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"Public relations over the years in the western markets have seen PR firms identifying their verticals with specialised resources and teams to cater to the specific niches… The PR industry in India is still media led and has the traditional approach. The expectation from PR is to deliver media coverage, while PR goes beyond media and editorial visibility. Over a period, Rediffusion Public Relations has been working towards changing the perception of PR and expectations of the clients to go beyond just media mileage."
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Group President, Rediffusion Y&R PR and CEO, Showdiff Worldwide |
Lokesh Tiwary, an Economics Major from Delhi University, began his career in advertising with Enterprise Nexus in 1990. Over the course of the next 14 years, he rose to the position of Vice President of the agency’s Delhi branch and worked on diverse businesses such as Sony India, General Motors, Oracle, Tata Tea, LML, Glaxo Smithline, Fedders, Usha International, Khaitan Fans, Dabur, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Radico Khaitan.
In August of 2004, Tiwary made a lateral move within the agency group to become President of Enterprise Public Relations. He joined Rediffusion Y&R Public Relations as Group President in February 2006. In November 2008, he was assigned additional responsibilities of CEO of Showdiff Worldwide, the event management and activation arm of the Rediffusion Y&R Group, to create better synergies between Public Relations and Activation.
In conversation with exchange4media’s Puneet Bedi Bahri, Tiwary talks about the key communication plank for Rediffusion PR and the outlook of PR industry in India and globally. |
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How do you think the PR industry has evolved over the years? |
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PR has come a long way in terms of its evolution and is still going through various stages of growth in the Indian market. The early days saw PR as the prerogative of the public sector, where the liasion/PR officer handled the media relations. With the advent of multinationals, large corporates started off their corporate communication cells and there has been an influx of international agencies. Over the years, clients have begun to look at PR as a cost effective way of creating saliency. And as a result, most PR programmes focused their energies on ensuring that their clients are ‘in the news’. In a nutshell, the approach has been merely media relations.
With increasing parity between products and the omnipresence of advertising, consumers are increasingly becoming wary of advertising claims. Today’s consumers don’t want to be ‘sold to’ something that advertising does incessantly. They surf the web, follow blogs and compare notes. They want information so that they can make their own thought out purchase decisions. And this is where PR plays its greatest role.
Going forward, social media is bringing a paradigm shift as a new media where PR is gaining importance as a strategic communication tool to influence its target audience.
In terms of growth, as per Assocham’s recent study, Brand building, Image Management, Public Sector, and CSR are emerging as the growth areas.
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How has the slowdown impacted Rediffusion? |
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The current economic downturn has impacted the industry and the slowdown has made it challenging for managing the businesses. However, our clients continue to see the value of PR as a booster, especially in these times. We are happy to see that PR remains an integral part of their communication plans and shines out as a cost effective tool in their marketing support budgets.
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| Q. |
Essentially, what is the key communication plank for Rediffusion PR? How has the growth of Rediffusion PR been this year so far? |
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Rediffusion PR has the distinct advantage of being a part of a large communication group, and this allows us to provide integrated communication solutions to our clients. Our team comprises talent from several domains, including journalism and advertising, and so the perspective we are able to provide to our clients is rather unique.
As a company, we have witnessed a healthy growth in terms of client wins, and in fact, 2008 was the best year this far for Rediffusion PR in terms of top line growth. 2008 also saw us managing our attrition rates very well, at under 10 per cent, in comparison to the industry, which roughly stood at 30-40 per cent.
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What kind of a vision have you outlined for your agency? |
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We at Rediffusion Public Relations have always aspired to be true partners to our clients. This involves being at the defining edge of catching upcoming trends, defining best practices and anticipating the evolving client needs. This is our vision, and hence, we are in a constant state of evolution.
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Who are your major clients and which all areas do you specialise in? |
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We have diverse experience across industries and do not specialise in any particular industry. Some of our key clients include Oracle, Airtel, Nuance, ZTE, HTC, Revlon, Swarovski, PVR Cinemas, Warner Brothers, Topsgrup and Eveready.
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How is Rediff different from other PR outfits? |
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Customers today are getting more sophisticated. They like to search for information rather than being fed claims and hence, there lies a great opportunity for PR to play an influencing role. Our strength lies in appreciating this change and using PR as a strategic weapon to develop focused PR programmes to build in the critical credibility factor in the basket of communication solutions. This USP sets us apart from the others in the industry.
One of the biggest challenges that clients face today is to ensure that all their communications arms talk the same language. More often than not we see no synergies between a brand’s advertising, its direct marketing, the messages it conveys in its PR programme or its web initiatives. Keeping this in mind, collaboration is part of our philosophy at Rediffusion Y&R. As an organisation, we offer integrated communication solutions to create better synergies between all communication arms.
Following well-defined systems and processes is an important differentiator of our client servicing. We use a mix of industry-defined tools, in-house Rediffusion Tools and offer a range of value-added services to provide efficient customer service.
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What, according to you, is the outlook of PR in India and globally? What are the new developments taking place in the field of PR? What about the future challenges? |
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Public relations over the years in the western markets have seen PR firms identifying their verticals with specialised resources and teams to cater to the specific niches. For example, there are PR outfits that excel in employee communication management, crisis management, web communication management, etc. Also, these markets have a knowledge-led approach to the management of communication and draw upon research and surveys to formulate communication strategies.
The PR industry in India is still media led and has the traditional approach. The expectation from PR is to deliver media coverage, while PR goes beyond media and editorial visibility. Over a period, Rediffusion Public Relations has been working towards changing the perception of PR and expectations of the clients to go beyond just media mileage.
However, the PR environment in India is now becoming far more dynamic and is witnessing changes. International PR firms have formed alliances with the larger PR firms in the country to garner their presence in India and retain the local flavour. Going forward, we see the PR business being systems driven on the basis of information, knowledge and less dependent on relationships.
The future trends involve a need to develop a new hybrid set of communication skills, which will include tackling social media, apart from the existing traditional media, along with experimenting with the mobile platform.
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What factors do you take into account before deciding on the communication strategy for a client? |
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We take a 360-degree approach of the client’s current reputation encompassing its brand, corporate, and product evaluation. The detailed analysis includes perception by the target audience, challenges being faced, thrashing the ins and outs of the development of the organisation at various stages of growth. Basically, where does the reputation stand and what are the new brand extensions it wants to build in. Our expertise lies in bridging this gap by effectively using PR as a strategic tool and re-enforce the credibility by devising focused PR programmes.
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Interact with Lokesh Tiwary
on PR Speak
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| Archive |
"The PR industry is reeling under a perception problem, notwithstanding the fact that many disciplines that are offshoots of PR, such as Opinion Research, have gained the desired respectability and credibility, much more than PR itself. The stumbling block to PR’s full-fledged growth has been the peripheral approach of practitioners. Devoid of substance of a certain calibre, the focus of self-styled PR pros continues to be the ‘column-centimetre’."
Khalid Jamal,
Principal Consultant & CEO - Orion PR - 12/30/2008
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"PR is not public relations. In India, it only stands for ‘press relations’. And this too is a misnomer, because it is not about relations at all, but is closer to the ‘sales’ function… Even today, the majority of queries or new business enquiries we get has to do with how much media, where all, when, which page…? Top management meetings with us are about the quantity and quality of media coverage. The truth is that the client or the CEO has no clue whatsoever about what value the function or the corporate communication person can add."
Vinod G Nair,
Managing Director - Clea Public Relations - 8/27/2008
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"Will we move from broadcasting to narrowcasting? Will mainstream media morph into consumer-generated media? Will we really be able to measure the impact of PR on company bottomlines? Will CEOs be rechristened as Chief Reputation Officers, thus giving PR professionals much to cheer about? The crystal ball is not working here! As long as free enterprise drives the economies of progressive nations, professional PR will continue to thrive and flourish."
Seema Kundra,
CEO - Lexicon PR & Corporate Consultants - 6/30/2008
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"To our mind, the PR industry is coming of age in India with promise of high growth. Because it is still in many ways experimental, the Indian market is far more creative, and bolder than the international market, which tends to work within the box. However, there needs to be stronger strategic thinking, better tailored tools and tactics for each client..."
Srimoyi Bhattacharya,
Managing Director & Gayatri Hingorani, Managing Partner - Peepul PR, New York, USA - 3/5/2008
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"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. Customised solutions rather than standard transactions will mark a key turning point. Measurement and accountability will be the buzzwords of tomorrow."
Ameer Ismail,
President - LINOpinion, Advent & Lintertainment - 2/4/2008
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"I think the firm needs to be consistent on a worldwide basis. There has to be one company, one team and one culture. However, we must inculcate an appreciation of uniqueness in each market. I would say that 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."
Bill Rylance,
President & CEO - Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific/Middle East - 12/16/2007
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"The Internet Age is ensuring a faster information flow. The managements are thus raising concerns about where the next issue will spring from. Digital technologies are fuelling a culture that values individual voices over institutional ones. The challenge is to find ways to connect with stakeholders that make an impact and are credible to build meaningful relationships."
Arati Mukerji,
Head-Consumer Communications - India and South West Asia, Motorola Mobile Devices - 11/5/2007
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"The PR industry in India is still quite nascent, as compared to its peers in the US and Europe. But with the explosion in media outlets and the rapid growth of the media industry, PR is increasingly seen by our clients as an important strategic tool. Clients in India are also increasingly expanding globally and require PR agencies to have an understanding of the global media landscape."
Harjiv Singh,
Co-Founder & CEO-International - Gutenberg Communications LLC - 9/3/2007
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"I think the future is really in digital PR. There will be a stage when all information will have become digital. You can take the example of the US. The media model is changing; today everything is being migrated onto the Internet. 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."
Pam Edstrom,
Executive Vice President and Partner - Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) - 6/18/2007
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"I think that the most important trend that is emerging that will influence communications for the coming years is the empowerment of consumers, the democratisation of brands. The truth is that consumers are taking control of brands and the brand managers don’t own the brands anymore, the consumers own the brand and that democratisation is fundamentally changing the way companies think about communicating. I think now brand managers need to understand that they need to engage in a conversation with their consumers, that’s going to drive their behaviour in communications and create terrific opportunities for public relations."
Louis Capozzi,
Chairman - Publicis PR & Corp Comm Group - 2/6/2007
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"Public relations in India is, in some instances, highly sophisticated in the way it is practiced. As a democracy, India has provided an environment for the development of public opinion and that is the very basis of public relations. As India’s business communities expand on a global basis, the practice of public relations will follow."
Harold Burson,
Founder Chairman - Burson Marsteller - 12/4/2006
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"Ogilvy’s trademark is insight, ideas and influence. What we mean is that you develop an insight which is difficult to arrive at. It’s kind of an ‘Eureka!’ sort of moment… Second is to develop new ways of story telling, which has moved dramatically away from traditional formats, yet a great story is a great story. Because of lack of attention span and fragmentation in media, it is imperative to understand the tools of modern story telling. It means education, both internally and externally, in terms of new media, which we do."
Christopher Graves,
President and CEO, Asia Pacific - Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide - 11/20/2006
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"The key communication plank for Idea is service delivery and innovation. As a matter of fact, the mantra at Idea now is ‘Customer First’. The writing on the wall is that all operators will have near 100 per cent coverage, tariffs are no longer a USP, products and tariffs are matched and launched overnight, so the only differentiating factor between us and our competitors will be customer service."
Carson Dalton,
Senior Manager, Public Relations - IDEA Cellular - 9/26/2006
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"At Comma we believe that branding is about credibility and not visibility. We practice communications management to ensure that whatever brand you build, its values are communicated to both external and internal audiences. At IPAN, I trained young professionals and groomed them into good PR executives, but now agencies are not able to attract such people and nobody is willing to invest the time. But, in the near future, there will be leaders who will stress on quality rather than quantity."
Rajiv N Desai,
Chairman and CEO - Comma Consulting - 8/28/2006
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"As far as opportunities are concerned, there are plenty of them. PR consultants are better informed of the trends and are more experienced to sell stories. MNCs and a few Indian corporates have recognised the role of PR and its relevance to the core scheme of company strategies. There is a greater demand for specialisation. Also, viral marketing, blogging, and video conferencing are the new trends in the Indian market."
Arijit Sengupta,
Vice President - Weber Shandwick - 7/18/2006
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"The key to successful integrated marketing communications is to treat all marketing disciplines as equal. All key players, advertising, PR, promotions, direct marketing, online marketing, and event marketing collaborate as equal partners to develop the best strategy for achieving marketing objectives. Euro RSCG is committed to the ‘Power of One’, and when we pitch for a new business, Euro RSCG Advertising, Euro RSCG PR, 4 D and MPG all strategise together. Closing the credibility gap is the biggest value add PR brings to the 360-degree marketing solution for clients."
Tara Kapur,
Vice-President - Euro RSCG PR & Events - 6/21/2006
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"PR is a necessary component of any successful marketing organisation and a critical driver for managing perception, increasing brand awareness and fueling the overall corporate growth. PR as a function has evolved and grown beyond day-to-day media relations, press releases, media alerts, and tradeshows. Corporates are fast recognising the growing importance and effectiveness of PR since it is considered more impactful and authentic than advertising as anything that appears as an article in a newspaper will have more credible value."
Girish Rao,
Vice-President ,Sales and Marketing - LG Electronics India - 5/22/2006
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"One of the main things was that I did not have such a strong understanding of how influential TV was, for example. This is different from the European and US perspective, where print and online medium are more influential. All these here are still developing. We are also starting to see more specialist interest magazines develop here and that is why our focus is different here."
Andrew Goldman,
Vice-President Communications - Philips Consumer Electronics - 2/27/2006
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"PR can always play a concrete role in communications solutions for brands whether it is 360 degree or as a part of integrated communications. That’s a matter of description, but PR can provide a very tangible, a very credible, and a very useful input into the overall communications solution for any brand/company."
Vivek Sengupta,
President - IPAN - 2/4/2006
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"Corporate communications is about building corporate brands. It’s a specialized area. The analogy I would use is that the way you take care of a fruit is different from the way you take care of a tree that bears fruits. If you understand corporate brands as parent presences, you will accept that designing communication for them is also different."
Joseph Fernandes,
Chief Executive - Median Communications - 12/27/2005
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"There are subtleties in each market, but I am continually surprised at the consistency. The Indian market is very similar to the professional market in the US. As far as the media is concerned, I think the nature of the media markets impacts the business a little bit. In India, even the regional broadcast stations are broadcast nationally, which is different in the US, where we find weekend segments through a local market, which is more specific geographically. But as far as the general relationship with clients is concerned, how programmes are developed strategically, how the agency interacts with the publications… It is very consistent."
Will Ludlam,
Managing Director - Porter Novelli, Partner Asia Pacific and Seattle - 12/2/2005
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"“PR is more about strategy and less about calling up the media constantly. Different products have to be treated differently and so a mass press release isn’t always the solution. In fact, that is not PR at all…Information has to be released in such a way that it elicits a response from the media and the consumers…shock, interest, awe, aspiration it can be anything …it all works.”"
Shunali Shroff,
Head-Corporate Communications - Shringar Cinemas Ltd - 10/17/2005
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"Image is like a web in which many small strands collectively contribute to the complete image. Anything that affects a small strand, affects the whole imagery. The point to understand is that each of these strands enables the image to enhance and grow."
N S Rajan,
Managing Director - Sampark Public Relations - 9/20/2005
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"Right now I am competing with myself, I am not competing with anyone else so I don’t know if I want to be the largest or I want to be the biggest or if I want to be the best. One thing I am very clear – whatever we do we will do great work. At the end of it I want Insight to be a happy challenging enthusiastic environment to be in."
Sudha Sarin,
Founder - Insight Communications - 8/25/2005
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"We are yet to be treated as a real industry; though I feel this is bound to change in time.
So while we are very clearly becoming an integral part of any corporates’ organisational system, we still suffer severely as an industry ironically, from poor perception and acceptance.
"
Meeta Bajaj,
CEO & Principal Consultant - Coffee Communication Solutions - 7/22/2005
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"It’s a relatively young industry and it’s maturing now. Increasingly, people are realising the value of PR and communication. The role of corporate communication needs to be developed and recognised more. It needs to trickle down to smaller companies as well. And the opportunities it provides are immense. Which other profile will give you the opportunity where you learn across all segments? It’s a very exciting and dynamic field."
Ruchika Batra,
GM,Corporate Communications - Samsung India Electronics Ltd. - 6/20/2005
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"In India unfortunately 90 per cent of PR is still dependent on media relations. Every client wants himself or herself on the front page of the best newspapers or magazines. It’s not a question of PR agencies changing their image, it’s clients who need to change their thinking process. They should understand that everything doesn’t warrant a media story."
Meenakshi Sachdev Verma,
Chief Operating Officer - Good Relations India - 5/21/2005
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"The awareness of what PR can do is much more than it was a few years ago. Today people have realised that PR has a role to play. Take the example of Infosys, they have realised that PR is more important than advertising."
Ramanujam Sridhar,
CEO - Brand-Comm - 4/28/2005
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"Communication agencies have had attrition rates that are perhaps higher than other industries. The need for communication professionals has grown exponentially without a commensurate increase in educational and training facilities. There is a real need for the industry to do something about the dearth of educational options for those wishing to enter the industry."
Rajiv Sangwan,
Vice-President - Rediffusion PR - 3/21/2005
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"LINOpinion is a brand image consultancy. As an organisation, Lintas has created IMAG or Integrated Marketing Action Group, which looks at providing a holistic service that can fulfil all communication needs ranging from direct marketing, rural communication, social communication, event management and PR."
Ameer Ismail,
President - LINOpinion and Advent - 2/26/2005
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"Experience in this industry matters a lot but more than that is your ability to put forth your point of view in a forceful manner, in addition to verbal and written communication skills. This job also requires a lot of listening skills, patience, ability to network and knowledge. Planning and execution are also very critical factors."
Deepak Jolly,
Director - Corporate Communications - Bharti Tele-Ventures - 2/7/2005
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"Our distinctiveness lies in linking what we do to the business outcome desired by our clients. In most cases, PR campaigns we undertake are about influencing a brand choice. These brands could be corporate brands, product brands, process brands, or people brands. It could appear clichéd to say that we think global and act local. There is not only truth in this, but also an acute business need, given the growing expanse of globalisation."
Shiv Reddy,
CEO - Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick - 1/7/2005
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"We look at corporate communications in two ways; first, promoting the corporate brand Samsung, and promoting the reputation of the brand; and, second, brand building activities. In the first, we have corporate reputation which involves social responsibility, the people and the service quality – a huge gamut is covered here. In the second role of promoting the brand, we have Samsung sponsoring the Samsung Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy or the Olympics; it’s PR that plays a role here.
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Senjam Raj Sekhar,
Head- Corporate Communications - Samsung India Electronics - 12/20/2004
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"PR agencies in India are the agents of change in this profession as the ownership of PR agencies have also gone through a transition. PR agencies have had a lot of foreign participation in the last couple of years. They brought in global international practices into India. It is a move in the right direction."
Jay Vikram Bakshi,
Corporate Communication Head - Nokia - 11/27/2004
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"Actually, most often the agenda of the client requires us to be ‘spin doctors’! PR professionals are communicators and they can be called by various names. The point is to meet the client’s requirements, to ensure that the client gets his objectives. If that requires us to be ‘spin doctors’, then so be it."
Ashok Kapoor,
Director - Stella Advisory - 11/3/2004
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"“There are two reasons for the low awareness level among people. Firstly, people still carry the old image of IA in their minds, which is that of a government-run organisation. Secondly, there has been a lack of communication on our part in the past, especially in terms of inadequate advertising. However, changes are underway and the perception of IA will certainly change in the coming days.”"
Anup K.Srivastava,
Director, Public Relations - Indian Airlines - 10/14/2004
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"We maintain a very high emotional stake in all our partnerships"
N Chandramouli,
CEO - Blue Lotus - 9/30/2004
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"“Normally PR is perceived as a media related activity. However, in our case the canvas of PR is much larger. It’s not only about relationship with media persons, it’s also about relationship with every guest since it is they who are giving us business every day.”"
Ritu Dhawan,
Marketing Communication Manager - The Grand, New Delhi - 9/9/2004
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"We do not have a photocopying proposition as such; the Xerox of today is quite different from the Xerox of the past. Like every great brand, Xerox had to redefine itself. We have transformed from analog to digital; copying to printing; and from products to services."
Gitanjali Puri,
Head-Advertising and Marketing Communications - Xerox Modicorp - 8/17/2004
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"PR has to make sure that the company’s voice is heard. Management has to take PR into confidence. They should share relevant information. We are not entertainers; PR is a serious business."
Richa Sharma,
General Manager,Corporate Communications - ITC-Welcomgroup - 7/8/2004
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"I fear that PR, which is an indispensable component of communication, is being treated with a very shallow perspective. At this rate, in a few years down the line, the PR industry will lose its credibility."
Surabhi Saxena,
Marketing Coordinator - Reebok India - 6/22/2004
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"In today’s environment where you need to deliver at every step you have to be skilled and equipped with a reasonable amount of knowledge about the company and the business. At the end of the day, it is the grit and mettle that speaks about you, not your looks."
Vinny Narang,
Corporate Communications Manager - Hyatt Regency Delhi - 5/20/2004
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"‘I have always believed that public relations require strategic thinkers and competent business minds. By strategic I mean that part of PR where practitioners are, if not more, equally involved with formulation of communication messages and strategies.’"
Anthony B M Good,
Chairman - Good Relations - 5/12/2004
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"I am sorry to say that Public Relations is simply understood as a mere media-related activity, the handing over of press releases and organising press conferences."
Sangeeta Robinson,
Divisional Manager - Corporate Communications - LML Ltd. - 4/28/2004
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"PR involves much more than just reputation management. It involves constantly strengthening our hold on the world's most expensive real estate: the mindshare. From strategising to communicating the right message across internal and external audience is an important function of corporate communications."
Sharad Goel,
Head – Corporate Communications - Dabur India - 4/13/2004
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"I think it’s a part of any business to face changes in the shortest time and thereby, avoid crisis. Public Relations, if handled properly, can address any problem. I strongly believe, an image, built over a period of time based on goodwill and efficient services, does always come effective, irrespective of the kind of crisis."
NK Satish,
General Manager, Corporate Affairs - Spice Communications Ltd, Karnataka - 3/29/2004
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"Co-ordination of effort in communication, as with everything else in a company, should not be just an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘crisis-related’ necessity, but a basic operational policy – short term or long term."
Swati Prakash,
Chief Executive - CeePee Communications - 3/15/2004
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"PR plays an enormous role in politics. With the right positioning at the right time, even before the election dates were announced, BJP had a head start with the ‘India Shining’ Campaign. In fact, I was just watching a television spoof on the “feel good” factor – it has become an ordinary phrase today."
Shyam Grover,
Business Head - Positive Communications - 3/9/2004
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"I aim to be a complete communication consultant. I tell my clients that ZZEBRA can do much more than media relations."
C P Thomas,
Founder - ZZEBRA - 2/12/2004
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"PR can be a wonderful complement to the marketing activities any brand manager has to undertake. In fact, some of the most successful brands were built by them using the tool of public relations rather than advertising such as The Body Shop, globally and Barista in India."
Manoj Chandra,
Head - Corporate Communications, RPG Enterprises - 1/21/2004
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"I think PR summits/conferences are still at a nascent stage in India and we have a long way to go before these summits become a ‘must attend’ for PR professionals."
Troy Ribeiro,
Managing Director - LITMUS - 12/29/2003
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"At IDEA, we use PR to announce new initiatives, advertising to personify the brand, and ground activities to create experiential points."
Manosh Sengupta,
GM (Marketing Communications) - IDEA Cellular Ltd. - 12/22/2003
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"Communication by definition cannot be restricted to media relations; we’ll have to find a way to capture the mind space without taking the media route. Media today is cluttered, has advertising barters and is dictated by page three brigades. The challenge lies in being able to create a brand that media will die to write about."
Deepa Dey,
Director - Corporate Communications, Apeejay Surrendra Group - 12/11/2003
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"PR is a people intensive business, and skilled personnel are key to this profession. I do not think we are putting in that much effort to train and groom youngsters mainly because of our inherent insecuritie"
Samir Kale,
Managing Director - CMCG India - 11/29/2003
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"Aviation is a unique sector in that it is about people, services and technology, all at the same time. Different departments contribute in building a successful airline system. As the public face of the company, it is PR's job to highlight the product through various channels of communication"
Nandini Verma,
President - Corporate Affairs - Jet Airways - 11/21/2003
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Media relations are 'the bread and butter work' of any PR professional. Everything else is 'Jam and Jelly;' employers and clients expect and demand good media relations' capabilities from their PR people. If they are able to deliver more value, then nobody will stand in their way. Media Relations is the base upon which a plethora of other activities can be built
"
Nikhil Dey,
Vice President - Corporate Communications, Fiat India - 10/29/2003
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"MGood companies recognize the importance of PR and have on-going programmes to develop strong relationships with their stakeholders. Only companies with myopic vision use PR as a one-time 'quick fix' and most often, it fails"
Ashwani Singla,
CEO - Genesis - 10/10/2003
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"Media relations is one of the most important roles handled by a PR company. The other roles that we've handled successfully include management communication, crisis management, industry relations, financial relations and research. The industry is still young; we will see a growth in agencies with individual specialization."
Kapil Rampal,
CEO - - Creative Crest - 10/4/2003
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"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."
Paresh Chaudhry,
Director - - Corporate Communications - 9/19/2003
|
"We intend to market around 2,000 Ambassador Grands through promotions; this is in line with the concept that the Ambassador Grand is not mass oriented; it is targeted at the individual buyer. And we feel this is the best way of reaching out to him"
Soni Srivastav,
GM, Corporate Communications - C.K. Birla Group - 9/11/2003
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"In the emerging external environment, businesses are increasingly obliged to manage and sustain communications with several sensitive constituencies other than media. 80% of our time is dedicated to media relations - other constituents that take up our time vary from client to client."
Archana Jain,
Director - PR Pundit - 9/2/2003
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"It is because we see things, not the way they are, but the way they can be. Not what exists, but what can be created. A better way of doing things, a better way of life. Creativity, experimentation and innovation are not just encouraged at QuikRelations; they are a way of life."
P.K. Khurana,
President - Quik Group of Companies - 8/18/2003
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"Be it newsletters, conferences, talks, fairs, events in schools and colleges, PR agencies are using an integration of possible mediums. In a country like India with the vast spectrum of cultural nuances - going beyond media is a role that PR agencies are managing very well.
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Meera Tenguria,
Founder and Director - Aarohan Communications - 7/26/2003
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"The role of PR has gone beyond media relations in India, and while media will remain a critical tool here as it is everywhere in the world, more and more advisory and brand building work will be done by PR professionals."
Mahnaz Curmally,
President - - South Asia, Ogilvy - 7/14/2003
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"A good corporate PR person is an integrated personnel in the company, who is involved in understanding the decisions taken by the company and the repercussions it could have."
DEEPAK JOLLY,
Director - Corporate Communications, Bharti - 6/25/2003
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"I see PR playing a key role in helping companies work on an integrated communications plan through PR, advertising, BTL marketing and specially their own sales force, to send out synchronized messages that powerfully impact image."
Anita Lobo,
CEO - Accord Public Relations - 5/12/2003
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"PR is all about facts and not whitewashing facts."
Nandita Lakshman,
Founder and CEO - The Practice - 4/24/2003
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"In India however, PR is viewed solely as 'media relations'. The main function of a PR company ideally is to create the right environment for the client's business to flourish. I believe that a PR company is more of a business partner to augment opportunities for the company it represents through effective image management."
Kunal R Sachdev,
Director and CEO - Integral PR Services Pvt. Ltd - 4/15/2003
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"Forced overlaps in communications don't work, unless they are a part of well thought out strategy"
Devdarshan Chakraborty,
CEO - Vaishnavi Corporate Communications - 3/29/2003
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"The PR industry is in stage of evolution, an evolution of concepts, of ideas, of mindsets, which are fresh. These would give green pastures for the participants to grow."
Ashok Kapoor,
Director - Integral PR Services Pvt Ltd - 3/13/2003
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"Ultimately the role of PR will be to communicate through word of mouth
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Sunil Agarwal,
Managing Director - 20:20 Media - 2/22/2003
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"We run with the news. We run for the mindspace, for our clients."
Supriyo Gupta,
Vice President - Rediffusion-DY&R - 2/12/2003
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"Image is the only devise that is growth inductive and recession proof."
Dilip Cherian,
Consulting Partner - Perfect Relations - 1/10/2003
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"I think in Public Relation industry, the focus should change from facilitating visibility to facilitating transparency"
Rajiv Desai,
President - IPAN - 12/7/2002
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"In future, the percentage of media relations in the total PR exercise will decrease"
Tarun Deo,
MD - Text 100 India - 11/16/2002
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"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.
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Prema Sagar,
Principal & Founder - Genesis PR - 11/1/2002
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