Automation & tech-driven solutions help us create more accurate metrics: Amardeep Singh

In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media and the rapid shift to digital during the pandemic period. At the same time, the industry has been facing stiff challenges, moreover client expectations have also increased, with more emphasis being given to digital and online reputation management. The industry has undergone a radical shift and the current times have pushed the industry to change gears.

In conversation with Adgully, Amardeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Gutenberg, addresses some of the biggest challenges in the public relations industry and how Gutenberg is tackling them, he also talks about the new trends, importance of diversity in a company, certain key factors to keep the team motivated, and more.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the public relations industry in India today, and how do you plan to address them?

Establishing the right measurement metrics is imperative for evaluating the success of any PR program. While there are several ways of measuring ROI (return on investment), the challenge for brands and agencies is to drive meaningful board-level conversations on the impact of PR on the bottom line. While some are still inclined to use a traditional share of voice and advertising value equivalence (AVE) concepts, the parameters fall short of demonstrating results effectively.

Over the years, we have developed a combination of sophisticated analytics tools that help us analyze and demonstrate maximum return on the buck. We continue to focus on automation and tech-driven solutions to create more accurate metrics for our clients.

Another challenge the industry faces today is the emergence of paid news, which means an increased need for compelling storytelling that cuts through the clutter. As an agency, we take pride in crafting stories based on insightful research and targeted thought-through content to create impactful stories.

How has technology changed the way public relations is practiced in India, and what new trends do you see emerging in this field?

Technology has brought a paradigm shift in the industry. Repetitive functions that were once done manually are replaced by media automation in functions such as monitoring, workflow applications and analytics to improve service delivery and efficiency. Chatbots on websites and social media pages to answer first-level customer questions will continue to see adoption and will become a common feature on most company websites.

Further, as AI (artificial intelligence) evolves, large language models (LLMs) are being used for developing content as well. However, human intervention will continue to be important in curating and crafting content that is relevant and on-message. Businesses will increasingly leverage technology to create engaging and immersive content, including videos, blog posts, and graphics to tell the brand story.

How important is diversity and inclusion in your company and the public relations industry as a whole, and what steps are you taking to promote diversity and inclusion in your organisation?

As an organization, we are committed to promoting gender equity, and fostering a culture of inclusion. Gutenberg has always been an equal opportunity employer. We have policies such as prevention of sexual harassment policy and progressive discipline policy in place. At Gutenberg, we believe in:

ï‚· Accepting and understanding that every individual is unique and different.

ï‚· Providing equal access to information, development, and opportunity.

ï‚· Creating a culture that values and uses the talents of all its employees.

ï‚· Gutenberg takes pride in having a gender mix of 60% Female as compared to 40% Male.

ï‚· At Gutenberg, we speak more than 30 languages from around the world with several ethnicities working together across our global offices. Diversity is at the heart of our business. Its more than just policies and practices.

Could you tell us about your agency’s biggest challenge in the past year, and how you overcame it?

I would like to address it as an opportunity than a challenge, the past year gave us the opportunity to unlearn to learn and embrace change and upskill our team to keep abreast with developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence that support content creation, optimisation of AD spends and in turn increasing ROI for clients. In turn, aligning teams towards Gutenberg’s long-term integrated marketing goal has been a key area of focus in this regard.

We overcame this by creating strategic planning sessions that involved all the senior team members working closely with each other and their respective teams to identify what our company Objective and Key Results should focus on over a 5-year road map and how we should achieve it. Once we arrived at this, we then broke this down further across the company to each and every team member. This not only created solidarity amongst teams that provided a focused strategy on how we would collectively grow as a company over the next 5 years but also enabled a focused approach to our learning and development that ensured we stayed on track towards individual areas of development that collectively aligned to upskilling and staying ahead with newer trends in the industry.

How do you ensure that your team stays motivated and productive, especially during challenging times?

At Gutenberg, our employees are our greatest strength. We have in place a combination of initiatives that span professional and personal development, recognition, work-life balance and support towards personal aspirations that help teams stay motivated and productive. Enclosed below are a few highlights:

ï‚· Knowledge Sharing Sessions - We organise regular training sessions through internal specialists or external experts to keep employees updated on the latest trends and industry practises. We also organise training sessions from leadership coaches to help individuals advance in their roles.

ï‚· Professional Learning and development opportunities with Coursera - Gutenberg believes in creating a learning organisation to provide an opportunity for employees to expand their knowledge base. We have a subscription with Coursera which enables employees to enroll themselves in courses to upskill, address skill gaps as well explore topics of their choice to support their career progression. Through a well curated individualised program, these courses span a variety of topics.

ï‚· Effective internal management - Managers communicate frequently with their team, to build a positive working relationship and share necessary feedback. The talent team also regularly works with the managers and individual employees to keep a check on performance.

ï‚· Career development opportunities - We offer employees various internal career development and cross advancement opportunities. Since Gutenberg is an integrated marketing agency, we have options for employees to pursue career opportunities in areas other than their original specialisation. We chalk out a career transition plan and work with managers and employees to create these opportunities.

ï‚· Work-life balance programs - Fully paid Sabbatical: Gutenberg understands that employees need some time off to Reboot. The purpose of the sabbatical leave is to give employees a break from work to pursue their personal interests. Employees are entitled to 30 days fully paid leave on completion of 5 continuous years of service at Gutenberg. Family Day on Fridays: We value and appreciate our employees’ contributions. We also understand the importance of family time and personal time that is required. As a result, weekends at Gutenberg start early. Fun Activities: We organise several fun activities and other engagement activities at work. Hobbies@Gutenberg: We have a Gutenberg Hobbies Club, where we encourage employees to form hobby clubs of their choice and once a quarter Gutenberg sponsors time off during a working day to pursue a hobby of their choice.

ï‚· Recognition programs - We have a monthly Go-Getters@Gutenberg program where on a monthly basis we recognise employees who have gone over and beyond and reward them with exciting prizes and recognition through companywide announcements. We also have an annual CEO recognition program that rewards employees who are top performers.

ï‚· Competitive compensation - Gutenberg maintains a competitive compensation structure at par and above Industry standards. In addition, we offer a bonus component that is based on individual contributions towards meeting company targets and goals.