Am sure you are aware that with the year closing in on us, it was time for reviews and serious introspection. So we all got back to our drawing boards to review the year gone by for our Clients, work on Annual Strategies for the coming year and discuss the highs and lows with regards to plans, achievements and bloopers and at the end of it all we all were unanimous about one realisation that hit us… that clients were no longer willing to be satisfied with Vanilla PR…. not happy with the regular press conference, press briefings, press releases, one on ones et al…WHAT NEXT was the question they all asked! And thankfully since my Agency had always groomed us towards thinking 360 degrees communications and not just basic PR, we were happy and also anxious at the same time.

Happy since we knew that that was coming and like I mentioned earlier, the Agency that I work for has always driven us towards working on Integrated Communication Stratgies… we were always made to understand not only the PR mandate of the Client, but understand his business goals, his business objectives, his need to reach out to various stakeholders and then create a Communication Stratgey that was more holistic. So a lot of research, industry awareness went into all our strategies that gave the Client an insight into what he could expect and what would be the end result. The strategy would not only reflect our understanding of the Client’s market. his audiences, his products and services but give the Client an insight into how we would achieve them. The Communication Strategy would thus include Vanilla PR Strategies of course, but also try and move it to the next level of PR…which was contact programmes, associations, networking meetings with industry audiences, blogging, online discussions, emphasis on collateral creation, events, meet-n-greets with stakeholders and not to foerget CSR. CSR is fast becoming not just a philanthrophic concept, but a crucial tool to reach out to the serious audiences as well… and we integrate a lot of that too at various levels, local,. regional, national and international…

Now why would we be anxious…anxious because this level of advanced Public Relations strategies needs expertise at the work force level and that is somehow missing. Talent is in dire poverty and that sometimes hampers the standard of execution and the convertability of plans into actions. Understanding of basic communication theories is crucial and I am not too sure how much in-depth knowledge do the kids have today to take PR to the next level. You can train resources in-house to understand the ushering new technology and how innovation is quickening the pace of communication…but communication theories by Harold Lasswell and Marshall McLuhan are as relevant today and need to be understood to be able to implement modern technology and inovation into mass communication strategies and make PR more effective.

Am kicked about the new year since I have been lucky to have Clients that are not just media savvy but understand the ethos of communication, know what their end consumers or audiences want and are not happy with mundane text book PR…and why is that good news? Since my team and I are now gonna juggle with some great strategies and bring them to life with encouragement and support of my Clients…and as far as talent is concerned…looks like a session or two on the traditional communication theories will only enhance what we have to offer.

Cheers and have a great new year
–
Madhavi Mukherjee
Senior Consultant and Practice Head Media&Entertainment
Hanmer&Partners
Email: madhavi@hanmerpr.com

Tech Tags: pr public+relations india

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