Prema Sagar is among the thought leaders in the Indian PR industry and Principal & Founder of Genesis PR , one of India's leading PR consultancy. Here in an interview with exchange4media for the innagural section of PR Speak she shares interesting developments and thoughts on PR prcatices in India and her own philosophy towards this discipline.

Principal & Founder Genesis PR

Prema is also Founding President of the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI); National Chair for India of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), UK; Member, ICCO, Board of Management; Member. Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) and an alumna of the Frank Jefkins Institute of Public Relations, U.K.

Prema's love affair with public relations mirrors the journey of PR in India. Intrigued by the mystery of a new business opportunity, Prema established Genesis PR in November 1992, which today has grown into a leading public relations consultancy in India. Prior to setting up Genesis PR, Prema was Editor-Publisher of Genesis - The City Guide, travel magazines for Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. She also co-founded Genesis Printers, a printing unit located in New Delhi.
The challenge of winning a communication battle while understanding complex issues in a business environment rife with inherent contradictions and intricacies is what Prema thrives on.
The recent formation of The Genesis School of Communication is the culmination of a desire to benchmark and cultivate knowledge and expertise in the Indian communication industry with the best in the world.
With the exploding need for communication in a cluttered environment, public relations and other arenas of communication will require talent that can compete with the best around the world. The School will seek to provide development opportunities to create a talent pool in India.
Genesis Foundation, a trust created for facilitating treatment of physically challenged orphans, is the core of Prema's life's mission. Prema has pledged to dedicate all available resources towards achieving her perennial desire in making a difference. Genesis PR contributes a portion of its net profit to Genesis Foundation's corpus.
Prema is married to Jyoti, a lawyer (she has never won an argument to date!) and they have three children. Rahul, 23, is academically inclined while daughter Simran, 16, is creative and wonders why she has to study math! Sir Lawrence Olivier, 8, (a yellow Labrador) is the favoured kid - he obeys all commands, doesn't question instructions or argue, and eats everything that's put in his plate - including spinach!

The statement that 'reputation is based on behaviour' is certainly true, however for behaviour to lead to a relationship of trust with company stakeholders, it needs to communicated or demonstrated in the context of the attitudes, beliefs and relevant needs of the companies stakeholders.

Public Relations helps establish and nurture 'trust' by creating a bridge whereby companies actions are clearly understood.

Differentiation lies in the mind of the user. We undertake extensive research to not only measure customer satisfaction but customer expectations. This research shows two or three clear differentiations:

• Professional ethics in the conduct of our business
• Intellectual depth of the people at Genesis PR
• Strong system orientation resulting in consistency of service
• High focus on learning and development of people

One billion people. Seven hundred and eighty million consumers of cooking oil. Seven hundred and six million consumers of tea. Four hundred and fifty million buyers of casual footwear. Forty million TV-owners. Two-and-a-quarter million automobile-owners. A.k.a. a market called India. Changing far too quickly, despite its size, the most important learning either in its dimensions or its behaviour is that the Indian market does not reveal its secrets easily. It has always got some surprises up its sleeve that communicators should be wary of while designing any campaigns.

A crisis is defined as a problem in the public domain which has bearing on the reputation or continuity. Every individual, government, organisation faces a range of challenges that can escalate into the public domain at any time. Managements must be on constant alert and prepared to respond to any and all the serious issues that could, under the glare of public and media scrutiny, damage corporate, product or personal reputations.

Hence the need for crisis preparedness is even more critical than a crisis management programme. If every body is aware of all likely crises that may face them, then they are that much better prepared for an eventuality. A high level of preparedness could advert the crisis altogether. Like weather, crisis cannot be predicted. But one can be prepared for the eventuality and make arrangements to act in the right way, at the right time.

Ethics, how much ever subjective it might be, are sacrosanct for any business. The same holds true for public relations and indeed any professional service firm. The action or inaction of a group of individuals in Arthur Andersen led to the destruction a long-admired company and along with it many individuals lost face, jobs and who knows what else. The slightest compromise on this most important value can harm the credibility of a PR firm and its clients irrevocably.

1. Conflict of interest pertains to the intention to work with more than one company competing in the marketplace. Usually this aspect is covered in a client contract and so therefore the issue should not arise. A public relations firm must necessarily disclose and take permission from its existing client if it intends to engage in discussions with a potential client that may be in conflict in any way at all.
   I must add here that internationally there are specialist PR firms say in the area of Financial PR. They represent a number of financial institutions. Here there is a clear understanding that they will not take a head-on competitor of an existing client and the client will accommodate smaller conflicts. However, in this case such a PR firm would charge an exclusivity fee for its dedication.

2. Conflict also pertains to the representation of both sides of an issue. Example: if a public relations firm represents a company that is lobbying with the government on a policy issue, we should be clear that the same firm cannot represent the government in that area of conflict.

PR is not a lone soldier. It is a part of the strategy mix of an organisation - be it at the corporate or marketing level. It is but one of the many communication channels to be used in building a fact-based opinion of various stakeholders of the company.

The partnership is part of Genesis PR's core strategy to provide clients and associates the best in public relations services and global opportunities.

Measurability. The campaign should be able to show tangible results. Do only what can be measured. If it can be measured, think again.

The fundamental premise for this is "anything that cannot be measured cannot be managed". So also is a PR initiative. If it cannot be measured, then the tangibility and the success of the initiative cannot be measured. There are new measurement tools, already prevalent in the West that is slowly trickling in into India. We are planning to use a few of them, while simultaneously develops some of them in-house.

Every PR firm has a unique offering. And there is always something new to learn - innovation is key to success in this business.

Consolidate on what we have achieved till now as an organization. Build greater value for our clients. But there are still more surprises around the corner. The insatiable desire to build value, value and more value for our clients and ourselves!

Governments need very clear goals and commitment to meeting them. And these need to be communicated clearly to all its constituents. Whatever they do will undoubtedly impact the future of many people, companies and indeed progress of the country as a whole.

Governments world over are communicating more aggressively and building faith banks that sees them through not only the good time but more importantly during difficult times. USA used the 9/11 episode as a time to build national spirit through a very well-orchestrated, deliberate, planned programme through symbolism and communication.

"Today the choice is not about whether you wish to communicate or not. It is about whether you would like to manage or shape the communications rather than let it happen on its own."

Companies need to achieve their business objectives. They will have to communicate at one level with their corporate audience and at another level with their customers. The art of building a corporate reputation helps in building goodwill for the company, which in itself translates into building trust and confidence in an organization. This then enhances the faith and commitment of shareholders and builds loyalty with customers.

"Gone are the days when you could control information. The barometer is about whether you were able to use the opportunity or news in your favour before someone else used it against you. Being proactive and transparent is the name of the game."

There is no doubt that in India, rural PR is critical in reaching the masses. If we cannot reach the masses, we have not succeeded as they form a large base in our country. They will go up the food chain and are our potential market from the time they begin to buy food, soap, clothes, consumer goods etc. They have very strong views driven by simplicity of experience - quality and service; they belong to different regions with different cultures, barriers and needs -if we don't understand them, our competitor will; they are our customers now and for the future, they have strong loyalties. How we communicate with them today will determine how we succeed in business.