How PR has helped craft powerful narratives for technology firms

When technology brands entered India in the beginning of 90’s Public Relations as a tool was gaining some respect and popularity.  There was no beat that was specifically writing about technology, but publications and media companies started opening up and encouraged journalists to write more on the then emerging vertical. The government also opened doors to a lot of international technology giants to invest in India and in a matter of few years we could see giants like Microsoft and Intel pumping huge monies in India. Since technology was rapidly changing, there was a need to create awareness and educate the audience, both from B2B and B2C, on the benefits of new technologies. Also, at that time India was groping in the dark when it came to technology in the IT sector. And the only easy way was to use a strong PR driven communication strategy, as advertising had its limitation to explain technology in the most detailed and friendly manner.

While advertising campaigns generated awareness amongst the CTOs and CIOs, but it is the credible stories with meaningful and relevant information and conversations about the emerging new technologies that helped the decision makers to narrow their decisions in buying new products and implementing new technologies. The CIOs and CTOs had to compare a lot of notes before placing an order for a new technology or hardware as there was always a fear that the technology will become obsolete soon. And of course, there was limited IT budget earmarked and, therefore, the decision has to be sharp and focussed. Even thinking of using advertising for these tech companies was challenging as it was expensive and one could not sustain it. PR, therefore, stood tall and effective as their engagement tool with all their audiences.

This is where the need for PR is felt to educate and engage with the audience when it comes to technology brands. Reiterating the need of PR, Shobha Vasudevan, Head - Enterprise Communication & PR, Dell Technologies, said, “Technology brands need a lot of contextual communication for the brand to reach its audience and hence, PR plays a vital role in building technology brands. Devising strong PR-driven strategies is the most efficient way to not only communicate the brand’s overall messaging, but also ensure that technology-driven messaging, which can be laden with jargon and complex narratives, is explained using the most intriguing, relatable, and easy-to-understand formats. Therefore, a tailor-made PR approach enables technology brands to break away from the monotonous nature of B2B communications and further strengthen their connection with the stakeholders across various engaging media platforms.”

Technology has been a force of change and transformation. Much before the world embraced comms/ PR to its fullest potential, tech giants have leveraged it to tell great stories, and that forms the core of any communications campaign or strategy. Sharing her perspective, Sunayna Malik, Managing Director – India & Senior Vice President – APAC, Archetype, noted, “PR has found credence with technology companies because as a discipline it allows you to detail and explain complex, esoteric concepts and make them more relatable. Tech firms have utilised the function to bring to life the magic of what routers enable, to how networks help forge instant connections to what living life on the go really means. Tech firms have used the power of storytelling to talk about how technology has transformed our world today, helped drive profits, business efficiency and driven business success, created a better socio-economic fabric that is about reaching the benefits of education, healthcare access to millions across the country/ the world.”

Ruby Sinha, Managing Director, Kommune Brand Communications, who has closely worked with several technology brands, pointed out that technology has the power to revolutionise the customer experience, which can be put across through good PR. “Traditionally, Public Relations was viewed as a function of communications, with a limited role in marketing. PR was more about media relations, whereas marketing was more related to advertising and sponsorships. In the technology sector, PR is now more of a brand building tool, driving how a brand would be positioned among stakeholders as well as the competition. The trend in both enterprise and consumer tech domains is moving from ROPO (Research-Online-Purchase-Offline) to ROPA (Research-Online-Purchase-Anywhere). This is making it increasingly important for technology companies reach out to all categories of users with engaging and accurate content driven by PR,” she added.

Abhilasha Padhy, Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director, 80dB Communications, noted that technology firms have been at the center of a fundamental shift in how business is done in today’s uber-digital age. She further said, “As technology is a constantly evolving sphere, they understand how PR can help make its changing narrative more accessible to the public. The complex and ever-changing tech landscape needs an always-on approach to disseminate information about it. Tech firms appreciate that the continued accelerated pace of innovation cannot be navigated in isolation, rather, it needs constant, interactive communication, messaging, storytelling and the crafting of repeatable and shareable narratives, which a strong PR-driven communication strategy can provide.”

Dell Technologies’ Vasudevan further pointed out that PR also helps brands to attract the best talent in the industry and secure business or investments. The third-party voice through Organic PR always adds a layer of credibility to the brand’s messaging.Through PR, we have the means to leverage several touchpoints and tactics with various stakeholders for a cumulative impact. “We have used new-age communication mediums, fireside chats, podcasts, social media amplifications backed by a healthy mix of traditional mediums to help us in landing key messages and creating maximum awareness for the brand. These mediums and approach can also work across sectors- the key is to know your audiences, objectives and define what brings the most impact to your business,” she added.

Some of the world’s best brands have been built though PR. Our own homegrown software company Infosys is both a leading Indian and global brand, which has very intelligently used PR as their key communication tool both in India and abroad. The secret of their success was they delivered value consistently, which helped in creating strong belief and shaping positive opinions, both with the stakeholders and the media. Today, both the brand and the spokespersons of Infosys have built a good reputation as thought leaders in the IT industry.

Padhy of 80dB Communications added here that tech companies are able to leverage PR as a communication tool as they understand that business success hinges on how well a company is able to articulate their vision, inform the target audience about the problem they solve, and explain how their team is best suited to address a certain issue. “Tech companies are able to leverage the role of PR in enhancing the consumer experience, gauging preferences, as well as predicting consumer behaviour.Emerging PR tools provide the space to build personal narratives using a mix of traditional media, press releases, websites, social media and broadcast channels,” she added. 

Archetype’s Malik also illustrated with the example of how Web3.0 technologies can bring to the fore buzz words like crypto/ dao/ CEX/ Cefi. “Just by the name it is tough to envision what this really means or what this can do! Instead, if we said how the Metaverse would offer unprecedented interoperability, an embodied internet transforming the way we live, work, and play, it starts to gather meaning. That the Metaverse will bring enormous immersive experiences using technologies like holograms from augmented and virtual reality to multisensory internet impacting every part of our lives, starts sounding exciting and you almost look forward to experiencing it or start imagining a scenario in real life. Imagine individuals who want to work and own homes far from today’s urban centers; or for people who live in places where opportunities for education or recreation are more limited. With Metaverse, you can live where you want, be a part of the communities that you want to and be in an avatar that you wish to,” she added.

Malik concluded by saying that’s what great stories can do – help you draw a picture in your mind, tell you the why, the how and its impact on you or on things that matter to you.

PR will continue to play a significant role in growing the tech brands. High tech companies like Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, Intel and Dell are great examples of tech companies that built their initial identities through Public Relations. Other tech giants like Intel, Cisco and Oracle strongly believed in PR as their primary communication tool before spending big bucks on advertising campaigns. In the just concluded findings of Kantar BrandZ Indian 2022 rankings, technology brands did exceedingly well. Six B2B Tech brands and 11 Consumer Tech brands contributed 35% to the total value of the ranking, reflecting the rise of Tech India. And most of these brands leverage PR to a large extent – both at a strategic and tactical level.