We caught up with Bill Rylance, Chairman, Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific and Vice Chairman, Global Development, Burson-Marsteller Worldwide during his recent India visit. Here is an extract of our conversation.

Q. Your visit to India in April coincided with the arrival of the Olympic torch in New Delhi. One of the key landmarks of your career has been leading BM’s worldwide public relations program for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The Olympic torch this year has been mired into controversy with Tibetan protests worldwide. What in your mind are the key concerns that a public relation campaign can address in a situation like this?

Until very recently, the Olympic Torch Relay was a national event handled by the host nation. Today, with worldwide sponsorship, the planning and logistics take in a worldwide journey. Any high profile event of such enormous scale inevitably becomes a beacon, a platform for various interests and issues. I can only assume this was considered in the overall planning process as part of crisis preparedness. Every Olympic Games is issues-rich and what is required is constructive transparent engagement on the part of the organisers and the people of host city and nation; driven by respect for the concerns of others without losing sight of the Olympic ideals. Organisers and sponsors should prepare and be ready to consider and respond to those concerns and challenges; it goes with the turf of being a host or a sponsor. Just as sponsors seek to leverage off the Games, so too do NGOs and other special interest groups and that is not going to change. The measure of success and confidence is not in silencing or disregarding one’s critics, but in how you respect and respond to them. It is utopian to think we might have an issues-free Olympics anywhere in the world.

Q. It’s been nearly six months since you assumed the new role as Chairman, Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific, and Vice Chairman, Global Development. What have been the key highlights for you in the new role? What are the opportunities that you see ahead?

As Chairman of Asia Pacific, I continue with my involvement in a region I know and love. I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to contribute to a very successful transition in our region and I believe we will go from strength to strength. In addition to supporting our excellent regional leadership team, I am now focused on our strategic initiatives and continue to explore potential acquisitions here.

Globally, I will be focused on looking at emerging markets, such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where there is high growth potential for public relations. I am also looking at developed countries to identify acquisition opportunities where we can extend our offering of specialist and integrated services.

Q. As someone who has experienced both sides of the coin – having held key positions at Burson-Marsteller and later independently established Merit Communications, Korea’s first international public relations consultancy, what in your view are the pros and cons of working with a global giant and being a start-up? Can you share your experiences on the same?

I think the key for any large firm is to retain its focus on the most critical drivers of success. A common challenge in many large firms is to avoid the creation of non-essential work; to stay lean, objective and always ask the tough questions of oneself without losing confidence, diluting determination or narrowing ambition requires an independent streak that must be nurtured in any organisation. This has more to do with internal culture than organisational engineering. It is more about tangible examples of “the way things are done here” than what is written into an org chart or policy manual. Leaders influence behaviour and culture through their example, their words and, most powerfully, their actions. It is not something that can be systemized in my opinion.

Q. How has Public Relations evolved globally and specifically in Asia Pacific? What are the trends that you see emerge in specific specialization areas as public affairs, digital communications vis-à-vis specific markets?

Clients have started appreciating the true value of public relations in their business strategy. Today, they expect us to counsel them on actions not just words. This is increasingly evident within Asia Pacific where the public relations market is increasingly becoming sophisticated and highly competitive.

In a dynamic business scenario, public relations has the responsibility to help its clients navigate deftly through the changes in environment. Digital communications is today an intrinsic part of any dialogue with a company’s stakeholders. Similarly, public affairs reflect the growing openness of government to dialogue and interactivity with businesses as the two partner together in development. I see a clear trend towards convergence of both digital and public affairs within mainstream public relations.

Q. “We’re a knowledge industry which watches our most important asset walk out the door at the end of each day – and if our talent doesn’t return the next morning we’re in big trouble”. You have shared the significance of talent in your interviews and writings. What are the top three qualities that you see in your talent? How does Burson-Marsteller play a pro-active role in nurturing and encouraging fresh talent?

I take great pride in saying that you will find all the essential qualities of a successful PR professional in the talent that we have at Burson-Marsteller.

This includes the ability to understand and deal with cultural diversity due to the changing profile and needs of clients. It also includes understanding and working with research findings and the capability to measure and evaluate results in the client’s context, not just our own.

Managing multi-market programmes is another essential quality you will find at Burson Marsteller. With a globalised economy, it has become important to work on complex businesses involving multiple stakeholders across global markets.

Across regions, we have dedicated classroom learning programmes and customised online training programmes. We also have cross-border learning, with employees from one region sent on deputation to other B-M offices globally.

Q. Can you share with us one of your own favourite Public Relations campaign?

I have been privileged to play a role in many innovative and meaningful programmes and it is impossible to point to one alone. I would rather describe a few outcomes that resulted from some of the campaigns I’ve been fortunate to support. Specific, tangible measurable results are always the greatest inspiration in my opinion. My examples would include a dramatic reduction in the number of abortions directly due to an educational campaign on the benefits of contraception; taking the 2002 World Cup to Korea when no-one gave us a chance at the outset of the campaign; a change in labour law to protect migrant workers rights; the removal of unfair trade tariffs after a multi-year multi-faceted public affairs campaign. There are others, of course, and I would stress that it is the work itself – the stimulation of problem-solving, ideation, innovation – that keeps one motivated.

Q. With emergence of blogs, user-generated content and other social media tools, there is a lot of debate about digital space being the final frontier for brand communication. What are your views on the same? How do you see traditional public relations practitioners evolving in the new role? Do you feel there is a need for a completely new set of practitioners with an understanding of the space?

As the Internet increasingly becomes a primary source of information for many, it is becoming important to understand and utilise digital tools. I do not believe that this is a distinct frontier that would need a new set of practitioners. I believe this is an intrinsic part of dialogue – more on the lines of conversations rather than mass communication. It needs a new orientation and we are actively building employee knowledge in the areas of digital communication.

Q. You have been visiting India quite often, more so in the past couple of years. What are your views on the growth of Public Relations in India? With other global firms having made acquisitions recently, who do you perceive as competition?

I would say that India is rapidly changing in the way it looks at the public relations profession, and its emerging role in the entire communication spectrum. Just as India is converging with the global economy, so is the public relations industry. In this process, Indian public relations professionals are not only adopting international best practices but are also sharing their home grown knowledge on the global stage. On the flip side, I think India is facing the same challenges as many other markets such as increasing scarcity of talent, spiraling costs, and demand by clients for improved efficiency.

I don’t think any public relations practitioner needs to be worried about looking over their shoulder in India. It is a market that is embracing growth and responsible participants. Just as we have worked well with all other public relations firms in the rest of the world, we welcome new players in India as, working together, it will only raise the benchmark of quality standards in public relations.

This time of the year is naturally devoted to some introspection of the past and reflection into the possibilities that the future would bring. We can look forward to glossy anniversary editions of magazines, the catalogs of ‘the best and the worst’ developments in the newspapers and panel discussions on TV on the’ celebratory and grievous moments’ for 2007.

Since there will be all this and more to assimilate, I promise to keep this post on my learnings and observations on media in 2007 as brief as possible.

The Fall of Simplistic Media Relations and the Rise of Space Crunch

This report in the Business Standard on the record number of product launches this year corroborated what I have been experiencing in my daily media outreach as a Public Relations professional. While in the past 2 years we have seen an increase in the number of newspapers, magazines and TV channels, this increase is hugely outpaced by the number of brands in the market today. Given their new presence in the space and therefore the obvious need for visibility, media relations IS BOUND TO occupy a significant place in their communication plans. The RESULT is the impending reality for the PR professionals –

- More press conferences, more on-ground events, and fewer journalists to attend the same

- Increasing competition from within. E.g. If I am handling 2-3 brands in the same space (colas, shampoos, etc.) from the same company, no longer am I faced with crunch in media space due to other cola or shampoo brands but also by my own brands.

In-Transit – traditional media in the internet space

In the past year, we have constantly debated about the rise of consumer generated media as an alternative to the traditional media and yet the undeniable significance of traditional media in our lives. What I think we haven’t spoken enough is the transition and consolidation of the offline media in the online space -

- Level one – the stories carried in the print publications are also displayed in their online editions

- Level two – online editions of traditional media are creating completely unique content. So IBN-Live has a separate editorial team that shoots stories independently of CNN-IBN as also the leading financial papers as the ET and BS that regularly update the content

- Level three – growth of geography-centric portals that either aggregate content from other sources or create their own content. Again they function either independently for that region or are part of a larger portal.E.g. while doing a standard check on Google for stories on an event that we had recently concluded for a client in Bangalore, I came across a completely unique footage of the event on AOL, City Guide, Bangalore. I was quite fascinated how this individual had attended the event, interviewed the relevant stakeholders including our spokesperson, and created compelling content from the same.

Digital media – and the Crown of Expertise goes to…

While we can look forward to a full-fledged battle in the year ahead, this year has been interesting in terms of the claim for the coveted title of MSM (Masters in Social Media). From advertising agencies, PR agencies, smaller digital agencies and independent bloggers, all have been trying to co-opt this emerging medium of communication and build salience for themselves in the space. The verdict is still to be out but I suspect the winners are going to be those who are not scared of making and learning from mistakes and respect the dynamism of medium enough to realize that it is impossible to ever fully “know” it.

I wonder if the above post fits the definition of “brief” :). Here’s wishing all the readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

PS: Do pitch in what you thought were the trends, developments that stood out for you in the year 2007.

Tech Tags: pr public+relations india

I briefly debated internally before writing this piece - do we the campaigners of the communication age actually need to discuss something as mundane as a phone call and an email. I mean standing at the footsteps of a virtual revolution that will potentially change our business interactions (as it already has our personal ones), do we still need to discuss if we have got the basics right?

My instinctive sense from observing the everyday use of these basic tools is – YES. We often see people around complain about the ‘delay’ caused in taking action due to email ping pong. And there are those who spend hours over phone trying to persuade and “explain” but the party on the other end, “just doesn’t understand”! (It would be worth sharing similar experiences that any readers of this post may have had and actually help explore this theme better)

Most of us haven’t read text books on email and phone etiquette and manage reasonably well, following invisible guidelines based on our judgment and convention around. It however is interesting to reflect upon the cohesively derived, commonsensical “purpose” of each tool.

So we mostly use an email -

• To document any important conversation
• For proof
• For reference
• To bring the different parties on the same page
• Minimise the presumptions and assumptions
• Maximise clarity on the subject
• To manage expectations
• To ‘detail’ out the thoughts/ideas/action-points
• To keep everyone in the ‘loop’ (Cc and Bcc)
• To record our identity in the recipient’s system

Similarly we use a phone call –

• To reach out in case of urgency
• To make a conversation .i.e. debate, discuss, clarify, bounce off fresh ideas
• To bring a human touch, to lend a voice, a personality to the text
• To undertake quick action

While we broadly use these tools for one of the above reasons, sometimes we bring more obstruction to communication and action through our usage. Therefore when an email is used to just “push matters onto the other party” and as a delay tactic, it is not the optimal use of the tool. When an email is sent to avoid a telephone exchange or perhaps avoid an impending conflict situation, it isn’t in the best interest of that relationship. Similarly, when a phone call is made at an unearthly hour and breaches the privacy of an individual it is literally a “wrong call”. When the urgency of the matter is only one-sided (e.g. pitching a story to a journalist when he is filing his story) or when a person is subjected to a string of calls with scant regard to his priorities or to protocol, then the call ceases to be an effective (and at times even acceptable) means of communication.

So, the next time you find yourself in the middle of email warfare, take a moment to reflect on your choice of weapon. Maybe a good thing to do is to think of the sender as the girl in the Close-up commercial who used to croon – “Talk to me” (since real life is more interactive than a commercial, go ahead and oblige the sender with a plain telephone conversation :))

Tech Tags: pr public+relations india

This post is specifically dedicated to young professionals in Public Relations who in the years to come will be the change agents for the industry

I am someone who not so long back, made the transition from a PR student to a Public Relations professional (yes PR to Public Relations ) . From attending endless sessions on “what is a press release”, “what are the 5 must-dos for a press briefing”, to more exciting prospects of real-life work experience at an internship to the final placement week, I have been through the regim of any average communication student.

While I am not the right person to speak about the improvement areas for PR academia, I feel there are gaps between what one is taught in a communication school to what the ground realities at work are. In this post, I have shared some thoughts based on my experiences as a young professional –

1. Press briefing, press release, newsletter are NOT Public Relations only Public Relations tools. While we learn what they are, it is also important to know, why do we need them in the first place? How will they help us meet the objective that we have set for the client
2. One of the faculty at our communication college used to say – “it’s a big bad corporate world out there” and nearly made us feel that we were not “prepared” to take-on the expectations of this world. I have come to believe that the world will remain as “bad” as well allow it to be. Yes, we need to be aware about the rigor that our role demands. But when it comes to client expectations, they cannot be static views and the process needs participants from both ends
3. Publicity is a component of Public Relations and not a synonym for Public Relations. We often see a cynicism creep in among the younger lot who feel, “if the client has hired us to get coverage, that’s our job, how do we do anything besides that”? I think we can address this by just constantly asking ourselves, how else I can deliver value to my client. Isn’t the entire logic of having a 3rd party counsel you, based on the fact that it offers an unbiased and often a unique insight into the situation? I think the first task for us is to have that faith, that a) it IS our job to think of such unique insights b) it may require personal initiative from our end , to drive the needle of client/media perception and that it is worth the effort
4. Myth - Since Public Relations is a more operational function, you can learn it only at work place. There is no theory, no one can teach you Public Relations. During our college days, I remember our advertising and media-planning friends nod heads intently about the GRP/TRP jargon and sneer at the “how do you deal with media” sort of classroom sessions. What I have come to realise at the workplace is that understanding the value of “reputation”, is not an inborn talent that each of us are gifted with. It is something that requires a fair amount of theoretical introspection backed by practical understanding. I certainly did not read Edward Bernays during college and did not know that crisis communication is not just about reading a case study on Tylenol and Johnson & Johnson
5. (Since there was so much heart-burn about this issue during college, let me end with my two cents about it :)) The difference between advertising and Public Relations is not so much about being paid-for and free mode of communication as much about functioning in a controlled environment (advertising) and learning to function in an environment lacking control (Public Relations). As I recollect one of my friends say, “in advertising, once scheduled, only a natural disaster can stop your press insertions from appearing next day. In Public Relations, the environment is dynamic and reactions/actions from stakeholders are difficult to predict.

Photo Source: www.schoolsafety.us

Tech Tags: pr public+relations india

Photograph Source: Time Magazine

This post does not qualify under the head of “Public Relations”, “digital media” or “trends in communication”, that the readers of IPRB may be used to. The author however in her attempt to observe the underlying currents of all these heads, in this inaugural post, seeks your indulgence

I have been mulling over for some time now on the bit in The World is Flat where Friedman talks about the challenges of dual identities that we face today. As a consumer we want the best products at the cheapest rates (the labour conditions and environmental protection then not highest on our priority). However as a citizen we are concerned about how we treat people and our nature.

I feel the same duality everyday when I read newspapers – as a PR professional/Friedman’s consumer I reverently look at the mainstream media as a tool that enables me to connect my client with its audience. However as a common reader/citizen, I am less reverent and more critical of the same media for its status quo approach and endless sting operations.

An article in the Time magazine got me further thinking about the duality perhaps of a different kind that exists in our identities in the virtual space. One look at the “I, me, myself” broadcasting networks (read – blogs, social networks) gives us a window to very interesting paradoxes –

• Freedom to express vs. anxiety to impress
• I am what I am vs. I am what my orkut testimonials, Facebook superwall say I am
• My life is an open book that can be accessed from MySpace vs. it’s an abridged (painfully orchestrated version) of the open book where only the best looking friends qualify as “illustrations”

Many of us feel eager to learn how we can apply the marketing logic in this digital world. How do we get our brands to participate in the daily lives of these customers? Participate not just offline when they are watching TV, shopping in a mall, or eating-out but also online, when they are exchanging notes on how ugly the TV host looked, what they bought from the mall and what is the latest fast-food joint that others can’t afford to miss out on.I am still looking for these answers.What I think I do know is –

• As citizens of these virtual networks we are all aware of the “hot buttons” and motivations basis which each of us thrive in this space. We need to use THIS knowledge as insiders/citizens and not be overwhelmed by the offline marketer/brand representative in us
• We need to keep our eyes open about where are we going with all this? Is there a somewhere a protest lining up against this “free economy of words and thought recession”?
• What is the role that we plan to play in the over all scheme? Will it speedup the resistance against this age of “over-communication” or will it help find a balance?

I would love to know your thoughts.

Tech Tags: pr public+relations india