Marketing Communications in the days ahead.

For many years now we have been hearing that traditional advertising is not the way of the future, and of late we hear that the advent of paid news will make traditional PR untenable soon, and the only way ahead is online communication and all that it entails-emails, blogs, articles, social media posts, online video, webinars, and anything else IT comes up with. Is it really true? Are we completely and irrevocably going to move away from the familiar comfort of dispatching information through good old newspapers, television, radio, magazines et al? In India where the newspaper industry continues to grow on the back of many more millions emerging from poverty and being able to buy and read newspapers, albeit the vernacular ones such a scenario seems  very unlikely for a long time to come. The similar growth and decentralization of television channels in different parts of the country would also point to the continuing growth and relevance of traditional media.

This is however contrary to the trend in the western world where traditional media seem to be increasingly struggling to keep pace with the onslaught of modern online media-exemplified by the purchase of The Washington Post by Jeff Bezoz, founder and CEO of Amazon. The importance of online communication is undoubtedly far more pronounced over there with ever expanding budgets being allocated for effectively leveraging the medium which is becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. India is woefully inadequate in terms of Internet connectivity  with a mere 12.6% of the population having access; but in terms of sheer numbers at 74 million users it is at a highly impressive number three world wide. In terms of their purchasing power these 12.6% members of the Indian users pack an almighty punch, forming as they do the creme de la creme of the Indian society, whose spending patterns fully replicate those of their Western counterparts. It follows therefore that online communications has increasingly become an important component of any marketing strategy.

What promises to be a game-changer in online communications in India however is the emergence of smart mobile phones as a platform for receiving the Internet. With a gargantuan mobile phone subscriber base of 900 million, the possibilities for Internet commerce are immense. Already mobile handset manufacturers and mobile telephone service providers have respectively started creating cheaper smart phones and subscription plans to tap into these colossal numbers. The advantages of using online media over the traditional forms of media are clear and obvious. From costing a fraction of what the use of traditional media entails, to a more intimate interaction with the target audience by way of direct feedback and the possibility of exact measurement of impact created, online media wins hands down an all important markers of efficiency and effectiveness.

So notwithstanding the parallel growth of traditional media on account of demographic changes in India's vast interiors, online communications is going to lead the charge in reaching out to people in a more direct and effective way. With mass scale Internet connectivity through mobile phones promising to change the landscape and demographics of Internet usage in India we seem to be sitting on the cusp of an e commerce revolution.

The perils of being a Public Relations professional in India.

It is not easy to be a Public Relations professional in India. From being completely misunderstood as a profession to little or no appreciation of its tremendous importance to corporations and organisations,  Public Relations as a professional service has not received its due at all. This is quite unlike advertising and event management which are willy nilly recognized as bona fide professional industries.

In public perception Public Relations is equivalent to the dirty tricks departments of corporations, which somehow tries to pass on laudatory but half baked and often exaggerated information pertaining to their clients to a gullible press.  Nothing could be farther from the truth. PR professionals will not pass on any information that will not make sense, or is likely to be laughed off by a intrinsically and rightly skeptical Indian media.

Far from eating out of the hands of PR professionals as the world and sometimes the clients(who ought to know better) believe, journalists will not pick up even those stories which are obviously news worthy, for the simple reason, that they never have a dearth of news worthy stories. If a competent PR professional does seem to have a way with certain journalists, and is able to get his or herstory published, it most likely has to be the result of them having done their homework in terms of facts and research right, every time. This creates a bond of trust between the journalist and the PR representative. No serious PR practitioner will let anything spoil this symbiotic, but strictly professional relationship.

That is why it is critical that a PR professional choose his or her clients with care. Pedigree and integrity have to be the watchword here. You would put a years' old carefully built up relationship with senior journalists at risk if your clients weren't up to much good and you had to represent them. Of course for you to get those kinds of clients you need to have the commensurate skill set. Excellent communication skills, the ability to understand matters pertaining to business, and the capability of pitching relevant stories to the media.

In a far from perfect world, you will of course  come across clients who are megalomaniacs and patently unreasonable, PR representatives who are totally at sea about what is expected of them, and moronic journalists with the IQs of kindergarten children. As a PR person you need to be able to quickly identify the kind of clients you could develop a working relationship with, and the kind of journalists you can have an equal and mutually satisfying professional relationship with.

But by far the most challenging part of a PR representative's job has to be the safeguarding of their commercial interests. Most clients tend to overlook that positive news coverage is worth its weight in gold, and counts for much more than an exorbitantly priced ad. You pay for an ad and it gets published. There is no intellectualising and pitching involved. Besides most people don't believe what comes in ads. Do you get gratitude or gratefulness for news coverage you helped them get from the client? More of often than not there is quibbling about the size(kitne sq cm hai?), and how their product or service was bound to be covered by the press! Instances of clients not paying, or paying in part abound. That is why insisting on advance payments is always a wise option.

Why harp about content?

Everyone has been harping about the importance of content for a very long time now. So much so that it is beginning to sound cliched. Why then do marketing experts swear by content? Well apparently they have genuine reasons for plugging content. When was the last time you paid enough attention to a product being advertised on TV, to want to go ahead and buy it? Do you care to go through all the email messages you have a subscription for? You would probably not even look at direct mail.

If an overwhelming majority of marketers both to the direct consumers and other business marketers use content to sell their products and services, it is because they get tremendous bang for every buck they spend. Customers take to content quite easily and willingly as it is friendly, personal, highly informative and most importantly interactive. Brands realize this to the extent that many of them have become publishers of content. In fact traditional publishers are taking a leaf out of content marketing and digitizing their content platforms in order to survive and thrive in the new dispensation.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence supporting the efficacy of content marketing, and a lot of noise about it, the majority of businesses don't have an efficient and structured content marketing strategy  in place.This may be out of inertia, perceived lack of time or lack of appreciation of its benefits. However the business strategists of most companies only need to think about the sheer lost opportunity in their delaying the adoption of content marketing as an integral part of their marketing strategy going forward. The horse drawn carriage continued to be around much after the first motor car was invented. But it was only after everyone moved on to this new mode of transportation that the modern era truly began.

The inexorable expansion of the Internet and people's increasing engagement with it make it the best platform for intimately communicating with one's target audience. The ones who seize the opportunity and invest in a viable content marketing strategy will certainly have a head start over those who dilly dally. One should also bear in mind the fact that content marketing thrives on genuine content creation and not gimmickry. It's impact is organic and felt over time. Some of the biggest brands in the world realize this and take their content very seriously indeed. Sooner or later any business worth its while will have to do that to stay relevant.

Learning advocacy

Blowing your own trumpet or beating your own drum will not win you many fans. But having someone else advocate your cause will leave people intrigued. This is what lies at the heart of PR, but alas this basic fact is often forgotten in the day to day machinations that clients and PR consultants alike pass on as Public Relations. Advocacy lies at the very heart of  professional and ethical PR, and the more we veer away from this basic tenet, the more harm we cause to the cause.

Like it or not the origin of PR is shrouded in murky propaganda deployed by early twentieth century governments and industrialists of North America in pushing their agenda. By and by as PR as a profession moved towards respectability, it came to be realised that for it to be seriously considered as an agent of public good, it had to operate by a set of ethics. While it advocated the cause of its clients, it was required that it should do so by way of representing and communicating the facts in a manner that was above board and truthful. This in essence meant that the interests of the intended recipients of the message were recognized as being equivalent with those on whose behalf the message has been crafted.

The difference between advocacy and propaganda is the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship. In a democracy you have the right to free speech. Which means that you are free to publicly advocate any cause, as long as you convey facts and do not resort to lies or slander. You are at liberty to interpret and apply perspective, and people have the right to accept it or reject it. How successful you are depends upon the facts of what you are advocating and how skillfully you can represent them.

In the case of a dictatorship the messaging is controlled and force-fed. Neither do the recipients have access to any other source of information, nor are they allowed to express their doubts or displeasure. If the North Korean people are told that birds cried and the weather changed when their beloved leader died and if any of them disbelieved that fact they would be shot, the message would go across! But it would do the people no good. In the former case everyone is equally free to advocate; in the process the people can make the best choice.

PR consultants who understand advocacy for what it is, know that the ground swell created by it will far outlast the results obtained from the most expensive advertising campaign in the world. This is because unlike advertising which builds hype, advocacy builds goodwill. When Obama launched his first presidential campaign, even his most ardent supporter would have balked at the odds against him. But his articulation of an alternative vision and template of growth caught the fancy of an America which was in the throes of transformation. People were sick of the excesses of the past, and tired of the bad news about a floundering economy and unending foreign wars. So much so that people voted him into office a second time.

Advocacy by its very nature requires time to fructify, and this is something that both clients and PR consultants need to know right at the start. But the payback is well worth the wait.

PR in times of slow down.

At the best of times PR is a misunderstood profession in India. It is viewed upon something like a dirty tricks department rather than an organised and professional part of the marketing plan of a company. Even the so called corporate organisations, who should know better evaluate a PR firm or a consultant's success in terms of the amount of media coverage they will manage to obtain. So at the time of interviewing a prospective agency, there are questions about the size of coverage and the pedigree of the publications and TV channels. Why not buy ads then?

PR consultants too get caught up in this insidious game, and come up with their own set of preconditions for obtaining such coverage. If you remember your economics theory lessons from school, for every theory there would be a set of preconditions-often couched in the words"other things remaining the same". Likewise PR consultants try to ensure any shortfall in promised coverage is attributed to the neglect of  certain precondition. This leads to a sort of an adversarial client-consultant relationship where the former tries to see how much print space or time they are able to wring  out, and the latter are focused on trying to increase the number of news items that appear, irrespective of whether it is in the best interest of the client.

The last couple of years have been rather rough for most businesses and at times such as these PR and advertising agencies often get the rough end of the stick when it comes to receiving payments. Delays are endemic and quite often full payments are never made. This leads to agencies  insisting on advances , which in turn results in loss of business. The worst casualty of the whole process is that something as vital as advocacy and organic promotion , especially in economically stressful times does not receive the due attention it deserves.

Instead of getting fixated on something as abstract as coverage both marketers and PR consultants need to wake up and smell the coffee and realise that there is something called a digital universe, which is completely and totally ROI driven and accounts for every single penny spent. There is no scope for vague and unrealistic expectations here. Businesses worldwide are beginning  to  realise the that this is the way they can get a huge bang out of every buck  spent and in a minutely calibrated fashion too. PR consultants need to upgrade their Internet marketing skills and understand the nuances of this game. You don't just issue a press release to a mainline newspaper or even to an online news portal any more. You need to go to authority bloggers. Your online press release is no good if doesn't have back links. What sort of online reputation does the client and indeed the PR consultant have?

Top drawer professionalism and familiarity with cutting edge technology is the only way forward in the times ahead. As Internet penetration gains even more traction both businesses and PR agencies need to upgrade their skills and leverage the immense possibilities. The time to squabble over traditional media coverage may soon be over.

Does the economy look okay?

When you look around yourself do you get the sense that you live in a BRIC economy that is attracting all the capital in the world and where people are enthralled at the prospect of many years of growth or do you feel a sense of despondency around you? You really can't tell, can you? The mega scams of the last few years, the cynical electoral deals that the political parties make, and the recent near collapse of the rupee-things don't look do good, do they?

Yet the good times too don't end either. Car makers keep on announcing new models. People are still buying their second or third homes. Eating out has not diminished, and despite the hike in air-fares, people are  travelling more than before. At the same time we all do find the going tough in our jobs and our businesses. Orders come after a struggle, every penny is fought over. Clients cancel or renegotiate contracts and the payments take their time in coming in.

Fuel prices do a yo-yo dance, food inflation has been high for far too long now with things like fruits priced almost beyond the range of the common man. The Indian middle and upper middle classes are holding on to their recently acquired affluence(tennis clubs and swimming pools in gated housing community projects) by somehow hanging in there. The poor and the underprivileged (as also the lower middle class) must be growing through harrowing times in an era when inflation is highest with respect to food items.

While in many sectors like housing and infrastructure there is a noticeable slowdown one sees a veritable explosion in the health and education sectors, with international tie-ups, bench-marks and affiliations being bandied about with gay abandon by every trader and builder who has entered the fray- beware Ivy League, here come the best universities in the world. Viva Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Jalandhar and perhaps Meerut!

India is a young country in terms of its demographic profile.With a huge market like this where the majority of the people are in the earning age-group, everybody in the world wants a finger in the pie. Never mind things like the suitability of the products and services to the market. But all the same any investment and economic activity does create jobs and there is development no matter how lop-sided.

So how does the citizen of this country feel? Where Jaguar and Jugad(locally assembled auoto-motive contraptions), Lear jets and bullock-carts(still find them not far from any urban centres), call-centers and manual scavenging, computers and  medieval mind-sets all compete for attention. Does he feel that the economy is rocking? Or is he as clueless as you and I?

PR-The way forward

The PR industry in India is increasingly gaining acceptance with a greater understanding of what it entails amongst not just the large companies, but across businesses. The clientele ranges from mighty corporate firms to tech start- ups to budding artists to politicians to what have you.

The reason for this is that PR provides a far bigger bang for the buck than any other form of communication and everybody who has realised this wants a piece of the action. However PR firms today operate in an ever changing media scenario, where newer forms of communication like social media and the concomitant churning in the traditional media have compelled a re-think on traditional PR strategy.

In order to remain relevant PR firms in India need to constantly innovate so as to be able to keep pace with the latest developments and changes both in their media and non-media based approaches. PR firms today have to demonstrably be able to prove the efficacy of their craft. Broadly they need to increasingly focus on the following:

1. Quality Content:  At a time when there is an abundance of PR firms and consultants,  what will distinguish one from the other is the ability to create quality content that is contemporary and effective.

The days of the ubiquitous press release are over. Content creation is specialist business and one needs to have the skills to leverage it equally well to both traditional and social media. Equally important is the ability to reach out to a non-media audience of influencers, and indeed the target customers of the client directly.

 2. Quantifying Results: Traditionally PR firms would quantify their performance by measuring the total media coverage (space or time) in terms of ad rates and multiply it by a further factor ranging from 2 to 5. This often left the clients dissatisfied as they had no way to accurately find out the impact it had in terms of consumer response. However the increasing role of Digital PR has made quantifying pretty straight forward.  You know how many and what type of people have accessed the content and what they think of it.

In times to come Digital PR is going to drive communications campaigns and the fact that this form of PR can show you where the money is makes it a very powerful tool indeed.  You will be able to study the data, extrapolate it and predict a highly effective course of action for the future.

3. Focus: Worldwide (including India) there is a tough economic environment, and firms and companies are looking to save the last dollar or rupee. In such a scenario PR firms and consultants should be able to take a focused and calibrated view of the client’s objectives and come up with plans that show visible results. Media and other exposure should result in leads, sales and expansion for the client. The bottom line is the bottom line.