PR se Pyar!

Am writing a day early this week since I am out of town tomorrow and may not be able to put up something for Monday….

The cue to this week’s write up comes from Tushar’s write up… Love for this profession.

I am not sure what was in my mind when I joined PR to make it my career. I have been a student of communications throughout my college life. I graduated in Communication and Extension Education and then pursued a Master’s degree in Communication Studies and trust me… it was all for the love of communication or rather…Connection. Communication is about connection! My innate need to stay connected and reach out to as many people drove me to delve deep into what this faculty had to offer. Communicating with people of varied languages in the absence of a common language, in the absence of literary skills, in different cultures; in different socio economic and ethnic groups…it enticed me all. And while many thought that I would join Advertising, I did not. I taught Advertising in my tenure as Lecturer in Wilson College but yet my fascination was in becoming a Public Relations professional. The whole idea of cultivating a brand to achieve a position of faith in the minds of the target audience and cultivating relationships and friendships excited me. I had no idea of PR when I joined except that I knew my writing skills and my interest in working on Communication Strategies would be my biggest asset. And I grew!

Am proud of whatever little I have made out of myself and am grateful solely to this profession for giving me a platform as big as this. We as Communications Consultant and PR professionals are the only source of guidance to our Clients to help them understand the complexities of the mass media. We sit across the table with CEOs, MDs (when most of the times people within an organization do not get to meet these people at the helm of affairs) Corporate Communications Heads, Vice Presidents and are given the responsibility to explain how to reach out to target audiences. Isn’t it absolutely wonderful?!

PR is not just about press releases and conferences. We are making a mistake if we get entrapped in PR tools… …we need to realize that the way the world perceives our Client is solely in our hands. On the Client’s side we meet people whom we have probably grown up watching them on television or reading about them, we meet people who embellish the boardrooms of the largest democracy, we meet the brightest of minds who are oiling the nation’s economy everyday. That is one part of our world. The second group of people is the Media…again the brilliance of whose pen gives our Clients the shelf life to become a name in history. They are the ones who are meticulously helping us all the way to grow our Client’s name, create brands out of them, heighten their market value and most importantly the Media is the one who by their enquiries, questions, research and analysis push us towards knowledge. They get irritated when we know less, they love us when we are well versed in our business…It’s a team work…the team is Media and Us…the objective is building Client’s perception. The revulsion of the Media towards PR professionals is hardly because they are competing with us for anything…No! The angst is because they want us to do better and we don’t prepare well enough.

I love this profession for giving me this platform, for getting me introduced to people of such high intellectual repute (Clients and Media) and most importantly I love it because it helps me Communicate, helps me connect and reach out!

Cheers

Madhavi