Shiv Reddy, CEO, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick

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 has over 24 years’ experience in the communications business. A product of Rishi Valley School, he graduated in Electrical Engineering from BITS, Pilani. In 1980 Shiv joined the MAA Group (Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick is a part of this group) as an Account Executive. Shiv was soon promoted as Manager of the Hyderabad office, where some of his clients included Hyderabad Allwyn, the Nagarjuna Group and HMT. Following this he was appointed General Manager of Odyssey, another MAA Group company, specializing in video productions and television programming. Shiv then moved to Corporate Voice PR and has been instrumental in growing Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick into one of India’s leading PR consultancies across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore markets. Some of Corporate Voice Shandwick India clients include Oracle India, McDonald’s, Electrolux, Hero Honda, MasterCard, Hindustan Levers, KLM Northwest Airlines among others. In an interview with Vinod Behl of exchange4media, Shiv talks about the communications business, the strategic approach of Corporate Voice, and how the PR industry should grow in the emerging scenario. Excerpts:

Q. If your agency were put in such a situation, how would you have tackled it?

The basics of crisis management remain unchanged. You have to bring the truth out, and let people see it. Actions speak louder than words, hence demonstration is critical. This applies to Reliance as well.

We handle crisis situations for many of our clients regularly, and in many cases nobody comes to know of what happened when. In crisis situations, the reputation capital that has been aggregated over years, comes to your rescue. Hence we advise our clients to invest in it. A lot of emphasis is laid on creating robust systems for crisis avoidance and preparing the system for eventualities. Weber Shandwick is credited with managing the American Airlines crisis of 9/11.

Q. What are the challenges and opportunities for PR agencies today?

Now more and more people are realising the need for professional PR agencies. If you want to be a leader, you would need to do everything a leader does. Consultancies like ours have an excellent view of what is working for whom. Our clients benefit from this bridging of knowledge.

In terms of challenges, it is a vast industry, with scope to provide specialist services. We have to certainly grow in that direction.

Q. Did your agency do any other equally exciting and challenging PR campaign recently?

A lot of work that we do for various clients is never made public, given the sensitivities involved. Every campaign we do has a distinct challenge, only the magnitude differs. Excitement for us lies in trying to meet this challenge. There are several issues that companies, institutions, governments, brands need to address through various forms of communication. These could be done through the most apparent and visible channels like advertising or the more subtle ones like public relations, events, marketing promotions and so on and so forth. Public relations is not always as clearly and distinctly visible to a neutral observer. But if you were part of the target audience, you would have been exposed to the underlying messages, which would have a bearing on your thought process, even though you are not able to decipher them consciously. A good PR campaign would have ideally changed your behaviour, but if not, at least broadly make you reconsider your opinion, attitude and existing behaviour.

Q. How distinct or different is your approach in doing campaigns vis-à-vis other PR agencies?

We have a very tangible approach where we clearly work towards achieving a certain outcome. The punch line for Weber Shandwick worldwide is ‘The power to influence outcomes’. 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.

At Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick, we have the advantage of being part of the world’s largest multinational consultancy that provides us the collective experience of several markets and the practices of several corporates. 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.

Q. Do you think the expectations of media from PR have changed over the years?

Yes, they have. Today media looks at support from PR agencies more positively to maximise their own efficiency. They are willing to work with us to provide them the right kind of background information and facilitate one-on-one interactions to fill the information gaps. Yet there may be certain support that PR agencies may not be able to provide.

Q. Talking about the present state of PR industry in India, how do you look at it from the point of view of a professional practitioner and strategy thinker?

Many professional practitioners and strategy thinkers have put PR ahead of the other disciplines, and gone on record to state this. Look at Al Ries and Laura Ries who are proponents of PR. In fact, when it comes to promoting themselves as brands, professionals and thought leaders resort only to PR. Those who rely on other disciplines and go for blatant publicity have a poorer perception.

PR is growing its role in the corporate mix in India. Clients are looking through the services of the agencies asking for greater value addition, beyond the mechanics of executing campaigns. They come to us for help in developing messages that have a wider appeal, targeting these messages and, finally, ensuring that they are actually getting received leading to change in behaviour.

This industry is also beginning to recognise the complexities of this business. Therefore, there is a greater need for people with strategic mindsets who understand human behaviour and its true nuances. Media is also growing rapidly, becoming more and more segmented and focused. There is specific media for specific constituencies, specific media for finance, for IT, healthcare and so on.

Q. How do you look at the role of PR vis-à-vis advertising?

They are and have always been complementary. What PR can deliver, advertising cannot and vice versa. Really speaking, PR is a good precursor to advertising because it fills the environment, creates a mind space and therefore facilitates the penetration of advertising. One can never replace the other.

Q. What about the growing trend of advertorials and paid editorials?

The truth is that the moment the reader sees an advertorial, by virtue of its visual format and the way the copy is written, he knows it is it is an advertorial which is trying to look like an editorial! Any discerning reader will see the difference. Soon the word spreads around about the media and columns which accept paid content, leading to erosion of credibility.

However, having said that, advertorials have a role to play. If you want to disseminate a large body of information, you may not just do with a story. You need an advertorial for it. However, a reader can differentiate between the two.

Q. What really made your WHO ORS campaign a winner?

The WHO ORS campaign has been able to break new grounds in the way people view PR. This campaign did not overtly rely on the traditional editorial media approach. Instead, we looked at our target constituencies, which were the mothers of infants and young children, and analysed their media consumption habits. Then we went on to find partners who could help disseminate our messages. These were media houses and channels, celebrities, business houses and above all the medical fraternity. We chose partners in a way so that it would be a meaningful association for them – the target constituencies and us. A blend of all the communication exercises undertaken for the campaign delivered results, which speaks for itself. As of September 2004, the total ORS market in North India (campaign states) had grown by nine per cent and the WHO ORS segment had grown by 18 per cent in comparison to the same period last year.

Q. How competitive is the industry today?

India is still evolving as a PR market. The US is of course the original developer of the science of public relations. There are clients who are now evolved, and need specific service levels. They are willing to pay the price for it, and consultancies that have built capabilities to meet such needs hardly have much of a competition. However, in an evolving and a growing market like India, more and more new entrants are coming in all the time. These entrants are eager to break in, making the industry very competitive at the entry level.

Q. What is the role of PR agencies in crisis management? How do you view the latest Reliance crisis from this point of view?

If we listen to doctors and follow preventive healthcare practices, our chances of staying healthy will go up. The same logic applies to crisis communications. The biggest role a PR consultant can play is in advising and devising preventive strategies, and preparing the system to withstand a crisis situation. PR is the only communication discipline which is helpful in a crisis situation. You cannot do much otherwise.

The issue of Reliance is of two warring brothers. They happen to be India’s biggest industrialists, creating the current media attention. Differences and disputes happen in most Indian families. The wise will loose interest in this development soon.

Q. Finally, what is the roadmap for Indian PR agencies in general and your agency in particular?

PR consultancies have a tremendous opportunity to grow up the value chain. The next logical step is to further strengthen vertical specific specialist competencies, and then grow the consulting strengths. The big opportunity is to emerge as management consultancies of the communications business. No one understands the interplay between public issues and communication better than us, so we are best suited to do the integration.