PR has to have a seat in the board room to make any significant impact: Pooja Garg Khan

As part of our series on ‘PR Conversation’, we at Adgully are speaking to some of the industry leaders from both PR agencies and the corporate communications world about how PR as a business and communication tool has evolved and grown over the years. In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media in a big way. While the PR business has grown, some of the challenges that the industry is facing have also multiplied as clients are becoming more demanding and are expecting their consultants to be on their toes to manage their brand reputation, as news today travels fast and clients are expecting quick response and action in case of a crisis situation.

In conversation with Adgully, Pooja Garg Khan, Head - Corporate Communications, Panasonic India, how digital is changing the game and operations of PR as an industry, how the pandemic was a wake-up call for the ACE (Appliance, Consumer Electronics) industry, and much more.

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

Let’s rewind to the last two decades, which have been quite dynamic for the PR industry. Just like the media industry, PR has evolved in every sense. I still remember, when I started out, we did media rounds for press releases. Cut to date, press conferences are also virtual today. While the process had already started, COVID accelerated the digital transformation.

Digital has taken the world by storm in the last 10 years and PR industry is no different. From analytics to story pitches, all can be done online. There are platforms today which help you identify the right set of journalists for a story and send them pitches. All automated. Press releases can simply be uploaded on a platform, target group defined and you can reach out to a journalist in any country at the click of a button. Earlier, we relied on those many meetings to profile a journalist for the spokesperson, today you can get their profiles from LinkedIn and Twitter.

I believe this has many advantages in terms of improving productivity, unobtrusive, better targeting with AI, however there is one disadvantage. Call me old school, but ‘relationships’ are table stakes for PR and all those ‘media rounds/ meetings’ done in-person still hold value, as you get to know the person behind the journalist, understand their PoV and gradually build/ strengthen your relationship. With the advent of social media, media relations have become ‘transactional’ to some extent. But it need not be, if the new generation of PR folks can harness the phygital opportunity and not lose the basic essence.

Another big advantage with digital is that all brands now have a platform to deliver their own message – aiding in brand building and advocacy. This phenomenon will stand true for the industry in the forthcoming era of digital communication.

You are competing in a tough category, consumer durables who had a washout last year. From a PR point of view, how did you navigate during the pandemic and what would be the role of PR for all your brands in the year ahead?

The pandemic was a wake-up call for the ACE (Appliance, Consumer Electronics) industry. Not only did it help switch gears to fast track the economy to digital, but it also upgraded the entire industry. The pandemic was an opportunity that further reinforced our beliefs on ‘effective communication’ for Panasonic. With traditional ad campaigns taking a back seat, PR and social media gained prominence, becoming the centerpiece for strategic communication. Our spokespersons and our employees became our brand ambassadors, as we rolled out relevant and engaging campaigns. Strategic campaigns such as #WorkFromHomeHacks, #Life@PanasonicHomes, #Solutions&You, to name a few, were rolled out to ensure a balanced communication for both internal and external audience. While employee communication focused on mental well-being and safety externally, we used those insights to highlight the vibrant work culture of Panasonic externally. Similarly, strategic LinkedIn campaigns were designed to focus on business continuity. PR was instrumental in leveraging marketing content like DIY videos across digital mediums and media to reach our end consumers. And of course, we had our crises management plan in place to cover all bases in the worst case scenario.

The pandemic has disrupted everyone. In these times how have you managed the expectations from your PR agency? Did you redefine your objectives to them and revisited your deliverables?

The pandemic made us go back to the drawing board to redefine our objectives for the year. Kudos to the efforts put in by our communication partner, MSL, we were able to sail with the tide. Rather than working in silos during the lockdown, we came together as ONE team to engage in regular brainstorming sessions, defined worksheets, daily catch-ups to solve the common problem. Besides, we could not only keep a regular tab on the health (physical & mental) of our team, but also help generate interesting campaign ideas. As of date, our messaging is now focused on safety and business sustainability, one-on-one conversations have now switched to virtual mode, social media has now become one of the key mediums of communication and policy advocacy for stakeholders has gained prominence to avoid rumours. But, above all, personally it has helped me know my team better as these conversations were a welcome ice-breaker.

Today, artificial intelligence and data analytics are becoming very important in marketing and communication. How are you making use of this to help in your overall messaging and achieving your ROI?

I have always maintained that there is a science behind PR. It is not just an article in a paper or online channel, but has the potential to change conversations. To build a strong PR campaign, data analytics takes precedence as it helps us garner insights from all the external and internal chatter, consumer research to review our key messages and overall PR strategy. Our Key Message Framework is an example of good data analytics from online, offline brand conversations, consumer and partner insights. Every product launch at Panasonic is preceded by a consumer research, the data is analysed to draw insights, which help us craft our launch stories. From Miraie – Connected Living Solution to our nanoe-X AC range, which helps inhibit COVID-19, all successful campaigns were backed by strong data. If I look at social media, LinkedIn and Twitter analytics help identify and target the relevant network/ community, analyse our content better to engage and time the launch. So, it is pretty much in our DNA.

Coming to AI, I think this still needs to evolve in how it can help the PR industry. There are pockets of conversations and projects which help track the right journalists for a pitch, but I don’t think it is foolproof as yet. I am exploring this space.

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

Today, the industry has multiple agencies who measure the effectiveness of PR – either through number of impressions, SoV, AVE, to name a few. Though, in my view, AVE is a rudimentary way of measuring the efficacy of PR and avoidable. In order to bring method to the madness, we at Panasonic carefully gauge the delivery of our message and map our efforts around that. We have taken a scientific approach towards PR, which involves building a key messaging framework, training spokespeople, mapping competition and several other measures defined as per the business.

For the industry to benefit, there should be one common tool to measure all PR efforts. It will offer a level-playing field for the brands to measure PR and do an effective competition mapping. Lastly, in order to measure the effectiveness of a campaign, brands need to allocate proper budgets for research, or, map sales. There is still a lot to cover here.

Getting the right skillset and training has always been a challenge in the PR profession. What is your view on the same and what would be your valuable tips to aspiring PR professionals?

Having spent more than two decades in the industry, I believe, PR as a profession is still evolving. To add to this, with social media, lines are blurring between Digital PR and Marketing and only very mature organisations are able to leverage both effectively. In my opinion, PR has to have a seat in the board room to make any significant impact and you can get there by showcasing the value you bring to the table.

Beyond written and verbal skills, the profession, like any other, demands intensive research towards storytelling, honing your research and analytics skills, pre-empting crises and mitigating it. And more importantly, you need to be curious. The individual must be curious enough to unearth stories based on insights to deliver an effective narrative for the brand. She/he should have the right attitude towards learning and implementing the nuances of communication in day-to-day life. While attitude cannot be taught and experience has to be gained over time, one can definitely take specialised courses to learn other skills from several noteworthy institutes.