Recently we conducted a survey among the readers of this blog on the top 5 PR agencies in India. The results are ready. Kudos to all these agencies, and to the professionals who voted for them. You make the Indian PR industry proud.

Top 5 PR agencies in HR policy
Text 100 (25), Genesis (17), Vaishnavi (15), Hanmer&Partners (15), PR Hub (13)

Top 5 for learning/ grooming
Genesis (21), Text 100 (17), Vaishnavi (13), Perfect Relations (13), Hanmer&Partners (12)

Top 5 in senior management
Genesis (19), Vaishnavi (18), Hanmer&Partners (14), Text 100 (12), Perfect Relations (11)

Top 5 in payscale
Text 100 (22), Genesis (20), Vaishnavi (20), 20:20 (15), Hanmer&Partners (12)

Top 5 in work-culture
Text 100 (24), Hanmer&Partners (17), Genesis (15), Vaishnavi (13), 20:20 (13)

(Number of votes)

Select recommendations by participants
1. There is a need to present a holistic communication strategy to the clients…rather than on media plans.
2. Educate the mass on the real role of PR: Public Relations and not merely Press Relations.
3. Initiatives should be taken to train PR professionals. Can explore more opportunities for grooming
4. PR industry needs to focus on treating employees and talent as professionals in any other
industry with respect to training, benefits, career development and pay packages, for the industry to grow and gain recognition
5. There are only 3 things which matters to associates - money, learning and environment.

Last time, questions were raised on why certain agencies were are not in the results. Please remember these agencies were voted by the participants, not by the survey owner.

Secondly, about the methodology and objective of this survey, like mentioned earlier, it’s nothing to do with agency performances. This survey was about popular perception. It’s said perception is as important as reality. That’s why we are in the business of PR. This survey is about what the readers of this blog think. Now who all the readers of this blog constitute, or whether they can in any way constitute some parts of the industry, is a question every individual has to answer for himself/ herself.

Here is the disclaimer. These are results from the votes by 50 random participants on this blog from a survey that was conducted for educational purposes, and do not represent the performances, skill set, or workings of any PR agency or professional, or any actual ranking in the industry. The India PR Blog do not take any responsibility of any outcoming from these results, and reserves the right not to reveal any explaination beyond what has been highlighted here.
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People, regarding the top 5 PR agencies survey results, let me try collate the data and put it out over the weekend. I tried doing that today but the responses were in a huge excel sheet and I didn’t have the energy left after 12 hours in office. I gave up. You know how it is like

Just one thing I forgot to mention. Surveygizmo is collecting your IP addresses along with your inputs. I found couple of repeated feedbacks from the same address. On the other hand, it could be also be 2-3 different people sharing a same computer. But I suppose I should count these as one feedback only.

For all those who haven’t voted yet, let’s put the survey out till Friday. One last day.

Big thanks to all those who have participated.

UPDATE: Survey closed. Please see results.

Technorati tags: PR, Public Relations, India, India PR,

Hi, remember the Top 5 PR agencies in India Survey? We have got 40 responses so far and will close it on Wednesday.Supposed that would be ok.

What is this survey all about? It is a survey about perception. Of what professionals in the industry think about the agencies. Let’s not go too deep into the turnovers and clients list, etc., etc., and complicate it. Let’s focus on the image- what people in the industry feel about particular agencies. After all, are not we in the business of image. It’s just like you go up to certain professionals in the industry and ask them which agencies are the best. The answers might depend lot on which agencies those people have worked for. But ask the same question to two dozen people and you get a feedback that you might perhaps use.

So this is just a gentle reminder to those who have not voted yet but want to, before the results come out. Cheers.

UPDATE: Survey closed. Please see results.

Technorati tags: PR, Public Relations, India,India PR,

Which PR agencies in India are the top 5 in HR policies and in being the greatest learning grounds for freshers and young PR professionals? Which are the top 5 agencies that have the greatest senior management who are looked up to by their colleagues as their best, most skilled, and most knowledgeable team leaders? Which agencies pay the best? Which are the top 5 agencies that have the greatest work culture in terms of how seniors treat their juniors, client servicing practices, media practices, working hours, team spirit, and an overall nice feel-good working environment?

Can we share our experiences and find out? Spend two minutes in this new survey -Top 5 PR agencies in India, and we will soon find out what the many PR professionals in India think. This is again a collaborated effort and we need everybody’s support in making this survey a success. We can have the results in say 2-3 weeks or so, depending on the responses. Let’s see how it goes.

In July we conducted the 1st unofficial Indian Public Relations Survey and rocked, despite some of the brickbats on the email. There were great responses too and it was worth it.

To participate in the survey, you can visit this link, or submit your responses here on this page itself. Time to rock again. (And by the way, thanks to Kami Huyse from Communication Overtones for letting know about this great survey tool)

UPDATE: Please leave the name and email part blank if you want to.

UPDATE: Survey closed. Please see results.

Technorati tags: PR, Public Relations, India, India Public Relations, India PR,Marketing, PR Survey,

So finally here are the results of the 1st Unofficial Indian Public Relations survey.

We have Text 100, Ogilvy, Perfect Relations, IPAN, 20:20 Media, Lewis PR, Bluelotus, Genesis, and Vaishnavi being voted by participants as the agencies with the best working culture.

Under the agencies with the worst working culture, we have Perfect Relations, yes again, Corporate Voice, IPAN, Genesis PR, and Prism PR.

Category with the highest number of votes received for the salary package for a trainee per month is Rs. 5-10k, for a Jr. Executive and an executive is Rs. 11-15k, for a Sr. Executive is Rs. 16-20k, for a Manager is Rs. 26-30k, and for a Director is Rs. 50-60k.

An average salary for a VP/ Branch Head is Rs. 1-1.5 lac, lowest being Rs. 50k, and highest being Rs. 2 lac. An average salary for a CEO I Rs. 2.5-3 lac, lowest being Rs. 70 k, and highest being Rs. 24 lac.

Read on…

Best PR agency one has worked in and why.

• 20:20 - culture, people, management, growth, exposure, mentors, HR, great role models who respect your views
• Text 100 - professional culture
• e,Lexicon - strategic insight on PR
• Perfect Relations - they raise upto the client’s expectation and deliver their service in style and in time, professionally managed organisation
• The PRactice - exposure and opportunity to grow is good
• Hanmer&Partners - freehand given by the mgmt, scope for initiatives, absence of strict adherence to hierarchy
• AceBrandwidth & Pulse - allowed to learn very fast and grow, challenging working environment compared to a big agency - hence one need to grow to survive
• Ogilvy PR - as they treat brands pretty much the same way they do in advtg, think brands think insights, think insights think ways of influencing people with the relevant insights, one of the rare agencies that tries to ensure every activity on brand leads to a “sum of more than the total”
• Vaishnavi - good clientele, great pay package, and freedom at work
• Also, ISRO, National Dairy Development Board, Anand - freedom to conceive and implement various PR activities specific to the needs of the organisation

Worst PR agency one has worked in and why.

• Perfect Relations - bossy culture, didn’t like the existing culture in the organisation
• Genesis - on New Holland Tractor account, agri business and the target customers - farmers - do not match with stilettos clad girls; also absence of culture, people, management, growth, exposure, mentors, HR
• Percept Profile - initially there were only 2 people in Delhi
• Hanmer&Partners - very unprofessional, very biased
• Corporate Voice - terrible work atmospehere, unnecessary interference from management with no responsibility taken by them, undue pressure on employees

What is a good salary package for a trainee per month?

• Below 5 k - 32.26% votes
• Rs. 5-10 k - 64.52% votes
• Rs. 11-15k - 3.23% votes
• Rs. 11-15k - 3.23% votes

Salary package for a Jr. Executive?

• Below Rs. 5 k - 12.90% votes
• Rs. 5-10 k - 35.48% votes
• Rs. 11-15 k - 48.39% votes
• Rs. 16-20 k - 3.23% votes

Salary package for an Executive?

• Rs.5-10k - 12.90% votes
• Rs.11-15k - 45.16% votes
• Rs.16-20k - 35.48% votes
• Rs.21-25k - 6.45% votes

Salary package for a Sr.Executive?

• Rs.11-15k - 16.13% votes
• Rs.16-20k - 38.71% votes
• Rs.21-25k - 32.26% votes
• Rs.26-30k - 12.90% votes

Salary package for a Manager?

• Rs.11-15k - 19.355 votes
• Rs.16-20k - 9.68% votes
• Rs.21-25k - 22.58% votes
• Rs.26-30k - 25.81% votes
• Rs.31-35k - 22.58% votes

Salary package for a Sr. Manager?

• Rs.16-20k - 29.03% votes
• Rs.21-25k - 12.90% votes
• Rs.26-30k - 19.35% votes
• Rs.31-35k - 12.90% votes
• Rs.36-40k - 25.81% votes

(Here we have Rs. 16-20k getting the highest number of votes surprinsingly, lower than a Manager’s highest a boomer)

Salary package for a Director?

• Rs.30-40k - 38.71% votes
• Rs.41-50k - 16.13% votes
• Rs.50-60k - 29.03% votes
• Rs.61-70k - 16.13% votes

Salary package for a group manager?

• Rs.41-50k - 38.71% votes
• Rs.50-60k - 19.35% votes
• Rs.61-70k - 16.13% votes
• Rs.71-80k - 16.13% votes
• Rs.81-90k - 3.23% votes
• Rs. 1 -1.5 lac - 6.45% votes

(Again here, we have Rs. 41-50k getting the highest number of votes, lower than a director’s highest a boomer)

Salary package for a VP/ Branch head?

• Lowest quote - Rs. 50 k
• Average quote - Rs. 1 - 1.5 lac
• Highest quote - Rs. 2 lac

Salary package for a CEO?

• Lowest quote - Rs. 70 k plus
• Average quote - Rs. 2.5 - 3 lac
• Highest quote - Rs. 24 lac

Agency with the best working culture?

• Text 100
• Ogilvy
• Perfect Relations
• IPAN
• 20:20 Media
• Lewis PR
• Bluelotus Communications
• Genesis
• Vaishnavi

Agency with the worst working culture?

• Perfect Relations
• Corporate Voice
• IPAN
• Genesis
• Prism PR

Participants’ years of experience in the PR industry

• Under 5 years - 40%
• 5-10 years - 23.33%
• 10-15 years - 10%
• 15-20 years - 10%
• 20 plus years - 23.33%

Disclaimer: The results above are the outcome of the 1st Unofficial Indian Public Relations Survey that was conducted for experimentive purposes only in the Public Relations India Open Source PR blog from June 26 - July 25, 2006. The results are indicative of only the votes given by those 30 participants who visited this blog and chose to participate in the survey. These results might not necessarily reflect on the true workings, image, status, or ranking of any PR agency or other organisations in India. Readers who read this are advised to treat the results as opinions of some select PR professionals from the industry, who willingly shared their inputs on conditions of anonymity, and should be awared that these inputs might be subjective.
Also,

• Inputs from participants on the first two questions were removed if they didn’t provide valid reasons why they chose that particular agency.
• Agencies mentioned in the results of the first and last two questions are in random order.

My advice- just read it for kicks, smile, tell a friend, and don’t read too much into it. I wouldn’t have said this had we got hundred plus participants. But are these results all crap? Is there an element of truth somewhere in the results? We have many industry professionals with years of experience giving in their inputs to this survey. Maybe somewhere, there might be. I leave that to each reader. I have done mine.

All said and done, thanks a lot to all participants. We know at least you care about the industry.
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