PR learnings in the era of Kejriwal/Jung conflict

From being a strong AAP supporter, to an embarrassed AAP supporter, to a "seriously irritated" AAP supporter, my journey over the past 2 years or so has been eventful, to say the least.

My learnings from the political situation that has developed:

• Speak Sense or lose all credibility: The unending war has caused major major damage to the profile of the main players - A Lt. Governor has never been as badly ridiculed as Jung and a CM has never been called as big a "drame-baaj" like Kejriwal. These guys were very respected civil servants and social workers in their previous avatars and today anything that they say is taken with a saucer full of salt.
• Stop Abusing:  You do not gain brownie points if you stoop to the adversary's levels... Their is a lot to be said about behaving like gentlemen that these people have proved that they are NOT! The cacophony is unbelievable.
• Damage Control: Not all things will go your way always - Accepting defeat with grace will work wonders, but no, grace is an unknown entity here... They specialise in making a bad thing worse...

When we train corporates and even individuals in branding and communication, the core points of "let your work / actions speak more than your words", "never ever lose control", "Elucidate your points coherently" are some of the points we begin from. And we completely focus on creating the brand by showcasing the best that we have and not highlighting the worst of competition. 

All PR concepts come to nothing in today's political scenario. Never ever have we had such foolishness being promoted in the Capital as today and I think this will continue till the time both stop playing to the gallery and the media stops lapping up whatever they say/do! 

One can only hope that their respective media teams understand this and try to mend the situation, or else we will have no option but to use NOTA in the future elections!

My baby steps in Public Relations...

Image courtesy: goldenchamber.org

I have recently completed my master’s degree in Mass Communication. I was always attracted to the mass media and would have loved to work in a production house or in the film industry. But, because I belong to a Business family, I have always been attracted to the business of communication and therefore opted for PR (public relations). I find it the best suited to my interest, education and backgroud.

Before joining PR, my conception about working as a PR person and the job profile was completely different. There was a huge amount of glamour associated with the business. I thought and had been taught too that PR meant creating a good image of a company or an individual. This was through “activities”: social work, charities, stage shows and events. Iin today’s world every business, company or individual wants to grow, earn name and fame. I also thought that the medium of Advertising was more effective for branding than Public Relations could ever be. I mean visibility came through advertising, right???

In February, I appeared for interviews and started working with Finese PR, an agency based in New Delhi. And for the first time in my life I was made aware of what PR really was and how wrong I really was about my expectations from the business of communication.

After my Masters, I was made to un-learn what I was taught! I was told that I needed to read and write. I was to begin from the lowest rung of the ladder, and was asked to read, read and read!  The agency has a diverse client roster and I was suddenly looking at categories that I was never aware of: Electrical & Electronics, Wires and Cables, Social Businesses, Technical Education, Markets Research, etc. 

So it required a lot of “education” for me. I had to start from scratch and then learn about the categories of interest for individual businesses, before I could do anything about them. Okay, so there were “cheat-code” benefits that I could use: Material already available with my seniors, FAQs on the category, previous media releases and Q&As. I suddenly realized that I was studying way more than what I had during my masters!!!

So here is the "cheat-code" for the beginners in the sector. Nobody ever told me this, but I believe that if I knew what was in store, I’d have been better prepared!  Before you believe that you are cut-out for PR, you need to be sure of the following:

• Excellent communication, interpersonal and writing skills – preferably in more languages than one – Hindi and English are a must, in any case
• Drive, competence, flexibility and a willingness to learn – In normal language, work like an ass and do not be cowed down with all that you do not know!
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to multitask: One is expected to have many many balls in the air at the same time – learn to get 16 hours out of an 8 hour work-day. Not having enough time is not an option!
• Ability to cope with pressure: The kind of business that PR is, the deadlines are always yesterday. There is a huge  requirement of “Just-now” responses and one needs to learn fast. 
• Creativity, imagination and initiative: In my 4 months in PR, I’ve already had run-ins with all and sundry(read media) and have been called names: useless and several other adjectives. One needs to remain cool, make the conversation get back on track and get the powers to still use our material for our clients. So if you have an ego, forget about PR, or learn to keep in in check! And it is difficult sometimes! 
• Business awareness and a good knowledge of current affairs: I thought I was well read, but … 

Having said all this, I firmly believe that I have grown as an individual. I now know way beyond what I did a mere 4 months ago, and have lots to learn as I go along. I am hopefully, a better writer and a better communicator than I was earlier. I am still learning the ropes and will have much more to share as we go along. So watch this space…

Are CSR Campaigns being misused for PR Gains:

Recently a coupon site snapdeal.com was in news for running a CSR campaign in a village and the village being renamed as snapdeal.com. I heard some of my colleagues in office discussing how this was a major PR coup and that the client must be so happy with its communication people.

This set me thinking as to what is the real purpose of CSR? Is CSR undertaken by corporates purely as a publicity gimmick, or is there more to it? Should we as PR professionals encourage the practice of undertaking CSR campaigns purely from a PR perspective.

When I posed this question to my colleagues stating that I was uncomfortable with a CSR initiative just to derive PR mileage, the response was enlightening. They said that by this initiative, snapdeal had installed 20 odd handpumps in the village where the villagers had to trek miles to get water, in the process providing them with water, which was a necessity that was required. If they in return derive some mileage, then what is the harm? It was also pointed out that when most of the stories that are carried in the media in India centre around crime, at least these types of stories can motivate others to make some positive contribution to the society. I must admit they have a valid reasoning in the sense that something is better than nothing, But I am still uncomfortable with this idea.

I still remember the time when we were handling this leading footwear brand and the Marketing Director approached us saying that there is a request from the Government of India to contribute shoes to the children who were being given the National Bravery awards and can we help generate media coverage over this saying how the company was socially conscious. We were aghast and shaken to the core and needless to say we dissuaded the client from the publicity aspect of it.

In India giving is a tradition and it is said that "when one gives, the left hand should not know what the right hand has given". This has also been followed by big Business Houses like Tatas, Birlas, Singhanias, etc. for decades. Having been bought up with such ethos and values, creating pure publicity blitzkrieg around CSR activities, makes me cringe.

What the PR agencies and others preach to justify their actions is that media exposure of Philanthropic acts only galvanizes others to contribute. However my take is, that one should set out to undertake charity and CSR programmes for the reason of giving back to the society which has helped them gain wealth in the first instance, and if there is media or other exposure of such acts then it is good, if there is none then it is better.

I do not have any problem with CSR programmes where the primary motive is to benefit the society and the secondary motive is to derive mileage. But when the primary motive becomes to derive mileage and the rest becomes secondary then there is a serious ethical issue.

In Snapdeal's case, this company is a start-up, still looking for funding, most probably still not profitable and this company undertakes a so called CSR initiative spending a paltry $5000 and tom toms it to the world. This is pure bull and I have objections to this kind of act being publicized by the media. I can already hear our clients asking us to devise such low cost CSR initiatives (so called) to gain maximum media mileage. What perfect nonsense???