Embracing the Future: Trends in PR

Public Relations (PR) is a constantly evolving field that thrives on adaptability and staying ahead of the curve. As we step into a new era marked by technological advancements and shifting societal norms, PR professionals must be prepared to embrace emerging trends that will shape the industry's landscape. In this blog post, we will explore some of the exciting upcoming trends in PR and how they can revolutionize the way organizations communicate and engage with their audiences.

Authentic Influencer Marketing:

Influencer marketing has been a powerful tool for brands to reach their target audience. However, in recent years, consumers have become more discerning and are seeking authenticity. The upcoming trend in PR involves partnering with influencers who genuinely align with the brand's values and have a loyal and engaged following. This shift towards authenticity will lead to more meaningful influencer collaborations and better audience engagement.

Purpose-driven PR:

In an age where consumers prioritize social responsibility, purpose-driven PR is gaining momentum. Organizations are expected to demonstrate a genuine commitment to causes that matter. PR professionals will need to focus on creating impactful campaigns that highlight their brand's purpose, whether it's sustainability, diversity, or social justice. Aligning the brand's values with meaningful actions will strengthen its reputation and build trust among stakeholders.

Data-driven Decision Making:

The rise of big data and analytics has transformed the way PR professionals measure and evaluate the success of their campaigns. In the future, data-driven decision making will become even more crucial. PR practitioners will need to leverage analytics tools to gain insights into audience behavior, sentiment analysis, and campaign performance. By harnessing data, PR teams can optimize their strategies, target specific demographics, and deliver tailored messages that resonate with their audiences.

Integrated Communication:

Gone are the days when PR solely relied on traditional media channels. The integration of various communication channels, including social media, influencer marketing, content creation, and digital advertising, is becoming the norm. PR professionals must have a holistic approach, seamlessly blending these channels to create cohesive and consistent messaging across different platforms. Integrated communication ensures a broader reach and enhances the overall effectiveness of PR campaigns.

Crisis Communication in the Digital Age:

With the prevalence of social media, crisis can spread rapidly and have a significant impact on an organization's reputation. PR professionals must be prepared to handle crises in real-time, with strategies that address both traditional and digital media. Crisis communication plans should include social media monitoring, swift response mechanisms, and transparent communication to mitigate any potential damage to the brand's image.

The world of PR is evolving, and staying up-to-date with upcoming trends is crucial for professionals in the field. By embracing authenticity in influencer marketing, focusing on purpose-driven PR, leveraging data for decision making, adopting integrated communication strategies, and mastering crisis communication in the digital age.

It is key for an organization to position themselves for success in this ever-changing landscape. working with the right agency that is embracing these trends, organizations can build stronger relationships with their audiences, establish their credibility, and drive meaningful engagement in the years to come.

For more information visit our website at www.channelpr.in or write to our PR specialists at info@channelpr.in

CASE STUDY: Blow Up Campaign To Save Public Property

Social Objective: In a democratic setup everyone has a right to protest. But in our country people often forget their fundamental duty to protect public property. Thus with the idea of promoting the cause of “save public property and abjure violence” IndiaPicture launched the campaign “Blow up” conceptualized and co created by Publicis Capital and supported by iCongo. The novel idea of campaign was to provide potential protestors with free images of public property to burn and vandalize instead of real public property thus using the power of images to convey the message.

Marketing Objective: The central idea of the campaign to use the power of images to safeguard loss of public property is conceptualized based on the core function of IndiaPictures, who are India’s leading photo stock company and come from family legacy of oldest photo studio in Kashmir- The Mahatta’s. If successful, the conceptualiser of this social campaign Publicis India also could utilize this campaign as their nomination in social campaign category to Cannes and other respected advertising fraternity awards. Communication Objective: To create awareness and generate interest about Blow up- an Indiapicture initiative to save public property during protests and agitation, promote the brain behind the campaign namely Dushyant Mehta, CEO IndiaPicture, Emmanuel Upputuru, National Creative Director, Publicis India and also Jeroninio "Jerry" Almeida, Chief Volunteer at ICONGO.

PR Strategy: Channel PR devised a strategy that brings out the central idea of the fundamental duty of saving the public property and using the power of images in providing a unique alternative to minimize the damage to the public property. The concept of ‘Power of Images’ was in-synch with the Brand IndiaPicture – India’s leading photo stock company and the PR campaign was focused to utilize this connection to create a brand value proposition for IndiaPicture.

PR Campaign: The PR campaign’s effort for “Blow Up” was to give it such proportions that set it as an example for an alternative way of protest and promote it so widely and strongly so as to fulfill its objective of spreading the message of saving public property. The idea was to not promote it as “just another social cause event” but a truly meaningful social initiative by people who have experienced and have deeply felt about the issue of damage to public property. The Valley background of the Mehta brothers, founders of IndiaPicture and their experience with protests and riots during their childhood there. Thus besides generating buzz and get the media for the main event of “Blow Up” in a wide array of media formats the one-on-one interaction of the key spokespersons behind the campaign pre, post and during the event was organized with some of the main publications to get in-depth coverage on all the aspects associated with it. The online news dissemination was also done so as to support the online visibility of the campaign which due to its use of website in providing pictures has a crucial role of webspace.

SWOT Analysis:

Strength:

• A unique social initiative · The burning issue of loss to public property
• Already successful at some areas with history of protests – Jat/Gujjar community and Bihar
• Leaders associated with protests of Gujjar community associating with the even and endorsing its viewpoint
• Brought together politicians, past protestors, social activists and administrators to channel a thought process in a right direction
• The central idea of the campaign matched perfectly with the work area of IndiaPicture
• The legacy of The Mahatta studio and the Kashmir background of IndiaPicture founders

Weakness:

• The on-ground activities of burning the images by protestors had already happened at various places and hence the main event didn’t have a visual peg specially for electronic media
• Burning images and effigies of the real object could also be misinterpreted as promoting violence

Opportunities:

• Social campaigns and CSR initiatives are mostly received well by both people and media in India The Anna Hazarey’s fast-unto-death protest movement was at its peak during the time, and hence the issue of peaceful protest was a hot cake
• The Gujjar/Jat protests had recently caused an ample amount of damage to both state government and Indian railways due to loss in public property

Threats:

• The Anna Hazarey issue also was equally a threat with most journalists of the beat were busy covering his breaking of fast
• The social campaign being seen as just another ad campaign with a CSR angle

Evaluation: The Public Relations campaign was successful in bringing the campaign to notice to a wide spectrum of audience through strategic communication and getting third party endorsement from both traditional and online media. Overall the focus of the campaign was successful in not just promoting the event but to translate the social value of the idea to a unique brand value proposition for IndiaPictures, Publicis India and ICONGO.

CASE STUDY: Techtronics Education

Business Objective: To revolutionize the Indian School Education System under the “National Curriculum Framework” of NCERT, and provide a hands-on, activity based learning system to school students. Techtronics helps schools in setting up and running robotics activity clubs and teacher training programs all across India.

Marketing Objective: To cater to Learning by Doing –the mantra behind Techtronics Education. Started in 2006, Techtronics Education has tied up with world’s leading learning solutions provider and manufacturer of products for hands-on, activity based learning - LEGO Education - as their exclusive partner and distributor in India. They also planned to extend this system to a franchise model to expand it beyond schools.

Communication Objective: To create awareness about Techtronics Education and its products and programmes and to establish the Techtronics brand as a key player in revolutionizing the Indian education sector with the help of Robotics in education and activity based learning.

Focus Area: Apart from the overall brand building process for Techtronics the PR mandate also included to specifically highlight the involvement of Techtronics Education in exclusively organizing the Indian chapters of World Robot Olympiad (WRO) – the prestigious Indian Robot Olympiad (IRO) and FIRST LEGO League (FLL) India.

PR Strategy: Channel PR devised a two tier PR Strategy that on one hand took an overall brand building approach at a macro level while on the other hand focused on supporting and expanding the reach of Techtronics Education and its activities at its target regions at a micro level.

PR Campaign: For the overall brand promotion strategy Channel PR focused on establishing the credentials of the brand, establishing the key spokesperson Mr. Sudhanshu Sharma and Mr. Apurva Kalia as torch bearers of robotics learning in education in India. The tools most intensively used here was One-on-One interactions and bridge building meetings with the media to not only generate quality coverage that clearly goes with the communication objective but also establishes a long lasting relationship with the media. The media activities were targeted to provide authenticated information to target group of students and parents across leading metropolitans.

In the micro approach Channel PR focused on the regional media to reach the target regions with most effective communication and support the on-ground activities. Key here was to promote the IRO and FLL events most effectively in the regional press as well as to translate their success to Techtronics Education at the national level to showcase their seriousness in utilizing robotics in activity based learning education paradigm. Also the brand stories were further put across at the regional level to support any expansion and development plan in the region in terms of franchise association. Further, World Robotics Olympiad was highlighted for a global presence.

Apart from the traditional media route the focus was also to have an online outreach, which is crucial to any organization and more so for one working in technology space and with youngsters. As part of the online mandate Channel PR created social media optimization, multimedia content sharing and blogging.

SWOT Analysis:
Strength:

• Techtronics Education is the exclusive partner and distributor in India for world’s leading learning solutions provider and manufacturer of products LEGO Education
• Techtronics Education is the proud Indian National Partner of World Robot Olympiad (WRO) and organizes the prestigious Indian Robot Olympiad (IRO) across the country
• Techtronics Education is also entrusted with organizing India chapter of FIRST LEGO League (FLL), jointly organized by FIRST, US and LEGO Group, Denmark
• Already successful associations with many top schools across the country and good reviews from students, parents and teachers

Weakness:

• Robotics perceived as a specialized branch of science and technology bearing less effects on other streams Conventional mindset of education just through text books still exists

Opportunities:

• India with its sheer population size is a huge marketAccording to sector experts India's education sector presents an investment potential of US$ 100 billion over next 5 years
• An increased competition in education has compelled Indian institutions to innovate their educational offerings and move beyond their traditional markets
• Activity based learning and education is being supported by the governing bodies like Ministry of Education, CBSE and NCERTThe topic was interesting for the youngsters which was reflected in the huge response on the social media platforms

Threats:

• Implementation weakness was the only threat as education and innovation in education are ever green branches of enterprise

Effect and Evaluation: The Public Relations campaign successful. The key objective of building up overall brand through a right mix of promoting the on-ground activities and highlighting profiling stories on the men behind the initiative was achieved successfully. The digital pr initiatives to build online visibility and reputation to the tech savvy target audience were impeccable and added further impetus to the business strategy to maximize outreach.

CASE STUDY: ALCATEL ICE3 MOBILES

Business Objective: Re- Launch Alcatel Mobiles in India. Alcatel Mobiles (A unit of TCT Mobiles, A JV between Alcatel and TCL Communications, based out of Hong Kong) to collaborate with distributor and after sales network in India.

Marketing Objective: To push sales by different marketing tools and build brand value in process.

Communication Objective: To use various communication tools to contribute to marketing brilliance.

SWOT Analysis:

Strength:

• Strong brand name and lineage of Alcatel being a European telecom giant with a cost effective pricing strategy
• India, an expanding market in mobile telephony, With deep mobile penetration in India is still raring for as much
• Tie-up with ICE Mobile Network Systems, one of the leading distributors and after sales network in India, also worked with Lava and Lemon Mobiles

Weakness

• Over cluttered market
• Struggle between brand name and real penetration. Mobile telephony giants like Nokia are getting battered from relatively lesser or even unknown players which are offering value for money and enhanced multi media features in rural/ semi urban markets. The real potential lies in rural/ semi urban market but one can also not ignore the urban market and power of brand value

Opportunities

• Huge untapped Indian market
• Alcatel a name to reckon with
• Design Edge of Alcatel over existing players
• Feature rich Alcatel handsets

Threats

• Cut throat competition. To carve a niche and drive effective sales is quite a task
• No existing user base (brand loyalty)
• ‘Me Too tag’
• Limited marketing spends

Brand Campaign: Low on cost and most effective tools were clear choice. Hence, below the line advertising was chosen. While this was helping reach potential customers directly but Alcatel ICE3 was clearly missing on larger formats of magazines, television, newspaper and online presence.

Also, the brand name was no where visible, as visibility was very selective and affected by the common perception of large brands advertising large scale in mobile telephony sector.

Channel Public Relations suggested Alcatel ICE 3 to choose Public Relations tool to build brand value and target mainstream media formats through editorial routes.

The Central Idea: Two mobile handset models along with two positive announcements were the communication spin planted for Alcatel ICE3 in year 2010- 11. The thought was clearly for the financial year 2010-11 to witness enough positive media exposure for the target audience to start reacting to the created impression.

The idea was PAN India impact through out the campaign considering the importance of all the segments of the Indian market.

Public Relations Campaign:

The launch year campaign was planned in a very strategic way. 2010-11 was clearly a very crucial year as the launch year- “You don’t get a second chance to create the first impression”.

The beginning of the campaign was the Launch phase, followed strategically by sustenance phase with positive announcements about the brand. The last phase for the year was launch of another model.

The flagship Alcatel ICE3 clamshell was the market initiation/ launch peg, enclosed is the media presence illustration.

To sustain and create a positive wave, strategically Alcatel ICE3 submitted entries for all the awards and bagged the CMAI excellence in design award.

To further enhance the positivity for the brand image communication peg on a brand ambassador was suggested and launched. Famous Hindi Cinema actor Kangna Ranaut was signed as the brand ambassador for the clamshell OT 808 along with the new stylish slider handset OT 880.

Clear Pitch-communicating effectively

Whenever there is a firsthand approach to communicate with the client, the most important thing to keep in mind is communication. A lot effort goes in planning how to present ourselves in front of the client so that the message gets conveyed with ease. What we don’t emphasize on is how coherent we are in our approach.

The idea is therefore to be as specific and clear so that the receiving end does not need to seek out for any hidden phrases. The message should be straight and sharply focused and not scattered. Moreover no matter how well you execute, it’s important to make right choices and develop right ideas. Quiet importantly the right ideas can generate from how clear, specific and sturdy the ideas are.

And last but not the least even the ideas that sound good makes a lot sense!

Social media – talking differently and creating ripples in the PR Industry

Today you pick up any magazine or newspaper you would find an article or two on the rise of social media in India. Be it on how the who’s who of every sector from politics to filmdom tweeting to the various comparative analyses on the user bases of social networking sites like facebook and orkut. This sudden importance imparted on the social media can also be seen by the communication planners of various organizations, who now are seriously making it a part of their communication media spectrum.

PR industry which was till now mostly about media follow-ups and coverage in traditional media, now like other communication fields, is waking up to the social media revolution. Even though digital communication as part of the PR industry is still at its very nascent stage there is actually a huge potential to it. By and large I can underline the following facts:

a) It gives you a direct control over messaging than conventional PR:
In conventional PR you have to depend upon the journalist’s discretion-on what and how he or she is going to interpret and convey your message. Also you need to be careful about the editorial and marketing policies of various media organizations when you wish to use them as a communication medium for your client or company.
But with respect to social media you are not bound by such restrictions except a few guidelines on propriety of the content etc. You have direct control over what you post online and you just have to know where and what to post that can catch maximum and relevant exposure to the right target audience.

b) You are in direct communication with your target audience:
Unlike the traditional PR your message does not surpasses to your intended target audience by a third party communication medium. Its you who take the communication directly to the place where your target audience is. This enables much more command over where and what message to place to gain maximum mileage in your target audience. It also provides a huge scope of interactivity. You can participate in discussion forums and not only gauge what your target audience is talking about but also formulate and implement your communication strategy according to it.

c) You are more focused with your approach:
Even though traditional media supporters will argue that with the choice of particular medium like trade magazines, business channels etc you can get more focused messaging towards your target audience, I would still say social media gives you much more edge over it. Even if you choose a specific class of media your message still gets a lot wasted. On the contrary with social media you get to explore the universe with different communities and discussion groups. For example a community on New Delhi will mostly have people from Delhi and would be interested in any news about Delhi & NCR.

In addition to above highlights, I further feel social media is not only about B-to-C communication. With professional networking sites and industry specific portals and blogs there is wide prominence of social media with respect to B-to-B communication and relationship building. And as a result any communication strategy today that discounts the social media cannot be considered complete!

Taking a New Route, Talking Something Different

What does one do when one reaches a stage where there is so much stored inside and very little vents to spill out all? Well, I guess start writing a blog. With Internet celebrating its Birthday it's yet another treat for us to acknowledge the way it has helped us establish communication with the universe.

As we move ahead each day, I guess it's all about the discipline of getting things done and executing it in an effective manner. As an individual if we get tuned in to get the tasks accomplished in more than a usual manner, the kind of efficiency expected from the society or organisation as a whole will be achieved on its own.

And yes, we truly need to blend ourselves to start managing processes in depth with a self commitment rather expecting it from others first...Remember any development expected has to start from within!!