Creating a relevant brand advocacy approach is critical for businesses: Tanuja 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, 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, Tanuja Singh, Head of Corporate Communications, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, speaks about how the communications function has moved away from the traditional business models toward a holistic and integrated approach, the key factors in formulating an effective PR strategy, and more.

You have been associated with the PR and communication industry for a long time. The industry has evolved in the last 10 years. What are some of the developments that you have seen?

The industry has seen a drastic shift in the last decade. The communications function has moved away from the traditional business models toward a holistic and integrated approach. We all know that the evolution from the traditional forms of media to digital media was inevitable. What’s interesting is how it has emerged as a new category alongside traditional media, which has reinvented itself as well.

Some of my observations on the evolution of this industry include:

  • No more a monologue!: Creating a relevant brand advocacy approach is critical for any kind of business. Nurturing a community of advocates (consumers/ employees, etc.) leads to more authentic content creation, more believable than other forms of promotion.
  • One size doesn’t fit all: The transition from one-size-fits-all approach to media relations to a customised approach for each type of business, target audience, and category/ industry is a must for any business/ brand.
  • An integrated communications approach overrules all: The lines have blurred and we do not bracket campaigns under external, internal, social, etc. The communications approach is driven by the target audience and their preferences.
  • The power of outcome driven approach took precedence and hence, the communications approach has become an integral part of the business strategy.
  • Content has become more relevant than ever: Content marketing is one of the most important strategies that a brand can deploy these days, irrespective of the business type – B2C or B2B.
  • Credibility to authenticity: Associating public relations with credibility is not new, however, the shift towards authenticity with the emergence of creating communities as influencers is something brands can ignore no more.

The automobile industry has been going through tough times for the last couple of years. As a PR professional, what are some of the challenges that you faced and how has the power of PR helped you in these times?

The last two years have shaped the mobility industry, which has had an immense impact on its operations and products. Digital-first business to digital-first communications approach is the given way to create relevant and impactful campaigns. Understanding where our audiences are and how they consume information is the basis for creating a meaningful communications approach. Some of the obvious challenges that we, as communicators, had to face were:

  • Switching gears to a virtual world and with it, the tactics of communication to engage and involve the target audience, across the world
  • Learning to live with the hybrid mode of communication campaigns, be it for external or internal types of events for customers/ employees/ partners
  • Taking unpredictability in our stride and being agile to be able to adapt and progress in the VUCA world

In these uncertain times, the Communications function has been the thread that helped connect employees, customers, and other stakeholders of an organisation. The power of effective communication has helped alleviate the anxieties of the stakeholders and managed to provide them with hope for the future. With collaboration with various functions, the outcome has been surprisingly impactful.  Proactive communication backed by relevant engagement strategies could instil confidence in the stakeholders and differentiate such organisations from mediocre brands.

Workplaces that could take such bold steps and stay agile emerged stronger and more connected.

We all speak about external communication, but equally important is internal communication. What process and framework do you follow to stay engaged with your internal stakeholders and employees to manage the reputation of your company on an ongoing basis?

Rightly so, internal communication strategy and the initiatives have played a critical role in keeping the organisations connected, especially in the current times. There are three important elements to an effective internal communications approach:

  • Communication strategy: This decides how and when to communicate to the employees.
  • Communication channels: Choosing the right channels of communicating with the employees becomes more important than ever considering the old-school modes (on-ground collaterals, email communication) are outdated. The right combination of internal communication channels – for example, employee apps, virtual events, other digital apps, podcasts – have become the norm in the ever-changing digital environment.
  • Content and tone of voice: Understanding the target audiences’ pulse gives way to more empathetic communication and measures for the employees.
  • Measurement of results: Regular measurement of the effectiveness of the internal communication strategies is required to understand how the key messages are received and evaluate scenarios for course correction.

How do you plan your overall PR strategy and messaging every year? What is the role of your PR partner here? What are some of the best practices you follow from your global exposure that helps you in India?

The first step to an effective strategy is to get into the details of the business challenges and how to address those with a structured, long-term communications approach. It is important to get the brief right at this stage so that the next steps can follow in the required direction. Once the objective is framed basis the business and communication challenges, what follows is a rigorous process of defining the communications strategy and approach. Till then, I steer away from falling into the trap of suggesting tactics and ideas to the stakeholders.

It is important to go through this course so that the tactics are aligned with the business goals and have a measurement mechanism that focuses on the business outcomes and not just the output.

Our PR partner team plays an integral role in developing the strategy with the core team and taking lead on bringing the suggested tactics to action.

PESO model referred to by many global teams provides a good guide to build an integrated, long-term approach.

Managing reputation has become a challenge in today’s times with rapid digital acceleration. How has your company managed to adapt to the changes in social media and what kind of digital strategy do you follow to manage your online brand reputation?

One of the biggest lessons that the current times have taught any social media marketer is to sense the pulse of the audience and not just focus on the efforts towards what we want to communicate. What’s in it for me? How do I benefit from engaging in a digital campaign? These are the kind of questions that the digital team should think of ahead of planning campaigns.

Second, bringing transparency and authenticity to the narrative can help connect with the audience effectively. The role of the leadership team and your own brand ambassadors is important here as they help in propagating the messages and conversations.

Third, sticking to your narrative and reiterating it for the required period of time is essential so that the key messages stick with the target audience.

There is always a debate when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of a PR campaign. There are no standard formulae that are being followed. What’s your opinion on this? How do you measure your PR campaigns? 

This debate is well-known and I do not think that there is one right way to measure the results. However, when the goals and strategy are well-defined, the measurement stage becomes a key factor in identifying the success/ learnings of the campaign. Hence, outcome-based approach becomes important than an output-based measurement method.

The output method could be a great way to measure the progress under the key areas of focus. The outcome method helps measure the impact of communications in helping the business meet its goals. When the business is able to see a direct correlation between the communication campaigns and its impact on the end-users, it becomes an integral part of the organisation’s strategy.

PR
@adgully

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