PR is now a shining jewel in an organisation’s marketing crown: Indu Sharma

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. However, at the same time the industry has been facing stiff challenges, moreover client expectations has 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 this interaction with Adgully, Indu Sharma, Senior GM - Communications, Schneider Electric, speaks about how the introduction of digital & social platforms has made the communication approach much holistic, tackling the COVID-19 disruption and much more.

You have been on the client and agency side of the PR business for more than a decade. How has PR evolved in the last 10 years? Any significant shifts that you have noticed?

The Public Relations industry has been constantly evolving itself with the changing business scenario. From an ugly duckling dishing gimmicky approach to specialised swan owning strategic consultation, Public Relations has come a long way.

PR is now a shining jewel in an organisation’s marketing crown. It has grown both vertically by growing closer to C-Suite and horizontally by adding more verticals. By adding strategic counselling, reputation management, sustainability communication, ESG communication, executive communication counsel and crisis communication to its portfolio, PR has secured a seat in the boardroom.

The introduction of digital & social platforms has made the communication approach much holistic. Now communication is much more targetted and impactful. Erstwhile a media outreach tool, Public Relations has now grown into a strategic partner augmenting organisation reputation.

You have moved from the FMCG business to B2B, where you will be now involved in digital transformation of energy management & automation. What’s going to be the PR approach for Schneider Electric to reach the various stakeholders?

The movement from FMCG to B2B business was a conscious step towards my personal development as a communications professional. B2B presents unique nuances of communication with clear short and long-term business goals.

Schneider Electric is a leading energy management and digital automation organisation with sustainability as its top business priority. This is a unique confluence of priorities.

Over the years, Schneider Electric has done phenomenal work in providing solutions for achieving energy efficiency, resilient manufacturing process and sustainable business environment. Public relations will play a pivotal role in communicating the organisational vision to internal and external audiences. We aim to disrupt the communication landscape by using integrated communications approach connecting with the multiple stakeholders.

Overall many industries have been disrupted by the global pandemic. What are the PR challenges that you faced in the last one year? How did you navigate during the pandemic and what was the role of PR during these times?

Collaboration and relationship management are key facets of Public Relations. The last one year changed this normal by making digital first approach transversal to every plan and action. We witnessed many clickbait campaigns to surface new brands or for prominent brands to gain TOM (top of mind recall).

In my view, two things were the highlights of the last 15 months:

• Reactive communication – These unprecedented times presented unique opportunities to communicate to the target groups. Reacting to the situation, we oscillated between creating awareness, empathetic communication, crisis communication, launch announcement, each addressing the need of the hour.
• Employee Communication – In times of uncertainty, employees looked up to organisations to engage their emotions and help them steer through the infodemic. A consistent, open, and clear communication campaign sharing the updates about constant changes, organisational support, was created. We walked a tightrope with compassion and fact delivery.

Digital transformation has changed the media dynamics. What’s your view of managing brand reputation online and how have you managed the same for your company?

Managing the brand reputation has been in the scope of communication for the longest time ever. The online formats have added a real time urgency to it. Reputation management is strategic creation of a true version of your organisational vision, mission, and culture through online tools. Leading such a campaign requires development of a holistic understanding of the organisational beliefs and actions. Following a methodical approach of below steps makes it relatable:

• Establishing a goal - Establishing a credible image of the organising or reinstating the employee connect or creating loyalty or retelling you story; choose top two or goals, never spread yourselves too thin.
• Devising a plan - Choose message and delivery platforms. The PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared & Owned) model allows the organisation to scale the reach and amplification of key messages.
• Track Growth - The advanced digital tools facilitate the measurement of qualitative and quantitative aspects of the campaign. Analyse the results constantly.
• Reorient & adjust goals - The beauty of constant analysis is the ability to change course of messaging or inclusion of new messages at different stages of the campaign. This helps in addressing the changing needs of the stakeholders and organisation parallelly.

Technology has also made deep inroads in the communication world. How are you embracing technology to plan your communication strategy and key messaging to create effective PR campaigns? 

Public relations is a cross-section of art and science. While the art side of it remains human and needs us to curate creative stories, the science side of it is now governed by the technology, blurring the lines between traditional and digital PR.

The suite of available tools plays a key role in the process of planning and delivering the communication campaigns. From audience targeting, creating audience personas, understanding behavioral aspects, testing the different version of messages with tools like AB testing, choosing appropriate platforms to analysing the efficacy of campaign, all steps can be managed through these tools. It won’t be an exaggeration to opine that technology has aided the advancement of communication as intrinsic part of the marketing planning.

When you partner with your PR consultant, what kind of expectations do you have? What are some of the processes you follow to ensure that your PR partner exceeds their expectations and delivers results consistently?

PR consultancy is an extended team, so the expectation is the same as that of a team member. At a behavioral level, the consultancy should be aligned to our organisational vision and work culture. Strategic thinking, agility, proactive approach, adequate writing skills and business are some of the key sought after technical skills while choosing the right communications partner.

The right results are caused by goal setting, detailed planning, and impeccable execution. Both corporate communicators and PR consultancy must adopt hand-in-glove approach to achieve desired results.