and reason, but we’ve lost sight of the essential role emotions play in determining human behavior. In fact, all human behavior is driven by emotional input derived from the stored visualizations.”

Marketing mix: Larger role for corporate communications on anvil

2009-01-29T04:24:00.000-08:00

Marketing will be the most important area of expertise for the next generation of leaders, according to a survey of US senior executives.

The study, commissioned by the Institute of International Research, sought to identify key areas for leaders.

Marketing was the clear choice, with 31 per cent of votes, followed by 20 per cent for operations and 16 per cent for financial expertise. Sales and engineering were deemed least critical to leadership with 11 and six per cent respectively, reports Marketing Today.

Marketer Seth Godin attributes the rising recognition of marketing to fierce marketplace competition. “Being good enough is no longer good enough,” said Godin. “This is the most cluttered marketplace in history… Leaders understand that spreading the word about their offerings is the only path to success.”

In spreading word about a company’s products/ services, public relations is considered a powerful business tool. Several global marketing and brand experts have been acknowledged the power of PR. These experts have been urging corporates to use the low-cost tool more effectively.

Considering such advice and the above-mentioned survey findings, corporate communications is set a play a more crucial role in a company’s marketing mix. Watch this space for more updates!

Raghav Bahl’s inspiring mail

2009-01-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

Network18 Group Managing Director Raghav Bahl’s internal mail would inspire a lot of entrepreneurs in these tough times. Among the Group’s channels are channels CNBC TV 18 and IBN7 partner. Excerpts from a report in exchange4media:

For us at Network18, it was an year in which we proved to the world that tough times will inevitably separate the Winners from the Quitters. Thanks to your unremitting focus, grit and sheer slog, we are ending 2008 as the redoubtable Winners on India’s media landscape. When the rest of the pack ran for cover, we pulled off two of the most spectacular launches ever – Colors’ meteoric rise has acquired a ‘legend’ of its own, and in.com has outflanked entrenched portals from media groups five times our size.

At Network18, we converted it (the tough year) into an opportunity by folding back into our core, by ruthlessly trimming frills and wastage. We empowered our teams even more, we decentralized the ‘challenge of survival’ by urging you to come up with the solutions, you to pump more efficiency into your operations, you to see how much more could be done with less. And that’s why we shall end 2008, the year of crises and firefighting for most, but a year of crises and opportunity for us.

Let us not ‘con’ ourselves into believing that bright sunshine is just a couple of hours away. 2009 will be a tough year, an year in which we will have to consolidate upon the ‘crisis gains’ of 2008, an year in which we will have to become even more efficient and conscious about how we deploy our resources, an year in which we may have to patiently wait for visible/ exhilirating success to return, an year in which we will be severely challenged to squeeze every penny, every camera and editing machine, every megahertz, every kilobyte, every square inch of carpet area, every LCD screen, every litre of petrol, every perk…

But let’s not ‘con’ ourselves again with any despair. We shall win even bigger in 2009, our media assets will become larger, more influential, packing greater punch. We shall put even more blue sky between the Winners and Quitters.

Expert’s advice to media

2009-01-23T01:42:00.000-08:00

P.N. Vasanti, Director, New Delhi-based multidisciplinary research organization Centre for Media Studies, writes
in Mint:

The reigning power of newspapers, especially English newspapers in our country, is very unique in terms of its impact on politics, policymakers and its ability to garner advertising revenue.

However, in these competitive times, media firms may reposition their newspapers and their priorities. In a way, 2008 could be considered the beginning of a phase when companies try to come up with unique content strategies and efforts to repackage and reposition newspapers.

After all, news is about relevance. Local and more relevant issues to do with health, education, environment, lifestyle and governance will demand attention even in the front pages as publications further shrink in size.

Newspapers will have to look at these issues that are relevant to people, and provide information presented in the way readers want it. Otherwise, Indian newspapers will go the way of Western ones.

Today, unlike anywhere else, newspapers are prosperous and still make business sense in our country. In these tough times, if they want to stand out, newspapers, including English ones will have to be part of the rethink all India will go through in 2009.

Vir Sanghvi plans to monetize his web site

2009-01-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

Veteran journalist and television celebrity Vir Sanghvi has launched his own web site, where he has aggregated all his past content. In addition, there would be some original content.

The site has been put together by Seema Goswami, and has been designed by Olive. Sanghvi has stressed on the need to allow interactivity on the site and the right resources have been allocated for that too, writes Noor Fathima Warsia of exchange4media.

Sanghvi hopes to monetize the web site which had over 1,500 unique visitors on Day 1. “These numbers would definitely stabilise going forward, but if we can manage something around this, I expect a certain amount of advertising to come in on the site. And there would be two kinds of advertisers – one for the number of visitors, and second from a brand association and prestige advertising point of view that would be dependent more on the quality.”

The web site already has support from media corporates such as Hindustan Times, STAR India and Discovery.

Bill Rylance quits Burson-Marsteller again

2008-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Bill Rylance is ending his two-and-a-half decade relationship with the WPP Group when he leaves Burson-Marsteller as its Asia-Pacific Chairman this year-end. This is the second time he is leaving the company. And this is the second time he is being featured in this blog.

In December 2007, just before taking over as Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific Chairman, Bill praised the Indian PR industry.

“In April 2007, Rylance quit his position as Asia-Pacific CEO after eight years in the role,” writes Arun Sudhaman in Brand Republic. “Four months later, he opted to stay with the agency, taking on new roles as Asia-Pacific Chairman and global development vice-chairman, and relocating to Europe. While Rylance declined to comment on his decision, sources indicate that he is considering a new venture. In 1989, Rylance departed Burson-Marsteller Korea to launch Merit Communications, before selling the shop to the WPP agency in 1999, and assuming control of its Asian operations.

"Bill made many important contributions to Burson-Marsteller," said Burson-Marsteller global CEO Mark Penn. "He brought a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit into our firm, leading the Asia-Pacific region to a new era of growth with entry into important new markets, winning exciting client assignments and achieving industry-leading professional recognition."

India: Restore reputation

2008-12-05T02:49:00.000-08:00

My viewpoint on the Mumbai terrorist attacks has been featured in PRNoticias, considered the PRWeek of Spain.

Media upset over corporate communications professionals’ role during crisis

2008-11-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

There are clear-cut guidelines for public relations professionals on managing crisis communications for corporates. Some of the best global crisis case studies like Johnson & Johnson’s Tynelol have demonstrated the power of transparency in managing a crisis.

However, some of the basis rules of crisis communications are not followed by PR professionals, making the media angry.

This has been revealed during the course of several interactions one has had with senior journalists in India.

The situation seems to be no better abroad, if a report by Alex Black in PRWeek is any indication.

At a crisis communications conference in London recently, The Times Home Hews Editor Martin Barrow has told PROs: “If we know you’re lying, we will work extra hard to ensure we expose you and your company.”

Government PR professionals have also been criticized in this regard. They hide behind ‘security issues’ in order to lie, accused Sky News Political Correspondent Glen Oglaza.

Also see:

The Masters of Disaster

Institute for Crisis Management

‘Communicating in a Crisis’ hits book stands: 'Must-read for corporates, PR professionals'

2008-11-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

Veteran PR professional Rene Henry has authored ‘Communicating in a Crisis’ (Gollywobbler Productions, 2008, $34.95), a 326-page book that analyzes scores of recent crises and provides advice including checklists for corporate management, reports odwyerpr.com.

‘’I don’t think I’ve read any text that clarifies the principles of effective crisis management as well as ‘Communicating in a Crisis’,” says Jonathan Bernstein, President, Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. ‘’In fact, if more people read this, they’d have less crisis communicating to do!’’

‘’I found this book to be extremely valuable given the times in which we live,’’ says John Vondras, former Vice President, AT&T Wireless. ‘’It is amazing how many companies go out of their way to prolong a crisis rather than address it -- it seems to be a lesson that is learned over and over again the hard way. The examples were great.’’

Recession is the best incubator for ideas, invention -- even PR came into its own during Great Depression: Harvard Business Review

2008-11-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Great Depression of the 1930s has proven this beyond doubt, according to Harvard Business Reviews's Steve Prokesch.

“I discovered this recently when I stumbled across Caroline Bird’s 1966 book The Invisible Scar,” writes Prokesch.

According to the book, professional management became firmly established and functions such as marketing, public relations, and advertising came into their own.

“By some accounts, the worst of economic times -- the Great Depression—was actually a rich period of management invention,” writes Prokesch.

“I was astonished to learn how a number of enterprises outperformed competitors and actually grew during that tumultuous era by excelling in understanding and satisfying customers’ changing needs.

“The Standard Oil companies built a lasting advantage by aggressively expanding their networks of service stations. Du Pont increased its dominance by introducing nylon and other new products for consumer markets. Sears prospered -- while Montgomery Ward languished -- by coming out with innovations like low-cost refrigerators and mail-order automobile insurance and by doubling the number of its stores. And at a time when Wall Street was despised, Merrill Lynch recognized that there was an opportunity for honest brokers.

“A similar customer focus allowed entrepreneurial ventures such as Carvel and Good Humor (ice-cream retailing), Clairol (hair coloring), A.C. Nielsen (retail sales data), and Chock Full O’ Nuts (coffee shops) to beat the era’s long odds."

Here are the lesson managers can learn from the The Great Depression, according to Prokesch:

1. Test your assumptions about customer needs -- by rethinking what data you are crunching or how you are segmenting customers.

2. Manage product/service innovations for global markets — by figuring out how to design low-cost or good enough offerings for customers in emerging markets and redesign them for customers in mature economies.

3. Capitalize on the promise of strategic partnering — by mastering the intangibles crucial to making alliances work.

4. Reskill your organization — by using the down market to acquire talent important to your future and the down time to develop the talent pool you already have.

“These are areas that are underappreciated or undermanaged at many companies,” writes Prokesch. “Perhaps it will take a good recession to bring them to the fore.”

Pradeep Guha’s defining moments

2008-11-12T04:04:00.000-08:00

Pradeep Guha is a man who backs his intuition to the hilt. Be it in print (at The Times of India Group) or TV (at Zee), Pradeep Guha has facilitated changes that the industry marvelled at. From print to TV to movies (he produced Fiza), Guha's instinct for making the right moves has made him a legend. Here, PG, as he is commonly known, shares some of the defining moments of his career, which spans almost three decades, writes Sapna Nair In afaqs.com. Excerpts from her interview:

At Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, he was sent to Kolkata as head of the Eastern region, with general management responsibilities, in 1983. This was the time when Sameer Jain was inducted as executive director. It was fortuitous for him, as with Jain, he could look at broader issues concerning The Times of India. This association brought both of them close. That friendship lasted right through his career in The Times of India and continues even today.

“Why I call it a defining moment is because at a very early point in my career, I got the opportunity to work closely with an entrepreneur who had the ability to take risks and make significant changes to his company,” says Guha.

The next big moment in his career came in 1988 when The Times of India was in its 150th year. The late Nandita Jain (Sameer's sister) and Guha were entrusted the task of handling the celebrations of the 150th year in a manner that would change the brand profile of The Times of India.

What followed was one of the biggest branding exercises ever in the history of Indian media, perhaps in the history of Indian brands as well. The Times of India used to be referred to as the Old Lady of Boribunder and was seen as a fuddy-duddy company. The journey to transform a brand from one-of-many to an exclusive one meant making changes, ranging from renovating the office to complex ones like changing the pricing strategy.

A critical defining moment in Guha’s career came when he decided that he had had enough of print. “Media was becoming more digital and the Internet had just come in. The closest digital platform that I could find at that time was TV and the offer from the Zee Network came at an opportune moment. I took it thinking it would be just another medium, but once I got in, I was shocked. Print and television are like chalk and cheese. The only similarity is that both cater to mass audiences,” says Guha.

“Before I get into anything, it is my heart (or is it gut?) that tells me whether I should get in. The mind takes over thereafter,” he says.

Slowdown presents an opportunity for PR and brand protection, says Andy West

2008-11-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

Does the present global slowdown present an opportunity for both public relations agencies and corporate communications professionals?

In such times, “companies are going to be especially protective of their brands”, says Andy West, formerly of Text 100, who has been roped in by Hotwire to launch an international corporate practice for technology brands.

The new practice follows a move by Hotwire to broaden out from its existing areas of expertise, reports PRWeek’s Chloe Markowicz .

However, West, who started as managing director of the corporate practice this week, admitted the challenges of launching a new practice as budgets are tightening.
At the moment, West is working with existing Hotwire staff but he hopes to bring in experts in branding and broadcast within the next six months.

West was made redundant from Text 100, where he was former executive vice-president of business development. He has since founded Friction.tv, which allows users to take part in live online debates.

Tatas to launch PR campaign: Jaguar Land Rover as ‘blue-chip UK corporate’ brands

2008-11-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Tata Group-controlled Jaguar Land Rover is planning a major communications campaign for the automobile brands.

Jaguar Land Rover has appointed Portland PR to position the firm as a ‘blue-chip UK corporate’, on a par with retailer Marks & Spencer, reports PRWeek.

Jaguar Land Rover Communications and Public Affairs Director Simon Warr said: “We’re the largest car company in the UK and so are a major corporate player. We need to start mixing with other British major corporates. We should be up there with Marks & Spencer.”

He added that the firm had traditionally enjoyed a good relationship with motoring correspondents, but that its presence on the business pages was limited.

The drive to raise its corporate profile comes at a tough time for auto manufacturers. British car sales have fallen heavily in recent months, with Land Rover particularly hard hit and further job cuts expected at the firm.

Portland will focus on issues surrounding the change of ownership, the firm’s investment in green technology and its strategy to get through the economic downturn.

The agency has initially been taken on until the spring, with further work expected.

PR, media, corporates and communications: Sandeep Bamzai’s analysis

2008-11-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

Here is Sandeep Bamzai’s guest column in exchange4media.com:

The wheel always comes full circle. No, this isn't a philosophical observation, but more of a reality check which embodies the old adage that there are no permanent enemies over the long term. Well, the Tatas have shown that through their public relations firm – Vaishnavi headed by Nira Radia.

Some years ago, all hell broke loose between Bennett and the Tatas over a morphed image of Ratan Tata in The Economic Times. The schism was significant and the Tatas pulled out all advertising from all Bennett & Coleman publications. Vaishnavi was at the forefront of this exercise and though many attempts were made to bridge the chasm, the divide grew wider. Bennett also blacklisted coverage of Tata events, results and other sundry happenings.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times benefited from this rift as it got an even larger share of Tata advertising, including a big ticket deal for the HT Leadership Summit. But recently, one saw a major change, which meant that the rapprochement was complete. With the Tatas shifting the Nano to Gujarat, Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata was interviewed by only three media outfits – Times Now, ET and TOI. Nobody else got a look in. The interviews were truly exclusive to the Times Group. This signaled a major change in Tata policy and I guess back channel diplomacy had paid off. But equally significantly, even as the champagne toast was being given to the shift from Singur in West Bengal to Narendra Modi's Gujarat, HT wrote an extremely damaging piece on its edit page against Ratan Tata and the Tata's conduct in Singur.

Yes, the wheel had come full circle. HT, which had been falling over itself to please the Tatas, had launched a broadside. The leader written by Prem Shankar Jha was extremely hard-hitting. Titled – 'Whose brakes failed?' – Jha's piece on October 5 was a scathing indictment of the way Tatas had managed things in Singur. But more importantly, on the whole the Tatas had managed the environment rather well. Jha aksed whether the Tatas were really the wounded victims that they made themselves out to be and Mamta Banerjee the villain that the world had made her out to be. Coincidence? I doubt very much.

This was, in a manner of speaking, a big victory for Nira Radia herself. Some eight years ago, like a bolt from the blue, she was handed over all public relations functions of all Tata group companies. Harried by the Ajit Kerkar-Indian Hotels fiasco, followed by the Dilip Pendse-Tata Finance scandal, R K Krishna Kumar convinced Ratan Tata to create and in a way incubate a centralised PR outfit for the group. And it seems to have worked over the last few years.

Managing the environment is a euphemism associated with the unified Reliance Industries. Jokes about R positive and R negative have been doing the rounds for years in Delhi's political and bureaucratic underbelly. Reliance in its split wide open avatar has never used external PR outfits. The 'environment was always managed' by internal resources. Against this backdrop comes the shocker that Reliance Industries with all its heavyweights in the capital has chosen Nira Radia promoted Neucom Consulting as its communication consultancy and single point of contact to deal with all requests and queries. Now this was a coup for Radia. One of the biggest clues of this impending announcement came when at the height of Singur drama. Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani came out in support of the Tatas.

So, we now have a situation where two of India's largest private sector industrial groups are using a common communications consultancy, though Neucom is obviously at arm's length distance from Vaishnavi, even if the promoter is common to both. This was unthinkable till a few years back. Will communications consultancy include the corridors of power or will it be limited to media and environment management. More than that, what remains to be seen is whether the stories against RIL Retail will stop in ET?

Anyway, the wheel has come full circle. And yes, here and now.

Corporates & communications: Edelman favours evolution of PR into public engagement

2008-11-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

Richard Edelman, Pesident and CEO of Edelman, the world's largest independent public relations firm, has spoken about the evolution of public relations into public engagement at a lecture at the University of Maryland.

He asserted that PR can become the discipline that melds strategy and communications, constituting an essential bridge between corporations and their stakeholders.

“I contended that PR must also be part of business strategy and policy formulation, in addition to being responsible for communicating the decisions,” said Edelman.

“There is the confluence of several trends in the marketplace that make this transition possible and advisable. The recent government emergency intervention in global financial institutions has ended the free market era. The dispersion of authority continues with CEOs under fire and government officials seen as ineffective regulators. The transformation of media is accelerating, with mainstream media downsizing, greater reliance on digital platforms and merging of news with entertainment. Expectations on companies are rising with stakeholders looking for Mutual Social Responsibility -- merging cause related marketing with corporate social responsibility.

“I suggested that Public Engagement has four important attributes:

“First, it is democratic and decentralized. A good example of this is the Obama campaign’s mobilization of five million volunteers, who are able to make decisions on how best to contact voters, attract funds and communicate on social media. Another is the MyStarbucksIdea.Force.com site that solicits new product ideas from the crowd, reinforcing the company’s relationship with its customers while the company listens and learns.

“Second, it aims to inform the conversation. This is a major change for PR, which has relied on research-tested messages delivered one-way to media, which then writes the stories. If Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News, is correct in positing that “Every company today is a media company,” then smart businesses will take the opportunity to become public resources on areas of expertise, by providing credible well-researched data on its own web site, and correct on-going discussions, whether on discussion forums or in the press, if there are factual errors. An example of this is our work for Masdar, the first carbon-neutral city in the world that has become an important focus for data on new forms of energy.

“Third, it calls for engagement with influencers of all stripes. To be influential today does not require academic or professional credentials alone. It means that the person has personal experience with the product, passion for the category, and a desire to contribute to general knowledge. It is our task in PR to build trusted relationships with the broad set of influencers. A great example is the Johnson & Johnson (a client) Family Health Institute in China, which helps educates mothers about family health, and funding schooling for nurses.

“Fourth, it suggests that reputation is built on policy and communication. Our client Wal-Mart’s strong commitment last week to the highest standards on environment and workplace safety in China is indicative of this trend. It is often useful to partner corporations with the NGO community for input in the decision-making process and help garner support in the broader community.

The rationale for public engagement is best captured by Thomas Friedman, who wrote a week ago in the New York Times, “In a connected world, countries, governments and companies have character… how they do what they do, how they keep promises, how they make decisions, how they engender trust…”

The PR business must rise to the challenge, by creating a new form of expression that will work in today’s cynical and uncertain environment.

Also see:

Citizen Renaissance: Public Engagement, the Decline of Advertising, and Communications Companies of the Future

Building a strategy for successful public engagement

Toss out the PR playbook: Send in the public engagement team

Financial crisis: Corporates should communicate more and more with their employees

2008-11-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Is internal communications the key amid a financial turmoil? Is it important that even corporates, which are doing well, should keep all their communications channels alive? Should even companies, which are uncertain as to how the present global financial crisis affects them, resort to such corporate communications?

Yes, says PRWeek’s Tonya-Garcia.

According to a recent study by Weber Shandwick, 70% of the 514 employed Americans surveyed expect the current situation to have a negative impact on the companies for whom they work, 54% said their company leaders have not discussed the impact of the financial turmoil, and three-quarters said their colleagues are discussing it.

“There's so much uncertainty that being able to separate one's company from the economy as a whole becomes that much more important,” says Micho Spring, Chair of the corporate practice at WS. “In this climate of potential layoffs and stock prices falling, it's important that if employees can't understand the world at large, then [they should]... understand the fundamentals of their company.”

This free flow of information, coupled with the recessionary economy, has thrust many companies into a crisis communications situation. However, unlike a crisis that impacts an individual company with a specific issue, this is a “global malaise” that requires a different approach, says Mark Hass, CEO of MS&L.

“Even those [companies] that are doing well need to talk about what this means and what matters to employees,” he adds.

As talk of recession mounts, employees are concerned about the fate of their companies. This concern has made internal communications a more important part of the work that firms are doing on behalf of their clients.

Keith Burton, President of Insidedge, says he's seeing an uptick in employee communications, with many clients making sure they understand the company's plans. Moreover, the communications are personal in nature.

“A good part of what they're doing is intensifying face-to-face communications,” Burton says. “Smaller group sessions where people can talk about addressing issues or needs and provide feedback is the most important thing that organizations can do today. Digital media [such as an intranet] is secondary or complementary to face-to-face communications. If [companies] anticipate cutbacks... they have to report that in advance. Employees are pretty vigilant about this, particularly those represented by unions.”

Without direct communications from the company, employees will turn to one another. This type of situation is a breeding ground for innuendo, fear, and misinformation.

“If you're the CEO of a company that's headed into uncertain economic territory, you may not know what it is you're going to have to do because you may not understand the impact this financial situation will have on your company,” says Sallie Gaines, Senior Vice President at Hill & Knowlton’s global response group. “But you need to do the hard task of communicating with [employees] now, even if you're not sure what the shakeout is going to be. There's no shortage of good data... when there's a vacuum of information, rumor and speculation fill that vacuum.”

Leading India corporate hires global communications agency

2008-11-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Another Indian corporate has hired the services of a leading global communications agency.

Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial has been called in to advise Indian real-estate fund Trikona Trinity Capital, reports PRWeek.

The agency will advise the AIM -listed property fund on corporate public relations and investor relations.

Bell Pottinger will act as lead communications advisor in conjunction with Trikona TC's existing public relations firms in New York and Mumbai.

The account will be led by associate director, Nick Lambert, who said: “Trikona TC has a very successful business model, but it's currently not sufficiently well-known within the investment community either in the UK or internationally. Our job is to change that.”

Trikona TC has a market value of £200m and is a leading investor in the Indian real estate sector.

Ashesh C Shah, head of UK and global head of corporate development at Trikona Capital, said: “We met four firms before selecting Bell Pottinger and were particularly impressed by their commitment to emerging market clients.”

Also see:

TCS Appoints Fleishman Hillard As Global PR Agency

Gujarat CM hires APCO

Look east, Sir Martin Sorrell tells global communications industry

2008-11-01T04:22:00.000-07:00

The global communications industry has look east to sustain both their public relations and advertising businesses.

The shift in the balance of economic power to the east is only heightened by what is going on now, says Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive Officer of WPP, in interview with The Guardian.

WPP's advertising agency company holdings include the Grey Global Group, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Young & Rubicam, and JWT(formerly known as J. Walter Thompson Co.).

WPP's public relations company holdings including Hill & Knowlton, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide , Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe.

“Activity in the west - the US and western Europe - is tightening and will tighten further next year,” says Sir Martin.

“The world is not decoupled, so BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India, China - and "Next 11" - Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam - will tighten too. China and India are growing at 10% and we in the west have been struggling to grow at 2% to 3% and will struggle further.

“The point is, even if the BRICs and Next 11 are coupled and are affected by the terrible events of the past year or so and, in particular, the past four or five weeks, these faster growing markets will remain faster growing. Even if China and India ‘collapse’ to 5% or 6%, or 7% or 8% growth, they will still be growing stronger and faster than we are.

“In this connection, it is interesting to note that the World Bank or IMF still forecast 2% to 3% GNP growth for the world next year, with the US and western Europe flat and the BRICs and Next 11 growing at around 6%.

“These thoughts have been confirmed by visits to Brazil and Argentina earlier this month, where it seems that growth next year, stimulated by agrarian-based economies, may be 3%. It could be that the ripples - or should we say waves - of economic distress have not reached these countries yet.

“However, it does seem as though the faster growing economies will continue to be faster growing - particularly when compared with the west.”

Also see:

Slowdown, PR and corporates: Communications giants’ revenues hold the key?

Public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to start operations in India

Slowdown, PR and corporates: Communications giants’ revenues hold the key?

2008-10-31T00:04:00.000-07:00

Global communications giants Publicis Groupe, WPP, and The Interpublic Group (IPG) reported positive third quarter earnings results last week, but they predicted a future softening due to the down economy.

“In this context, we believe our industry will face a difficult end of 2008 and a marked slowdown in 2009,” Maurice Levy, CEO of Publicis, said in the earnings statement.

Publicis, which does not separate PR results, reported $1.39 billion in consolidated revenue for the third quarter ending September 30, a 5.1% revenue growth compared with Q3 2007, using constant exchange rates, reports Tonya Garcia in PRWeek.

WPP reported PR and public affairs revenues totaling about $347.7 million, up 9.3% from the year before. The results came amid reports that CEO Martin Sorrell ordered a hiring freeze across the company's subsidiaries. When asked to elaborate on the freeze, Howard Paster, EVP of WPP's PR and public affairs division, declined to comment.

IPG's Constituency Management Group (CMG) division (which contains the holding company's PR agencies), reported revenues of nearly $290 million for Q3 – an organic increase of 18.3% from the same period last year.

“I think it's fair to say that the PR business has had a terrific nine months and a terrific third quarter,” said Harris Diamond, CEO of WS and CMG. “Having said that, you have the caveat that we are walking into uncertain times.”

Larry Witt, a stock analyst at Morningstar that follows Omnicom, IPG, and WPP, called the results he had seen “surprising”. (Witt spoke with PRWeek before WPP's earnings were announced). He believes geographic diversification could be a variable that determines which companies will be hit hardest.

“We don't think these good results will continue in the next quarter or following quarters,” he said. “WPP is probably the most geographically diversified, with more revenue outside the US. IPG is probably the least diversified.”

In late October, Omnicom Group, which includes Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum, reported a 1.2% dip in Q3 PR revenues.

Also see:

WPP Warns Of "Very Tough" 2009, 3Q Sales Up

Ketchum Acquires Fifth Largest U.S. Technology PR Firm, Access Communications

Slowdown: An opportunity for corporate communications?

2008-10-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Many sectors in India will be affected by the slowdown in the global economy, some more than the other.

After Diwali festivities, India Inc is set to show pink slips to 25-30 per cent employees in businesses like IT, aviation, steel, financial services, real estate, cement and construction as part of their cost-cutting measures, industry body Assocham has said.

Ramanujam Sridhar, Chief Executive Officer, Brand-Comm, Bangalore, knows of technology companies that have frozen recruitments over the last few weeks.

“Everyone wants to wait and watch,” says Sridhar in an interview with Divya Trivedi & Sravanthi Challapalli of The Hindu Business Line. “In the real estate sector, it is no longer a seller’s market, and it would have to advertise more. Infrastructure companies are also suffering from the lack of liquidity. My clients are asking if there are other ways to achieve the same advertising and marketing objectives with less money. So now there is greater importance being given to PR. On our part, we are trying to deliver better for the clients - the onus is on PR which becomes more critical now.”

Chandan Nath, President, Mudra Advertising, Ahmedabad, says both above- and below-the-line advertising will have to be used as different categories will be affected differently. “Any category where the consumer can postpone his buying decision will be affected, such as upgrade of consumer durables, automobiles and real estate. While the food industry, over-the-counter products, apparel, telecom and FMCG cannot remain untouched by the meltdown, they will be less affected.”

However, Ambi M. G. Parmeswaran, Executive Director and CEO, Draftfcb+Ulka, says “Some amount of diversion of advertising budgets to tactical and promotional spends may happen, but in a vast, spread-out country such as India, and for mass-marketed brands, there is nothing to beat press and TV. So those media will continue to hog the limelight. In fact, marketers may even shy away from niche media.”

According to him, Indian ad spends are correlated with economic growth and market sentiment, more than anything else. The Sensex has no real effect except for the dampening on the sentiment. “If we expect the economy to grow at over 6.5 per cent next year, there is no reason that why ad spends should not grow by about 9 per cent,” he says.

Sukhpreet Singh, General Manager (Brand Marketing) of consumer durables company Whirlpool of India, says the choice of media (conventional/digital or above-the-line vs below-the-line) could be altered, which would depend on campaign objectives and effectiveness of each media to deliver results.

Fast moving consumer goods companies cannot afford to cut back on marketing right away, says Ramesh Viswanathan, Executive Director of Chennai-based Cavin Kare. “There’s no slowdown in the overall FMCG market. The rate of growth of most categories is continuing and our growth is in line with our past performance. But, there is pressure of escalating costs so there’s lowering of profit. We need to see how sales go in the third and fourth quarters, see how costs progress and take a call by December.”

Viswanathan says advertising and marketing is the last thing an FMCG company would touch; the focus will be on cost engineering and pricing.

As far as the question of retrenching goes, there are mixed responses. Srinivasa says he does not see signs of retrenching in retail and that his company would certainly not do it. Ditto, says Nath of Mudra, adding that the company was looking for copywriters as it plans to expand.

Meanwhile, public relations firm Hanmer MS & L’s Partner and Member (Corporate Leadership Team), Amit Desai says all agencies would have to maintain status quo. His company was looking to redeploy staff and get in more efficient people. “Recruitment at the middle and senior levels will definitely be hit but junior levels need not worry too much,” he said.

Nath of Mudra says corporate communication has been hit hard as, with the withdrawal of IPOs due to dampened market sentiments, all pre-IPO events have been cancelled.

Some agencies, however, see the slowdown as an opportunity. Such as the upcoming 50-employee-strong Saints & Warriors. Arjun Dutta, copywriter with the agency, says this crisis might actually be an opportunity to grow on the back of innovative ideas.

Corporates, communications and gender

2008-10-29T00:42:00.000-07:00

“Women's fairness creams is a large product category in India and has from time to time attracted the attention of feminists as being a regressive offering that perpetuates fair skin as an yardstick of beauty, a symptom of our ‘colonial hangover’,” writes Mythili Chandrasekar in AdAge.

“Over the years, the promise of these creams has moved from you can find a husband if you are fair to the idea that a lighter skin tone will get you a job. Progressive ads have shown women having the upper hand in choosing partners, and the jobs they can get have moved from air hostesses (traditionally a ‘modern’ profession according to the large Indian middle class) to cricket commentators, reflecting a more recent male bastion that the Indian woman has stormed! Meanwhile, realizing that a fair (pun unintended!) percentage of users were men, the market has seen the launch of new brands of fairness creams for men, like Unilever's Fair & Handsome.

“Lowe's latest ad for Fair & Lovely, the largest brand in the women's fairness creams category, has moved the needle further. The story revolves around a man who is pushed to extreme measures to get his bulging waistline into shape because of the effect the woman has on him, with the tagline ‘The power of beauty’. Surely, a telling comment on the changing status of women in Indian society. From ‘I'm worried about whether the man will accept me’ to ‘See what an effect I have on the man’.

In this regard, a few thoughts: Do you think there is a significant change in the outlook of people in general in India? Or, is it because of the fact the media industries like advertising, newspapers, corporate communications and public relations are dominated by women? Or, it is because corporates are trying to play to the gallery?

Public relations and euphemisms: Shel Holtz’s advice

2008-10-28T01:20:00.000-07:00

At one of the Fortune 500 companies where I directed corporate communications, many years ago, a reorganization consolidated some of the company’s business units. In a game of executive musical chairs, one high-ranking execuricw was left without a job, writes Shel Holtz of Holtz Communication + Technology in his blog.

The press release the company issued used the typical jargon claiming that the poor fellow was leaving the company “to pursue other opportunities.”

Journalists are wise to this kind of euphemism. A night copy editor at one of the dailies covering the company ran the story under the headline, “So long, pal.” The clueless leaders of this company — my bosses — reacted to the headline by insisting that I call the lead business reporter who covered the company and inform him that we weren’t going to deal with him any longer.

The headline may have been snarky, but the “pursuing other opportunities” phrase, along with the lack of any substantive information at all, invited that snarkiness. Of course, the reason companies resort to such vague, non-communicative lingo is that the separation agreement reached with the departing executive insists on it, presumably because they don’t want anybody to learn the truth of the matter. I’ve often wondered how people can rise to such lofty positions in big companies with such thin skins.

This experience leapt to mind as I read a post by PR luminary Jim Horton about a similar announcement from iRobot announcing that its co-founder, Helen Greiner, had resigned as the company’s chairman to be replaced by her fellow co-founder Colin Aigle, who was serving as CEO.

The most Greiner or iRobot have had to say about the reason for the former chairman’s departure is that it was a mutual decision. This, according to the C|Net report, has fueled speculation about what really happened, suggesting that Greiner’s departure was not entirely voluntary. This will come as no surprise to people working in corporate communications who know that, in the absence of authoritative information, second-tier sources and gossip-mongers will rush in to fill the void. Information abhors a vacuum.

As Horton notes, it is the lack of transparency that sparked the rumor. “Wouldn’t it be better just to say that X left because she had a disagreement with the board, or she is tired and wants to move on, or she has another opportunity she wishes to pursue? That, at least, provides a context for stakeholders,” he says, adding, “Silence speaks louder than words.”

The next time an executive leaves your company’s ranks, consider the novel approach of just truthfully telling what happened. It may cause some discomfort, but that’s better than inaccurate speculation affecting perceptions of the organization.

Focus on corporate communications: PR firm Blue Communications bags Maersk Logistics

2008-10-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

The AP Moller-Maersk Group is giving increasing importance to public relations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Maersk Logistics has appointed Blue Communications as its PR partner in Asia-Pacific to raise the profile of its business across the region.

The appointment extends Blue’s relationship with the AP Moller-Maersk Group. In July this year, the Group also appointed the agency for its Maersk Line container shipping business.

Both briefs will focus on stakeholder engagement initiatives to enhance each brand’s corporate positioning throughout the region, reports Kenny Lim in Brand Republic.

The public relations agency will work with the logistics firm’s communications team, plus regional and country managers to promote its brand among blue-chip organisations and SMEs in areas such as supply chain management, warehousing and distribution.

Programmes will be tailored according to the maturity of Maersk’s business objectives in key markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.

Blue Communications MD Karen Flynn attributed the win to “the level of strategic consultancy and exceptional execution capabilities of our team in Singapore”.

Srikanth Srinivasamadhavan heads Unilever’s Media Services in South Asia

2008-10-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

Unilever has appointed Srikanth Srinivasamadhavan as General Manager - Media Services, South Asia. This position was earlier held by Rahul Welde until his elevation to Vice-President – Media, Unilever, AMET (Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey) a year back.

Prior to this elevation, Srinivasamadhavan was Category Head, Skin Cleansing, Unilever. In his current role, he would be reporting to Welde. The various media head in South Asia would be reporting to Srinivasamadhavan.

An official communiqué, quoted exchange4media.com says, “Srikanth has extensive experience in marketing, most recently as the Category Head - Skin Cleansing. He has great passion for innovation and hands-on experience in driving accountability, measurement and insights. Srikanth joins us at one of the most exciting times for the media function – a challenging economic environment, a rapidly changing media landscape and strong growth momentum for our brands. Apart from aggressive pursuit of media opportunities in South Asia, he will also play an important role as a member of the Home and Personal Care Leadership Team at Unilever India.”

Public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to start operations in India

2008-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hill & Knowlton, Inc., one of the largest public relations firms in the world, has decided to set up a subsidiary in India.

Hill & Knowlton is part of the WPP Group, the third largest advertising and marketing entity in the world.

The company is headquartered in New York, with 73 offices in 41 countries, as well as an extensive associate network.

Hill & Knowlton has approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for its investment in the Indian subsidiary, according to The Economic Times .

Jonathan Shore takes over as CEO of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications

2008-10-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-16T03:43:00.000-07:00

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.

Credibility of a newspaper is like the virginity of a woman: Vinod Mehta

2008-09-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-Chief, Outlook Group, said that lately journalism seems like it’s a part of the entertainment industry. The intense competition has threatened professional ethics and the credibility of news, he said.

Mehta was speaking at the Indian Magazine Congress 2008 in Mumbai on Monday, where eminent journalist Vir Sanghvi anchored a discussion on whether viewers should dictate what content is good and do they really know what they want.
Mehta said, “The credibility of a newspaper is like the virginity of a woman; you can lose it only once.”

Mehta added it is improper to lay editorial decisions in the hands of brand managers, reports Sapna Nair in afaqs . “Brand managers are incapable of understanding journalism and cannot deduce what a reader or viewer wants,” he asserted.

Aroon Purie, Founder and Editor- in-Chief, India Today Group, said that one must not forget social responsibility even when running a business. There is no harm in listening to what the readers want, but the final decision should be the editor's. "The reader may not know what he wants until we provide it to him," he said.

About brand managers influencing editorial decisions, Purie said that the big wall that existed between the editorial section and business has diminished. "Now, there are discussions and we share data, but the final decision is taken by the editor," he said.

To this, Mehta said, "The editor and marketing manager should walk side by side, but the editor should always be a few steps ahead."

Sanghvi posed a question about paid journalism and how advertorials have gradually given way to paid articles – something that was unfathomable years ago. Mehta said that one could either make money through advertisements or prostitute oneself for ads.

"My message to the advertisers is that you have a vested interest to fulfil, but don't undermine the sensitivity and credibility of the newspaper," Purie said. He expressed disappointment at the state of affairs. "It's horrific and immoral. It's sad that it doesn't make a difference to the reader and the newspapers in question," he said.

The panel concluded that while it was right to listen to the reader, one must not be led by the reader; rather, one should lead him.

‘Mobile marketing to be worth Rs 1,000 crore in next two years’

2008-09-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

Rajesh Jain, Managing Director, Netcore Solutions, said that mobile marketing would be a much bigger opportunity in the next two years than the Internet has been in the past 10 years, Mobile marketing will be worth Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years, he said, speaking at Mobile Conversations 2008, a conference organised by afaqs! in Mumbai on Friday.

The first session of Mobile Conversations focused on the possibilities in mobile marketing – how SMS, voice, gaming and mobile Internet can be used innovatively by advertisers and the possibilities they offer for a marketing campaign, reports Kapil Ohri of afaqs..

The session moderator, Sandeep Singh, Co-founder and Business Director, Quasar Media, started the discussion by asking a question: “There are more than 280 million mobile subscribers in India, but how many of them can be reached through mobile advertising?”

Sanyog Jain, COO, SMS Country, said that around 70-75 crore SMSes were being sent out every month, considering those sent by providers such as MyToday, SMSGupshup and 160by2. These SMSes could be used by advertisers for mobile marketing. In terms of subscribers, 2-2.5 crore mobile subscribers could be reached over a period of two to three weeks.

Rajiv Hiranandani, Co-founder and Global Head, Revenues, Mobile2Win, said that according to market research firm Synovate’s latest estimates, 55-60 per cent of the total consumer base in India can be reached through SMS and voice advertising. For WAP advertising, there are around 135 million potential consumers in India. However, of these, only 13-16 million are active users of mobile Internet and can accept advertising on this medium.

Debraj Tripathy, Head, Mobile Marketing, OnMobile, said that mobile operators were keen and open to using mobile advertising, but their basic concern was how consumers would react to receiving ads on their mobiles. According to him, this concern needs to be addressed by operators, advertisers and value-added service providers as well.

Narasimha Suresh, CEO, TELiBrahma Convergent Communications, said, "Advertisers should not use mobile marketing just to deliver ads or mobile coupons, but to engage consumers with the brand."

Vaishnavi secures Reliance Industries' PR mandate

2008-09-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sambit Saha reports in The Telegraph

Vaishnavi, one of the largest communications consulting firms in the country that counts the Tata group as one of its top clients, is ready to add another: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

Vaishnavi Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, the holding group company, has formed a new entity that will handle the account of the Reliance group and all its subsidiaries.

This is the first time that Reliance Industries will have an external agency managing its communications. The corporate communications department of Reliance Industries has always been handled internally from the days when Dhirubhai Ambani started putting together his vast empire.

Even after the Reliance empire was carved up in January 2006, the Ambani brothers — Mukesh and Anil — stuck to the old formula.

But Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd is now looking to seek professional expertise from outside the group.

Vaishnavi has created NeUcom Consulting under an entrepreneurial model. Manoj Warrier will head the new entity. Warrier was the executive director of Vaishnavi looking after operations in the north and west. Vaishnavi Advisory Services Pvt Ltd will have a significant shareholding in the company.

NeUcom is beginning the journey with Reliance. It will handle media relations, media strategy and the internal communications of Reliance and its subsidiaries.

The new outfit has been set up to head off the risk of a potential conflict of interest with Vaishnavi’s other clients.

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications handles the accounts of the Tata Group and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Although this is the first time that the Tatas and the Ambanis will share the same communications entity, experts reckon that this is a sign of the increasing professionalisation in the corporate communications business. Management consultancies, legal firms and taxation entities advise a variety of clients without infringing client confidentiality; the public relations business has started to take its first tentative steps in that direction.

However, the development comes soon after Mukesh Ambani came out strongly in support of Tata Motors’ troubled Nano project in Singur. Ambani’s statement had sparked surprise as he is usually reticent on controversial subjects.

NeUcom will handle its first assignment for Reliance Industries on Sunday when the oil and gas giant is expected to make a major announcement.

Indian PR industry to double to $ 6 billion by 2010: ASSOCHAM

2008-03-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says that the PR industry is likely to double its size to over $6 billion by 2010, from the current $3 billion, as companies rely increasingly on PR professionals to enhance their brand image in order to maximise benefits of the current economic boom for increased sales and higher turnover volumes.

The above findings have been arrived at by a random survey carried out by ASSOCHAM on ''Attrition Vs. PR & its future prospects'', in which views of over 400 PR professionals were elicited. It highlights that as a result of growing opportunities costs in PR industry, attrition has become a core concern, reports domainb.

Releasing its findings, ASSOCHAM President Venugopal Dhoot, himself a lead consumer durables player, said that over 90 per cent of PR professionals at the entry level, with enthusiasm and a passion for hard work, are moving on in search of greener pastures within the industry in less than a year's time.

Dhoot, whose Videocon group spends roughly Rs30 billion in brand building initiatives, pointed out that the ASSOCHAM survey confirms the trend that a large number of corporates are opting to rope in PR professional for increasing sales turnovers, as one of finest marketing strategies.

The survey reveals over 75 per cent of the respondents said that pressures apart, PR activities demand a diversification of intellect.

A majority of PR professionals said that the economic boom has resulted in immense competition in brand building, as result of which PR agencies are in great demand, and are quoting market driven prices for their services. It also says that takers are available at these prices as well.

Since the demand for PR professionals is rising, so are opportunities for relationship industries. This is cited as a major reason for the growth rate of around 22-25 per cent in last couple of years, which has now risen to 32 per cent. According to ASSOCHAM, the growth rates would be sustained. Quoting findings of the survey, Dhoot said that by 2010 the PR industry would grow to more than $6 billion.

According to estimates by ASSOCHAM, the Indian PR industry comprises 1200-1500 agencies, with manpower strength of between 30,000 and 40,000. In terms of vertical markets, healthcare has been identified as one of the fastest-growing sector. However, the public sector, the environment, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are also emerging as growth areas for PR.

The overriding concern of the industry is a serious shortage of skills. ASSOCHAM says that almost all agencies are hiring, displaying a trend that is itself indicative of growth. It says that some are even looking outside the PR industry to bring in new skills.

Although there are many thousands of small agencies and individual consultants serving highly localised markets, larger agencies are forging partnerships across the globe to meet demand from clients who themselves are increasing their global reach.

The ASSOCHAM study says that over 100 agencies, including large ones with 10-15 branches pan India such as Adfactors PR, Perfect Relations, Genesis and Vaishnavi, or medium-size ones with 4-5 branches and smaller city-specific PR agencies, who function as affiliates of global PR companies. Additionally, ASSOCHAM says industry specific agencies such as Text100, 20:20 and Imprimis who cater to specific needs of the IT and healthcare companies.

PR is being used as a supplement to advertising, as part of an integrated and effective communications strategy, primarily because at times advertising does not suffice in communicating the exact message. PR services not only help in communicating the message, but can also help in generating a response.

ASSOCHAM says that with the scorching pace of growth, agencies are facing an acute shortage of trained manpower, which is reflected in the 30-35 per cent hike in top-level salaries that the sector has witnessed over the last one year. Compounding the problem are attrition rates touching 30-40 per cent.

Jet Airways hires RC&A and BBS to handle Southeast Asia PR

2008-02-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Jet Airways has appointed Rick Clements & Associates (RC&A) and Baldwin Boyle Shand (BBS) to handle its PR activity in Southeast Asia, reports PRWeek.

Rick Clements, who was VP of public affairs for Singapore Airlines, and BBS, which also has experience with SIA as a client, have a brief to create greater exposure for the Jet Airways brand in the region.

“We are delighted to join Jet Airways at such an exciting time in their development. This is an airline that is really expanding fast and we look forward to help increase its public awareness in the region,” said Piet de Jong, General Manager of BBS.

Gerry Oh, Regional Vice President, Southeast Asia, Jet Airways, said: “Both Rick Clements and BBS collectively have a wealth of experience in helping to positively build the profile of a global aviation brand. Such experience will be invaluable to help increase and build the profile of Jet Airways as one of the fastest growing premium international airlines.”

Ameer Ismail on LINOpinion’s plans, future of PR in India

2008-02-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

LINOpinion is rapidly moving towards a systems and knowledge driven approach. “In the world of high clutter, high competition and technological parity, it is the idea, and the level of engagement and loyalty that differentiates,” says Ameer Ismail, President, LINOpinion, Advent & Lintertainment in an interview with exchange4media. “Customised solutions rather than standard transactions will mark a key turning point. Measurement and accountability will be the buzzwords of tomorrow."

Ismail says “PR has come of age, and the profession is stable and credible and growing at a healthy rate of 30 per cent per annum. Independent players are increasingly being acquired by global PR firms – consolidation is the buzzword. Conversely, Indian PR agencies are into an aggressive expansion mode and now increasingly have an international footprint. As we go forward, I see three key developments. Our talent will integrate seamlessly into world markets, and PR agencies will increasingly become knowledge driven. It will not be too far in the future before PR agencies in India are used as a content outsourcing hub for international PR agencies.”

Rise of corporate communications executive

2008-01-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

A study released today identifies a strong correlation between a company’s corporate communications organization and the company’s ranking on Fortune magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list. Specifically, the study finds that the professional background, communications priorities, and inter-organizational relationships of the executive who leads the company’s corporate communications department – commonly referred to as the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) – are all meaningful indicators of the ability of a corporate communications organization to make a positive impact on a company’s reputation.

The survey, ‘The Rising CCO’, compares responses from communications officers in the “world’s most admired companies” with those in “contender companies” (generally, most admired companies are the most highly ranked companies in an industry on overall reputation; contender companies are ranked in the industry’s bottom half). The 141 survey participants were top corporate communications executives from Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Europe.

The survey, which was conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRC Research, examines the changing role of today’s CCO.

“In a fast-paced and dynamic business environment, communications officers are increasingly seen as a business partner for the CEO and leadership team in the stewardship of a company’s reputation,” said George Jamison, Corporate Communications Practice Leader at Spencer Stuart. “CCOs are expected to create value and mitigate risks for the corporation by developing innovative strategies to proactively communicate with a company’s myriad stakeholders.”

The research found that communications executives in the world’s most highly regarded companies have more prominent organizational status and longer tenures than their counterparts in contender companies. Additionally, approximately one-third of CCOs from the most admired companies cite corporate reputation as their number one priority for 2008, compared to fewer than one-quarter of CCOs from contender companies (34 vs. 21 percent, respectively). Contender company communications executives said they were spending more time working on product-related issues and crisis communications, while most admired CCOs said they spent more time on corporate social responsibility and building corporate reputation.

“Our research identifies how the corporate communications function can be a critical force in driving a company’s reputation in good times and bad,” said Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist at Weber Shandwick and leading corporate and CEO reputation expert. “With the right organizational structure and partnership at the top, the best CCOs can significantly contribute to building shareholder value and corporate reputation.”

Other key findings are:

CCOs’ responsibilities will increasingly shift from tactical to strategic. While CCOs are carving out their role as strategic partners at the highest levels of business, they view work today as predominately tactical (58 percent tactical, 42 percent strategic). This imbalance, as reported by those surveyed, is sure to change as focus shifts from financial communications, media relations and internal communications to the broader strategic issues of environmental/ social responsibility and corporate reputation. The tools used to perform their jobs will expand as well, with blogging/social media and corporate Web sites becoming increasingly important.

CCOs hold prominent positions at the world’s largest companies. Nearly one-half surveyed report directly to the chief executive officer (48 percent) and are visible to their boards (had a median seven interactions with their board during the past year).

CCOs and CMOs are friends and rivals. CCOs’ dynamic relationship with chief marketing officers (CMOs) – often a main rival and ally – reflects the growing influence of communications in today’s marketing mix.

Measurement of CCO effectiveness is predominately qualitative. The vast majority of those surveyed report being measured on qualitative measures such as “positive” media coverage (75 percent) and CEOs’ “gut” feel (73 percent). They are least likely to be measured by quantitative metrics such as the number of media mentions (35 percent) and ability to control costs (32 percent).

Advertising and media: Lintas Media Guide 2008

2008-01-17T04:38:00.000-08:00

Lintas Media Group has launched its annual offering Lintas Media Guide 2008, according to exchange4media.

Lynn de Souza, Director, Media Services, Lintas Media Group, said, “There are some surprises in store – ad spends have grown by a mere 3.5 per cent in 2007 over 2006, reaching a figure of Rs 17,356 crore, largely due to a fall of 1 per cent in TV expenditure, with large advertisers moving into more cost-effective channels, slots and durations. With increasing media reach amongst the rural masses and the urban youth shying away from mass media, 2008 is set to offer enormous advertising opportunities as well as tremendous challenges.”

The Guide studies all genres – television, print, radio, Internet, cinema and outdoor – giving a break-up of the media environment and general media industry trends of the previous year. Covering more than 28 states and seven Union Territories, the Guide is an all-inclusive take on the Indian media industry and players.

While print continued to hold major share with 50 per cent of the total media spends with Rs 8,591 crore, Internet as a means of advertising saw an increase in ad spends of 43 per cent compared to last year, reaching Rs 215 crore. Radio, cinema, and outdoors, on the other hand, capitalised on innovations and saw an increase of 28 per cent, 16 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, reaching figures of Rs 529 crore, Rs 194 crore and Rs 1,062 crore, respectively. TV ad revenues showed a decline of 0.8 per cent at Rs 6,766 crore as a result of competitive pricing offered by general entertainment channels (GECs) to retain their market share.

In television, with the number of channels likely to touch as many as 500 in the next two years, television as an industry is growing at a dynamic pace.

In print, with literacy levels rising to 551 million people in India, more people in rural and urban areas are reading newspapers and magazines today. Current estimates reveal that the reach of print media in India has increased to 316 million people. Print media is also the favourite segment for global investors with maximum foreign investment in this segment.

The highlight of 2007 for the radio medium was launch of several new channels, especially in tier II and III towns. Of the total amount spent on ads in India, radio is estimated to have a share of 3 per cent in 2007. This share is expected to rise to 5 per cent during 2008-09.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the out-of-home industry is expected to rise from Rs 1,000 crore in the present year to Rs 2,150 crore in 2010, with a growth rate of 17 per cent.

Internet is one medium which has grown by leaps and bounds amongst the emerging media category. Besides the obvious, that is, the increasing number of PC households, factors such as awareness of Internet as a tool for empowerment has led to the expansion. Also, several one-time non-communication applications like exam results and e-ticketing have encouraged the less affluent to be on the Internet. Initiatives like National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) should increase the usage amongst lower SECs in the next two years. In terms of advertising, the revenues have grown by 43 per cent.

Burson-Marsteller Worldwide CEO’s bestseller on Microtrends

2008-01-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

Mint reports :

Mark J. Penn, Worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller, has spent more than 30 years as an adviser and polling analyst to large companies and heads of state including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and business leaders such as Bill Gates.

In his best-seller Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Today’s Big Changes, Penn discusses how the real trends wielding a large influence on society today and tomorrow are small patterns of behaviour involving as little as 1% of the population.

He identifies more than 70 microtrends in religion, leisure, politics and family life that are changing our lives: how people are retiring by continuing to work; why the most influential millionaires are the most shy; how new geeks are the most sociable people around.

For instance, in the chapter Neglected Dads, he writes, “Men are spending more time with the kids, but neither Madison Avenue nor the media has picked up on it, and the potential of daddy-and-me relationships remains untapped…” The book has been published by Penguin India.

UK PM ropes in Brunswick Group CEO

2008-01-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Downing Street has announced that Stephen Carter, Group Chief Executive of Brunswick Group LLP and former Chief Executive of OFCOM, has been appointed to the new post of Chief of Strategy and Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Brunswick is amongst the largest and most powerful financial communications consultancies in the world.

Carter, 43, will be the Principal Special Advisor in No 10 and will be in charge of Political Strategy Communications and Research and the Policy Unit at No. 10 Downing Street, reporting directly to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

"I am delighted that Stephen Carter has accepted my invitation to join the Downing Street team as we build on our programme of reform and pursue an ambitious legislative programme,” said Brown. “As both a Chief Executive and industry regulator, he has an enviable track record in the private and public sectors, and will bring his considerable qualities and experience to the work of government".

Mr Carter's appointment follows a career in which he became the first Chief Executive of OFCOM, the communications regulator, and previously as Chief Executive of advertising agency J Walter Thompson, as well as cable group NTL and then Brunswick Group LLP.

Mr Carter, who will stand down as Chief Executive of Brunswick Group with immediate effect, said: "It is an honour to be asked to work with the Prime Minister and the Downing Street team, and I will do my utmost to make a difference to effective government."

Kersy Katrak passes away

2008-01-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

Anand Halve, co-founder, Chlorophyll Brand & Communication, writes in agencyfaqs:

Kersy Katrak passed away last Friday, and I lost a guru and a dear friend. But when I told some people that I had received an SMS from Maia, Kersy’s daughter, that he was no more, many of them asked, “Who was Kersy Katrak?”

It is the tragedy of an industry that does not celebrate its heroes, that does not archive their work, nor document their contributions, that such a question was asked.
What does one say about a man who was an icon for advertising people from the 1960s to the 1990s? That he was a poet, a writer, a philosopher, a copywriter par excellence, and the founder of MCM (Mass Communication and Marketing), the advertising agency that has been the training ground for most of the leaders of the Indian advertising industry over the last four decades?

He was all of these, of course. But most of all, he was the father of creative advertising in India.

Read the full write-up in agencyfaqs

Burson-Marsteller’s Rylance on Indian PR

2007-12-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

“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?

2007-12-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

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.

PR Newswire plans India expansion

2007-12-14T23:17:00.000-08:00

United Business Media Plc’s PR Newswire is expanding its business in Dubai, India and Scandinavia.

PR Newswire's European business performed better than the company's plan, and revenue in China more than doubled from 2006, writes Alex Armitage in Bloomberg.

The company, which also publishes Information Week, said second-half revenue will increase 6 per cent to 7 per cent, helped by ``strong'' sales at its PR Newswire unit and exhibition services.

United Business Media Chief Executive Officer David Levin is reducing dependence on magazine and classified ad sales by expanding exhibitions, distribution and business-information units.

Genesis Burson-Marsteller’s tie-ups with WPP’s BKSH, Quinn Gillespie

2007-12-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

exchange4media reports:

Genesis Burson-Marsteller has announced strategic alliances with WPP group companies BKSH & Associates Worldwide and Quinn Gillespie & Associates to offer global public affairs capability to companies in India. The practice draws upon an international network of public affairs professionals to offer integrated multi-market public affairs campaigns across Washington, Brussels, Hong Kong, China and India.

The alliances were announced by Howard Paster, Executive Vice-President, Public Relations/ Public Affairs at WPP Group. Emphasising the importance of these partnerships, Paster said, “It will act as a two-way bridge to help our international clients ably navigate regulatory environment and policy developments seamlessly across international markets.”

“Our team of experts, who have decades of experience of working with the government, help companies understand the emerging and often complex regulatory and policy issues that impact their business,” said Prema Sagar, Principal and Founder, Genesis Burson-Marsteller. “As Indian companies compete in international markets, our principal partnership with BKSH and alliance with QGA will further strengthen our ability to provide valuable counsel and reach,” she added.

“We help companies find business solutions for a range of issues, including foreign direct investment, policy and regulatory affairs, through our campaign framework methodology. Using Constellation, our proprietary tool, we also help companies engage with a complex set of stakeholders,” explained Ashwani Singla, CEO, Genesis Burson-Marsteller.

Can global PR giants succeed in India?

2007-12-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

“How big is the Indian PR market?”

“Can global PR agencies succeed in India?”

“Are there enough margins to attract global giants in PR to India?”

These questions have been doing the rounds in the Indian PR industry as rumours persist about the imminent entry more agencies of top networks like Omnicom, WPP and Publicis. Also waiting in the wings are several leading independent agencies, according to the grapevine.

APCO, which is the 18th largest global PR firm with revenues of $ 81.84 million in 2006, launched its operations in India recently.

The India PR industry might still be smaller than APCO’s global operations. The Indian corporates might still be reluctant to pay the kind of fees APCO commands globally. But more agencies like Fleishman-Hillard (launched their operations in India) and Manning Selvage & Lee (announced the acquistion of their Indian partner recently) are entering India.

With the arrival of such giants, 15 of the top 20 global PR agencies have a presence in India (either their own operations or have tie-up with Indian agencies) even as the debate on the questions raised at the beginning of this post continue.

It is not difficult to find answers to such questions, especially because of one’s experience in a global network agency as also a top Indian PR agency.

Watch this space for some interesting updates.

PR a noble profession today: M V Kamat

2007-09-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

Renowned journalist and Prasar Bharati Chairman, Dr M V Kamat has said public relations commands respect today as a noble profession like journalism.

PR is meant not just to sell a concept or an idea, but to educate, enlighten and empower the masses, he has said.

In his key-note address at the inauguration of Manipal chapter of Public Relation Council of India, Dr Kamat has said Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi were India's 'two great PR experts'.

Presiding over the function, Manipal University Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr H S Balla announced that a diploma course in public relations would commence at the Manipal Institute of Communication from the next academic year.

Marketing services: Growth of advertising, PR and other sectors in India

2007-08-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Saurabh Turakhia writes in Hindustan Times

“At current prices, India’s gross domestic product was about $814 billion (over Rs 32 lakh crore) in 2006. At a growth rate of 9 per cent, that would mean that Indians would be buying or selling new goods or services worth nearly Rs 3 lakh crore in the current year…

“In a globalised environment, every aspect of marketing services is acquiring depth and sophistication. To work on that, the industry needs a variety of skills. You would agree that grabbing the attention of consumers in an economy that has almost 300 television channels, thousands of magazines, newspapers and other emerging media is indeed a challenging task.

“Of all the tools of the trade — that is, segments of marketing services — advertising has evolved a lot in recent times. Most global communications groups like WPP, Omnicom, IPG are buying out companies in India and taking greater control of the buoyant market. A survey by FICCI and PricewaterhouseCoopers this year said that this evolving and consolidating sector grew 23 per cent in 2006 to Rs 16,300 crore.

“With the growing importance of online media, knowledge about the domain would also be a plus. Even mobile phones and gaming consoles are now part of the media business. According to FICCI and PwC, India’s Internet advertising industry is set to post a compounded annual growth rate of 43 per cent till 2010, it would touch Rs 950 crore.

“The television industry is projected to grow by 22 per cent to Rs 51,900 crore by 2011; print media by 13 per cent from Rs 12,800 crore to Rs 23,200 crore; radio by 28 per cent from Rs 500 crore to Rs. 1,700 crore and out-of-home advertising by 17 per cent from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,150 crore.

“An emerging area is that of sports marketing, where tournaments and celebrities are used to promote brands. Celebrity management agencies, model coordinators and direct marketing agencies are also part of the industry. Novelty and innovation are the needs of the day, whichever way you look.”

Global PR agencies ‘unable to go much beyond media relations’ in India

2007-08-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Vasudha Jha, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, says in an interview:

“Multi-national PR firms also have to operate in our current communications environment, and though they have plenty of ideas and the necessary expertise, they are really unable to go much beyond media relations. I really do not think that they have been able to develop the industry; or even bring it on a common platform and make the necessary effort to help it evolve to the next stage…

“In the earlier days, corporate communicators played a one-sided role of external communicators, and primarily one of media relations. Today, as Indian companies are becoming bigger and global, cultural integration of diverse teams has become the critical factor in a company's success. Internal communications is as strong a driving force in managing perception of a company as is communication with external stakeholders, industry and the media.

“It is the responsibility of the corporate communicator to keep various teams together and ensure that the vision of the leadership team is imbibed throughout the organization, making it imperative for the whole organization to pull together in the same direction. Hence, in the new paradigm of business, the corporate communicator becomes a means for a company to manage perceptions and relationships, with internal as well as external audiences.”

Adfactors PR is 3rd fastest growing consultancy in world

2007-08-04T01:13:00.000-07:00

Adfactors PR is among the top three fastest growing public relations consultancies in the world, according to The Holmes Report, one of the most authoritative journals of the public relations industry.

According to the Report, Adfactors PR is the fastest growing public relations consultancy in Asia.

Adfactors PR registered a growth of 83% for the financial year ended March 2006. Only two global agencies were ahead of Adfactors PR in the Holmes Report’s first global ranking of public relations firms: the UK’s Tonic Life Communications (95%) and the USA’s 5W Public Relations (85%).

The study says the $7 billion global PR industry, employing over 50,000 people, grew by 8.5% annually.

The rankings were based on the responses submitted by 300 consultancies across the globe.

Public relations & God

2007-08-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

“God is my PR (public relations manager), and it is God who I love,” sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has told Kukum Chadha of The Hindustan Times.

Jagannathan takes reins at DNA

2007-06-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

R Jagannathan, Business Editor of DNA and Editor of DNA Money, has been promoted as the paper's Managing Editor. The appointment was made two months after Gautam Adhikari’s resignation as DNA’s Editor in April.

Jagannathan was earlier a Senior Associate Editor of Business Standard and Editor of Businessworld and The Financial Express. He was also the founding Editor of Business Today.

Pam’s awe-inspiring Innovation Communications

2007-06-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

“I think the future is really in digital PR,” says Pam Edstrom, Executive Vice President and Partner of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE).

Pam was in Mumbai recently to announce WE’s tie-up with Adfactors Public Relations.

“The media (in the US) model is changing; today everything is being migrated onto the Internet,” she says. “I think there are enormous opportunities for public relations through this. The question is how to tell the story today, when a picture says a thousand words whereas a video says a million words. There was a time when everyone used to have fixed deadlines. Today things have changed, and it is much more dynamic. We are not tied down; anyone can break a certain story anywhere in the world.”

Pam, who is the principal strategic advisor for WE’s Innovation Communications, recounted a classic example of her work. “For the promotion of IE 7 (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7), we invited around 12 bloggers for dinner, who were all extremely interested in knowing about the Microsoft software. We told them about the website from where they could download the new IE 7. Within the next few days, we found that the number of downloads for IE 7 had shot up tremendously.”

Tomorrow’s PR agencies

2006-10-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sumita Patra reports in exchange4media

The final day of the ICCO Global Summit in New Delhi delved into issues confronting tomorrow’s public relations firms. The morning session focused on ‘Tomorrow’s Public Relations Firm: Capabilities and Service’.

Paul Holmes, President and CEO, The Holmes Group, chaired the discussion. The panel had Helen Ostrowski, CEO, Porter Novelli and Aedhmar Hynes, CEO, Text 100 as speakers.

Holmes underlined the need for having holistic strategy. “We need to deliver beyond traditional media relations,” he said. He also stressed on the need for globalisation.

Hynes made a presentation on ‘Agency of the Future’. “We need to have a global mentality which is all about having the best skill set and the best resources that we need,” she said.

Talking about the criticality of the adaptability factor, Ostrowski said it is important to have a different roadmap, formulate a new approach to risk-taking, focus on value proposition and have have diverse people on board.

Another session of the day deliberated on the topic of ‘Measurement: Our Holy Grail’. The session was chaired by David Gallagher, Partner and CEO, Ketchum, London, and had Peter Verrengia, Regional President and Senior Partner, Flieshman-Hillard Inc, and Managing Director, Communications Consulting Worldwide, as the main speakers.

PR pros should ‘monitor and engage’ bloggers

2006-10-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

Asit Ranjan Mishra reports in exchange4media

What should consumer brands and PR agencies do in an environment where they don’t have control over discussions happening on the Internet about their brands and clients? “Monitor and engage,” feel the experts.

On the last day of the ICCO global PR conference in New Delhi, speakers called on PR professionals to carefully monitor the user-generated content of online users.

Christopher Graves, President, Asia Pacific, Ogilvy PR, said that consumers now put their reviews on products online and shared it through social networking sites like MySpace, blogs, photo-sharing sites like Flickr, tagging sites like del.icio.us, video sharing sites like YouTube and podcasting.

“We not only need to monitor them but also explore how best we can engage with them,” Graves observed.

Describing a common Indian Internet user, Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder & CEO, Rediff.com, said, “It is wrong to assume that only IT professionals are active on the social networking sites. The common Internet user is young within the age category of 15-35 years.”

“Tracking sites like Technorati and Flickr could be of great help to PR professionals,” Esther Dyson, Editor, Release 1.0, for CNET Networks said.

Why youngsters steer clear of PR

2006-09-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Carson Dalton, Senior Manager, Public Relations, IDEA Cellular, tells exchange4media:

Yes, PR does not yet seem to be a popular career choice amongst youngsters.

PR is a lot of hard work, the hours are not restricted. As such, there seems to be a trend for an easier life these days with the younger folk. As PR professionals, the challenge is to make this career more sexy and we are attempting to do that.

Blogging and HR

2006-09-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

India Inc is using blogs to brand themselves as ‘great employers’, reports Shreya Biswas in The Economic Times.

Among the Indian entities doing this are JWT, Frito-Lay and Motorola.

By October 2006, JWT’s blog would up. “We didn’t want to be left behind and miss out on this highly interactive medium, which can get in touch with an extremely active talent,” says Sapna Srivastava, HR Head, JWT India.

Fritolay India will have a similar blog in two months. A brainchild of the company’s HR head, Abhijit Bhaduri, it will seek to attract job seekers, among other things.

PR for PR

2006-09-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Financial PR pro Ted Pincus has said in odwyerpr.com:

Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic, Publicis, Havas and PRSA – PR's five largest employers and PR's primary professional association – must support openness to combat critics of PR.

Gear up for the New Media explosion

2006-08-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

“Watch out! The New Media is seeing a spectacular rise!” That message has been loud and clear in several posts of this blog as also the one on Digital Communications.

The New Media explosion is round the corner, if the NRS findings are any indication.

”NRS revealed that the number of homes taking up cable and satellite connections is on the rise,” agencyfaqs reports. “For instance, the number of C&S households has increased to 6.8 crore from 6.1 crore last year. The connectivity in homes are also on the rise, be it in the form of computers, laptops, mobile phones or Internet. In fact, today there are more than 2.62 crore homes with mobile owners, which is a huge number compared to 0.66 crore last year.

“An important inference, therefore, is that consumers today access content from whichever medium that is available to them in the depth they need and at the time, manner and place they want. Media consumption habits have also changed over time. Readership of dailies, viewership of television, listenership of radio and mobile usage are all on the rise, whereas cinema viewing and magazine readership have declined across India over the last year.

“Looking at the overall mass media reach, it appears that the reach of conventional media such as press and television is narrowing down and other media (mobile, Internet, and radio) reach is on the surge.

”Another interesting aspect was NSRC and AC Nielsen’s finding on media reach in various age groups in SEC AB: the most active media consumers are individuals in the 20-24 age group. They have identified five segments within SEC AB 20-24 individuals based on their varied media habits and affluence – Hi flying Metrosexual, Effervescent Info seeker, Me Too Cult, New Age Woman and Small Town Conservative. And among this segment of consumers, it is seen that the reach of other media is almost close to 90 per cent.”

Professionals in the media and communications sectors should watch these developments closely and gear up for the challenges before it is too late. As for public relations, the focus will be on New PR.

Power of new PR

2006-08-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

From the West to the East to the Middle East…, the prophecies are getting bolder. The New Media will rule the roost, several experts have been predicting.

“People are talking about New PR,” says Alexander McNabb in CampaignME. “And no, it's not a reaffirmation of PR with added truth or something daft like that. New PR is about using the new communications techniques of today's world, the web and mail, RSS, blogs and wikis.”

Make no mistake. As we have been discussing in this blog, technology is bringing about radical changes in message delivery and reception. Unless we wake up now, our message will have no medium.

Ethical reasoning: PR professionals score high

2006-08-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

A study on ethical reasoning ranked PR professionals at number six -- behind seminarians and philosophers, medical students, practicing physicians, journalists and dental students and ahead of nurses, graduate students, undergraduate students, accounting students, veterinary students and Navy enlisted men.

The study had been conducted by journalism professors Lee Wilkins and Renita Coleman. They interviewed 129 PR pros at PR firms in the US in recent months, according to Jack O’Dwyer of www.odwyerpr.com.

At the bottom, ranking 15 to 19 were business professionals, business students, high school students, prison inmates and junior high students.
Seminarians/ philosophers had an ethical reasoning score of 65.1 while PR pros registered 46.2% and prison inmates 23.7.

Edelman quits Council of PR Firms

2006-08-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Edelman, the largest independent PR firm, has quit the Council of PR Firms.

“We have the utmost respect for our competitors that remain members of Council,” says Richard Edelman in his blog. “We have an abiding and shared interest in the issues facing the PR industry, from diversity to ethics. However, we disagree with the Council on a few fundamental points. Nevertheless, we will continue to be advocates for the PR industry to help all of us achieve the full potential of the business.

In India, Edelman has a tie-up with Roger Pereira.

PRattle

2006-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

Omnicom, the world’s largest communications group, controls global PR giants like Fleishman-Hillard, Ketchum, Porter Novelli and Brodeur. Yet Omnicom CEO CEO John Wren does not seem to think much of PR.

Wren has been drawing flak for ‘ducking the press’. According to New York Post financial columnist Christopher Byron, he has given only three interviews in four years.

Wren himself said he rejected advice from his PR firms after the June 12, 2002 Wall Street articles on Omnicom’s accounting practices, according to Jack O’Dwyer of www.odwyerpr.com