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Why do PR people pamper the media?

When I was a caterpillar in the PR profession, I used to enjoy learning everything about the media. Making media contacts was one of my favorite roles. I engrossed in it to the extent that I shifted my profile entirely to media relations.

However, one thing that has confused me is pampering the media unnecessarily. I was stunned seeing my colleagues giving endless gifts to the media. It was a shock as in my professional course of Advertisement and PR I have been taught about professionalism. But I could not see any professionalism in taking gifts for attending events or for doing stories.

During my professional traveling so far for events, I have seen a culture that many times the media asks for gifts openly. They ask bluntly about what gift you are giving. It was really shocking when some of them asked straightforwardly for cash in an envelope to attend an event.

It’s not only the PR agency that encourages this culture but somewhere the clients are also responsible for the same. One of the biggest players in automobile industry thinks that if they do not give gifts to media, the event will be considered incomplete. They also think that the media will not write their stories without gifts irrespective of the fact how important the news they are sharing is.

Last year we had a big event in Rajasthan. One night before the event, a government minister died in a road accident. I started getting calls from the media till late night saying that they would not be able to attend the event as a minister has died and they will be busy in that. They asked me what we are giving as gifts. I was left with no option but to tell them and next day I found all media persons at the event. I believe gifts were more important than the death of the minister.

This seems more of buying the media rather than indulging in media relations. Or in other words, we can say this is the another definition of MEDIA BUYING in PR industry.

Later on I came to know that this is not the case in tier two cities alone, in metros, the scene is worst. Even in the capital, so many journalists from reputed media houses attend events just for gifts. Sometimes journalists give phone calls and ask for gifts without attending the event. And of course even after this, the story is not assured. But if the editor will eliminate the story, the journalist will never say that he or she has taken a gift from PR agency so please don’t stop the story. There are journalists who create issues for not getting the gifts. They make excuses for not attending the events from next time and also try their best to stop the stories.

It is a regular practice that has been carried by PR, journalists, and clients. But it creates a problem for small organizations who can’t afford expensive gifts for the media. We have noticed few journalists who try to stop stories of PR agencies that refuse to give gifts.

Another issue I believe which doesn’t make any sense is the pick ‘n’ drop for media. There is no point providing such facilities to media. In exceptional cases like providing drop back facility to female journalists in the night or taking media out for a day is quite acceptable. But calling a cab at your place four to five hours before the event and using the same for the rest of the day is really unethical. It really doesn’t make a sense to provide a cab to such a place which is just half kilometer away from the venue of the event. Still many media persons ask for pick ‘n’ drop for these small distances, despite the fact they get paid from their companies for traveling officially. They say it openly if we want us to attend an event, you have to provide the pick ‘n’ drop. PR agencies need to spare one executive to coordinate the cabs for these special guest of our. Sometime it feels like doing transportation business rather than real PR.

There are also some people who attend events without being invited for it and they openly ask for gifts too. They belong to such media houses, which are not relevant either for PR agencies or for the clients. Some people do not belong to any media houses but still claim to be journalists and ask for gifts. Few retired journalists are sometimes also being noticed attending events for their share. Sometimes they start misbehaving or threatening PR persons and try to show them the MEDIA POWER.

Sometimes they ask for two gifts at one go. Helping media in getting a discount in a clients’ product is acceptable but giving gifts, cabs, and other facilities to them to get the stories done is extremely unethical.

Needless to say that they have stronger network than any other in this industry. They update themselves with all the events everyday with the exact timings and venue. Sometimes clients ask us to find out the events happening on a particular date and we find it difficult to find all the relevant details. I must say it is an indirect learning for all of us.

I have noticed Mumbai as the only place where these practices are not followed. In the rest of the country the meaning of professionalism goes for a toss. I don’t know who is to be blamed for this. PR agencies or Clients? Obviously we cannot blame the media as we only support these practices for one or the other reason. I feel this process will continue like this and media will keep on taking the advantage of it. But still I want to stop this crap. Don’t know how.

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How to prove PR is beyond Press Relations

Yesterday I read an interview piece in one of the advertising news sites in India in which a senior professional of a PR agency sadly admitted perhaps PR is still just press relations in India. Another old report from PATA, which I happened to read yesterday, said almost the same thing. Reading these made me a bit sad and an inner voice told me to prove somehow it was wrong. PR is more than keeping our journalists friends happy and getting bit fat coverage for our clients. Sure our clients see more value in PR agencies than just that.

Maybe I was just trying to humor myself.

In a recent meeting with a tech major, the corp comm. asked when we presented some non media activities - where is the PR mileage? That question came many times over and however hard we tried to explain, he wasn’t convinced. Slowly it dawned to me that PR to him means media coverage. His question was actually - how do we get media coverage out of that activity?

Are we this bad?

Here are some examples (and more here) I gathered based on my own experiences and observations PR agencies don’t do just press relations anymore in India. Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

1. Strategy: I know this is an overused word. But there are clients, and big names there, that depends majorly on PR agencies to come with the entire launch programmes for its products. Not just that there is a marketing agency working for it and a PR agency has to supplement those marketing initiatives with media activities.

There are big agencies in the market known for their ‘strategy development’. For example a particular company comes with a request saying they are not going anywhere. ‘Please help us what we are doing wrong, what we should do, where are the opportunities, etc’. (Although not said in those many words often). Our agency specially conducts strategy workshops for new clients wherein the key messages and positioning are worked out before the start of any campaign, which are appreciated by majority of the clients.

2. Advocacy: Ok I don’t want to brag about my own agency but last year we did an award winning social campaign wherein our people successfully managed to get many TV stars and important government personalities to speak on public fora supporting the cause. None of the celebrities charged a dime, and even agreed to do a series of road shows. I guess this is an area where PR agencies have an edge over other agencies. For instance, approach these celebrities with your ad agency and the cost factor might just be put up front.

3. Investor relations/government relations: There are PR agencies known for their investor relations/IPO based services, analyst meets, or government relations services. These are not necessarily media activities.

4. Social media: The social media provides a new opportunity for PR agencies to connect with or clients’ customers bypassing the traditional media. I have written about this before mentioning that PR agencies with established social media practice will have an edge on blogger relations and on popularising/marketing a property online and among the various social media influencers and users than say a standalone social media agency that will primarily focus on the development part. I might be wrong but that seems to be my understanding from what I notice. The social media today provides a huge learning opportunity for PR agencies and leverage their expertise of planning a campaign and reaching out to a client’s stakeholders.

5. Editorial services: I am not talking about press releases, fact sheets, Q&As, or spokesperson briefing documents but about white papers, case studies, speeches, website content, etc. that might not have anything to do with any journalist ever but serve other important purposes to a client. Some of the agencies excel in providing these services with dedicated editorial and copywriting teams.

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Rating the PR agencies in India

Directory of PR agencies and freelancers in India

An interesting part of our work-in-progress ‘PR agencies and PR freelancers directory’ project might be the community ratings of PR agencies. Any reader of India PR Blog can do a rating out of 5 stars on an agency or a freelancer listed on the directory. We can use the comments section to share our constructive views on any agency. That will be nice.

Have look at some of our pages (in progress):

Index of the PR agencies and PR freelancers directory

Delhi PR Agencies and PR freelancers directory

Maharashtra PR Agencies and PR freelancers directory

Tamil Nadu PR Agencies and PR freelancers directory

Chandigarh PR Agencies and PR freelancers directory

Update:
Orissa PR Agencies and PR freelancers directory

We are adding more. Keep your information on your agencies and services coming. Details on submission are here.

Preview of the Directory of PR Agencies and PR Freelancers in India: A Work in Progress

Some time back, we announced the ‘Directory of PR agencies and PR freelancers in India’ project here at India PR Blog, and now we are ready to provide the initial listings of the agencies from Mumbai and Delhi. We thank all those who have taken the time out to send in their information. This is a work in progress and we plan to add all Indian States and many more details of agencies and freelancers soon. So here we go:

Index of the India PR agencies and PR freelancers directory page.

Maharashtra PR agencies and freelancers page.

Delhi PR agencies and freelancers page.

In order to make this project successful, we hope that those who haven’t yet send in their details do so asap. Guidelines for submission are here.

About this directory:

The directory is an endeavor to showcase the diverse talent and local know how of the various PR professionals across the country. As the India PR blog is becoming a comprehensive resource for not only PR professionals and agencies but also for corporations and organisations seeking professional information on their PR and communications requirements, this directory will serve as a ready online guide available to them free and 24/7.

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The balancing act: Client expectations vs. PR agency performance

Has it not been debated before? Yes, it has been. Have we not wasted enough cups of coffee arguing over it? Yes, we have. So, are we ready to bury and tombstone the topic? No, not in the near future.

The debate over what a client says he wants and what he really wants will live for as long as the marketing communications and, more specifically, the PR industry lives and thrives. The briefs will always be brief and the expectations will mean ‘under promise, over deliver’ (the mantra that all PR managers chant around their mentees). I would have never brought this up but for an incident that spewed out the rotting question – should I believe what the client wants or am I looking in the wrong direction?

Picture this – the Chairman of a large and well-respected real-estate major briefs a PR team about what is expected from the PR campaign. Brand image, reputations, lineage, forthcoming IPO: almost everything is discussed. The expectations are clear – the company is to be projected as the leading real estate player in India. Everything sounds positive. The agency has bagged the account and is eager, satisfied and very comfortable in the extra soft, leather sofa. The old man seems a decent bloke. “No sweat, Mr. Chairman; your will be done.”

The team steps out of the suite on the 10th floor and is immediately ensconced by the till-now reticent Corp Comm manager. Two things are made clear. The cheque will be signed after the press coverage report is received. Whatever the Chairman said was gas. The success of the campaign would be directly proportional to the thickness of the media coverage report, which should start thickening as soon as the team leaves the client’s office.

Now, wait a minute! Where exactly do brand strategy, image management, PR policy figure in this dry and very hollow scheme of things?

We can’t deny that there are more opportunities for PR professionals in India than ever before. Companies have started valuing the importance of public relations for their business. But when it comes to measuring its success it is still how thick a press coverage report looks. Building relationships with the target audience, nurturing a public image, paying attention to the demands of that ever important ingredient to your success called Press – these concepts will still take some time to bloom. So when a new luxury store is opened, the thrust is not on the years the brand will spend in India and how it should be perceived by the niche consumers. Sadly it’s on how many video cameras are seen at the launch and how many press clips appear after the hackneyed P3 party.

But we should not be complaining too much. There was a time when PR meant going on media rounds with bad photocopies and even worse media lists. Press coverage was really about cutting every single newspaper snippet and admiring it with the zest of a mother looking at a new-born baby. Things have changed a bit and the same things are now done with much more style…

In hind sight, the days when more and more companies would expect agencies to walk the talk and do some real PR wizardry are round the corner. A few of us need to get out of the complacent mode and be willing to do things differently. If the ‘MNC culture’ (another cliché awaiting burial) has survived and thrived, we can be sure that more professional understanding between PR agencies and companies can’t be far behind. Till then the debate will continue and many more words will be wasted. But only briefly…