PR discussions: Re: [prpoint] Is effective Public Relations = newspaper clippings?

Hi there,

It is really refreshing to read shri K.S.Nayar, being very outspoken on the role of PR and their status. Yes, may be a section of PR think, that with few drinks, they can buy few cms of copy - but it may be once - not always - it is ONLY when there is real news value - even journalists think twice to publish 'non'news value items' as they too are answerable to higher ups.

I had spent almost 3 decades as PR man for a Public sector Bank and I can vouch, that I have never spent a dime for drinks on journalists. Even after retirement (17 years now) I still have friends who are journalists. 'Media Relations' stragies will differ from journalists to journalists. Those who have seen Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar will agree. Then some PR professionals revolted, against this film charging Ray with showing PR in bad shape.

Those now cooling their heels in Tihar jails connected with 2-G scam - did not these companies have PR outfit ? How many PR professionals have the courage to-day to tell their BOSS that the item he has handed over is NOT really news worthy ? I once did it in a Board Meeting to the CMD in presence of all TOP executive. I did once to shri T.A.Pai, then CMD, Sy. Bank, just before joining the bank. He appreciated my views and hired me as PR man in 1970.

After retirement, I have been a visiting faculty in many Mass communication collegesd teaching PR/Advt/Communication. Of the 25-30 students, you find the spark only 2 or 3. Rest only interested in getting that Diploma/Degree to qualify for a job. They are not even in a position to recall in the evening couple of headlines or recall 2-3 advertisments or recall hoardings which they see almost every day.

Maany may not agree with me - but I thought of sharing my experience - as only few months back, 3 BMM completed students contacted me for assistance to get a job. when I asked few basic questions on simple defination of advtg/PR they were unable to respond. But they expect a job with a five figure salary ?

Any takers ?

s.n.surkund

From: KS Nayar <ksnayar@gmail.com>
To: prpoint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 7:48 AM
Subject: Re: [prpoint] Is effective Public Relations = newspaper clippings?

(Moderator's Note: The author of this mail Mr K S Nayar is one of the seniormost and well respected journalists of India. He has served many leading national and International Publications. He is presently at Kochi>

My dear Srinivasan and friends of PRPoint: I regularly read the various interesting PR issues that you discuss. You are, as usual, doing a marvellous job. I hope your message gets through PR professionals in the country. But I'm afraid it is not, unfortunately.

If you check the contributions of all the PR professionals of 100 Indian companies, you will be shocked to know the utter callousness and unprofessional conduct among them. Most of them think that a couple of drinks will generate a few column inches of 'positive' stories that would make their 'immediate' bosses happy. I said immediate bosses. The PR guy does not care hoot to the overall image of the company.

You may think I'm making a wide statement. But you can test it yourself. Send an email to PR managers of the top 100 companies and watch out how many of them would even care to respond. These people get fat salaries and their deliverables are miniscule. If you do a PR audit honestly, all these guys would be shown the door immediately.

It's a shame of some of the honest PR professionals, who are left on the scene. I think like Anna Hazare, you should take on the leadership to launch a national cleansing operation among the Indian PR guys.

We need to have more Srinivasans in the country to give a new image to the profession. We need to have people like him to take up the crusade. In the process not only would Indian companies get a good image and brand locally, but also internationally. It would also be the surest way to build India's sagging image not only among suppliers and consumers worldwide but even as a nation it would give a boost. I know of some companies doing world-class research, but hardly any newspaper reader comes to know about it. If a committed journalist wants to project this to the world, the PR guy would remain unresponsive and create stonewalls. He does not want to do the extra work. He also does not want to take any risk as well.
Merely trumpeting in international forums that India is the next super power by our politicians and CEOs in fact brings ridicule. Even small Chinese companies, not known even three to five years ago are able to build global brands. We still hang on the coattails of Tatas and Infosys.

I hope the government of India and private and public sector companies recognise the yeomen service that Srinivasan is doing selflessly for the past two decades.

I wish him all the very best.

Sincerely KS Nayar

(Formerly of PTI, The Hindustan Times, India Abroad, IANS, Straits Times and The Gulf Today).

PS: Kindly note that I do not hold any brief for Srinivasan. I'm being critical of most Indian company PRs, who have become 'fixers' for their immediate bosses. I think this subject calls for an honest debate, introspection. All of them should look into the mirror.

On 25 October 2011 13:39, Prime Point Srinivasan <prpoint@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Richa

Diwali greetings to you and all the members of prpoint group.

I appreciate your views. Even earlier, we have been discussing about this issue in prpoint group. Based on my experience and observations, I share some of my views.

1. Presently, many of the PR Agencies focus on 'Media clippings' and they are happy with media clips. Even if you have observed, in some of the pr groups, more details are shared about 'media movement', than the 'communication strategies'. This phenomenon is because of (a) clients expectation of more and more media clips, and (b) comfort for PR Agencies to show quantified results by producing more clips easily, while billing the client.(communication strategies do not provide such instantaneous results and they provide results in a long run),

2. Very unfortunately, most of public and private sector decision making managers in India assume that they are 'knowledgeable in all the segments', while it is not so in reality. More so, present day Management Schools do not provide PR and Communication strategies as part of their syllabus. When they teach branding, they talk about advertisement and high cost tools. These MBAs when they occupy the top positions in the companies, are not able to appreciate the value of cost effective communication strategies. I have found, even the most efficient PR Agencies go with these new type of managers and happily show media clippings and submit their bills. This is a vicious circle.

3. I have talked to many management school professors, for inclusion of PR and Communication strategies as part of their curriculum. Very unfortunately, none of them have shown any interest. Hence the students who come out and occupy higher positions, do not recognise the PR and other communication strategies.

4. Even the old generation management people also, do not give much recognition to the 'communication strategies', other than expecting huge media clippings. They are happy with many column cm stores with pictures. They do not understand that even a small negative story in the media may cause huge damage to the companies. When a crisis happens, they blink and they are unable to manage the crisis through strategies. Now we are seeing how Atomic Energy Department is messing up with their in-house PR team inefficiently managing Koodangulam issue. Three or four months back, when there were negative stories against the then Chairman of Corporation Bank, otherwise highly efficient Corporation Bank Management were not able to handle the negative stories. These organisations happily are sitting pretty with few positive stories in the media and assume too much of themselves. When the negative stories started pouring in, they manage the situation through their in-house PR team inefficiently, without seeking the help of professional communication experts.

5. Few months back, we have also published our ezine on 'Corporate ideocyncracies' highlighting such phenomenon among many of the corporate managements. In my view, very few corporate managements think of 'Communication strategies' as a long term solution and seek advice from their PR agencies on 'strategic solution', than mere 'media clippings'.

Richa, you have initiated a good debate. I welcome others also to join the debate.

srinivasan

prime point

9176650273

On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 3:29 PM, Richa Seth <richa.seth30@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Sir,

Would request you to share the appended article for a discussion about the challenges faced by PR industry and the possible solutions for the same. It will be a great if the forum members can share individual experiences in form of case studies which can be helpful to all of us.

Best Regards,
Richa Seth
PR Consultant
Mob: 9930143531
Email id: richa.seth30@gmail.com

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Is effective Public Relations = newspaper clippings?

All PR professionals would have most often than not, experienced the demand from their current or prospective client to get coverage in The Economic Times or The Times of India. Be it a company in the B2B/B2C space the expectation from PR is to get featured in the country's leading financial/mainline daily, this is irrespective of its relevance or importance.

Most companies in India use PR to drive the launch of product/solutions and promotion of sales events. Companies still do not completely understand how PR can contribute to their sales funnel, improve customer/employee retention and help raise the bottom line.

PR is being equated to getting some quick results in the form of newspaper clippings just like advertising is expected to get some quick bucks (sales revenue). Let us discuss some of the reasons why PR is not getting its well deserved credibility amongst the corporate community:

1.      Low involvement of the C-level executives: Like they say Marketing/PR have always been treated like the daughters responsible for expenses and Sales team as the son on whom the profits rely. Top level management need to understand the rapidly changing and evolving role of PR & Marketing, it can no more be left to be taken care of by the Corporate communications team alone. There is a dire need for the top level management to have a direct connect with the PR team to share the company's vision, mission, business objectives – short & long term, key stakeholders, challenges, future predictions et al, for the team to craft and execute an appropriate and focused communications plan.

2.      Communication Gap: Corporate Communications team often gets entangled between the internal marketing/sales team and PR team, the prime reason being the sales team expects newspaper clippings for every event or activity carried out by the team. This is where the key objectives of the company which can be achieved through PR tends to get lost.

3. Instant Results: Companies at all stages, start-up, mid-level or large are getting used to instant food & beverages, as a result expecting instant results from PR as well. Having a PR agency on board should facilitate the company to get an article in the leading financial and mainline dailies atleast once a month and that is not all, the agency needs to get all sales events covered in 'Today's Engagements Columns' oops they meant 'Listings column' .

4.Quick, Quantitative Clippings at Low Cost: Some of the startup/medium sized companies are looking for agencies which can help them get large quantity of coverage   for a product launch announcement in all media and do so at an affordable cost.

There are many small time PR agencies who currently provide this service, but if the company wants to build and sustain its reputation in the market, its needs to deploy a full time and proficient PR partner.

These challenges have raised the need for all PR consultants to make the leap of faith in the minds of the top level management. There is a need to reiterate the role played by Public Relations to build and manage a brand's reputation amongst the key stakeholders. There should be transparency in terms of the deliverables of PR, that is to state the key objectives which PR can effectively deliver and the appropriate timeframe for delivering the results.

Being a PR consultant, if you have faced any other challenges when servicing an existing client or pitching to a new one please be free to share your experiences. You could also suggest some recommendations on how consultancies/individuals should go about pitching to companies.

http://richaseth.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/is-effective-public-relations-newspaper-clippings/

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Best Regards,
Richa Seth
PR Consultant
Mob: 9930143531
Email id: richa.seth30@gmail.com

Twitter | Linkedin