Director - Corporate Communications

Richly experienced in brand marketing and corporate communication in O&M, Wockhard, SmithKline Beecham, Raymonds etc, the once high-level cricketer is now Director, Corporate Communications, Ranbaxy.

In this issue of PR Speak, Paresh Chaudhry, Director, Corporate Communications, Ranbaxy talks to Jasmeen Dugal about the differences in global and regional corporate communication, how Ranbaxy promotes OTC products, and the role of corporate communications in portraying Ranbaxy as a research-driven pharmaceutical company.

Corporate Communications is the window and face of any organization. Its importance gets all the more critical and serious for a company like Ranbaxy having ground presence in twenty-five countries and spread across most of the major world markets. And in an inter-connected global village gunning for real-time information, one has to be on-line twenty-four hours, which defines the importance.

Media, Investors, Government, Suppliers, Agencies, Employees, NGO's, Business community and other corporates, Key Opinion Leaders - essentially all stakeholders.

Revital, Pepfiz, Gesdyp, Garlic Pearls. The products are promoted through a separate business division, Ranbaxy Global Consumer Healthcare (RGCH), through FMCG distribution network set up specifically for this purpose. Consumer communication is done through television campaigns and outdoor mediums.

We have positioned Ranbaxy as an Indian MNC with strong presence in all the major markets worldwide with a focus on generics and research, and with a mission to become a research-based International pharmaceutical company.

Our role is primarily to keep all concerned audience, both internal and external, informed on the company's progress both in research and its activites across the globe. The company has a strong media policy in place to streamline the flow of information.

Global media relationship plays a major role in building the credibility, which is given immense importance. Information sharing, both proactive and reactive is a continuous process. Besides various communication tools like corporate multimedia CD, website, annual report, brochures, newsletters, corporate exhibits and investors, shareholders, government, NGO and key opinion leaders, the management is leveraged in portraying the right face of Ranbaxy.

Depending upon the audience we deal with, the customized information is shared. As an example, shareholders will be interested in the company's overall progress and the shareholders return; investors on the financials, media on the company's present and future prospects and overview, in exhibitions the business opportunities available etc.

We do not have a media agency. At Ranbaxy it is in-house. We have a team of six headed by myself as Director-Corporate Communications managing Ranbaxy's global image building exercise. This way there is direct interface between our target audience and my team, and no room for any delayed timelines. This is appreciated by the media and investors.

Hence the task of building perception is left purely through the company's media management and performance. Our's is a purely knowledge driven and continuous information flow, coaching and "lay-man" understanding communication job and needs time to build relationships.