"Businesses today need more logical branding & effective media outreach"

In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media and the rapid shift to digital, especially in 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, C. Lekha, Director - Corporate Communications & Brand Reputation at IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd), speaks about the growing significance of PR’s role in the digital era, tackling the disruption in the aviation, travel and hospitality industry due to the pandemic, and more.

How has PR evolved in the last 10 years? Going forward, how will the industry shape up as the dynamics of the PR will keep changing with digital transformation?

PR has evolved massively over the last decade, especially with the advent of technological advancements across industries. PR has, in fact, become a more strategic and steadfast function for organisations to ensure that the right messaging is sent out to their target audience. Businesses of today need more logical branding along with effective media outreach, which not only enables accurate messaging but also helps businesses in facilitating better organisational/ business outcomes.

In addition, the digital era has brought in a paradigm shift in the nature of public relations, where businesses need their presence across digital landscape to effectively reach their target audience. In fact, this transition has made news travel within nanoseconds, which has made PR role even more vital in timely responding to all forms of social media. While earlier it took an event like a plane crash to be termed as crisis, today it only takes an ‘unfavourable tweet’ by an influencer to go viral within seconds against the brand, turning the situation hostile. This has led to the whim dynamics of communications to be managed and dealt with in a completely different way. 

I also believe that in a post-COVID-19 world we need to drive a more ‘humane’ and emotional PR approach, which looks at engaging with audiences sensitively and more compassionately.

The travel and hospitality industry has got disrupted. What are the PR challenges you have faced for IndiGo in the last one year? How did PR help you to overcome the challenges?

No one could have imagined the kind of disruption that the whole aviation, travel and hospitality industry faced post the pandemic. The sudden halt of flights, travel ban across cities and countries to curb further spread of virus was crucially needed, however, these curbs have deeply impacted the travel and aviation industry. The biggest challenge that we faced during the initial days of the pandemic was due to no flights in operation, while everyone was focusing on how adversely the aviation and travel industry is going to get impacted and the gigantic losses expected.

However, in this critical time we worked to showcase our initiatives towards supporting the nation at this crucial juncture through repatriation flights, cargo flights, charters, and special initiatives like our collaboration with the Indian Metrological Department, creating the country’s first plasma corridor to save the life of a COVID-19 patient and many others. 

We also addressed consumer concerns in flying during the pandemic through our Lean, Clean Flying Machine campaign, which focused on educating customers about safety of air travel and won us many global and Indian awards.

ALSO READ: PR is no longer restricted to securing media impressions: Udit Pathak

Airline brands are very particular in protecting and maintaining their reputation. In today’s times when pandemic has hit everyone, how has IndiGo managed their brand reputation, especially online, where news travels fast?

PR played the most vital role in enabling us to communicate the right messages at the time of crisis. Since it was crucial for us to let our customers know that we are ready with our clean, hygienic, and safer flights, we drove our messaging around our lean, clean flying machine campaign. We also showcased our on-ground staff, including pilots and cabin crew, as corona warriors, which was brilliantly portrayed by media through personal stories of their journey from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic era. Our special initiatives helped connect emotionally with our customers. We are quite happy with the way we have managed from the initial days of the pandemic till date and PR has contributed immensely throughout this journey.

Many brands and clients want to achieve leadership positions quickly. It takes time to build your reputation and become a thought leader. What’s your view on thought leadership?

I completely second that! Leadership building needs time and one cannot achieve it in a jiffy. It is important that people first create a recall with their brand value rather than just trying to reach the top. A thought leader shares his knowledge based on their expertise and proficiency with years of experience in the industry. They share valuable insights with their exceptional guidance, innovation, which later on influences others. Hence, it is integral that thought leadership is built with a strong industry knowledge and domain expertise.

Internal communication and external communication with stakeholders are very important in the airlines business. What process and framework do you follow to continuously stay engaged with both your internal and external stakeholders?

Communications at all levels is extremely important for a brand to be seen and heard in the way it wants to be positioned. All stakeholders hold equal importance – be it current or potential customers, employees, or any other associate. Hence, it is important that there is clarity and transparency at all levels when it comes to communications. We try to stay connected by continuously sending out newsletters and updates to our internal teams while customers are updated on a regular basis through our continuous and aggressive media outreach. We are also open to feedback, which allows us to establish and sustain a rapport across all our stakeholders.

PR measurement and effectiveness of PR has always been a subject of debate. As a PR professional, what steps should the PR industry take to bring in uniformity so that everyone speaks one language when it comes to PR measurement?

This is an interesting question and remains a subject of debate for many of the PR community. However, I believe PR has evolved much over time that its functionality has become integral and immeasurable for all the brands today. At IndiGo, we believe in delivery of the right messages through our consistent communication across platforms. It is important to leverage business leaders to drive the most critical messages in media through business update meetings rather than just talking about new launches. We regularly map how effectively and clearly we have been able to share our vision and its impact on the business outcomes and stock performance. This regular analysis helps us define our communication strategy going forward as well. I feel that this is the best way to measure the efficacy of our communications strategy and where we stand.

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