PR takes centrestage in demonstrating a deep sense of integrity in these times

In the last 12 months, the Public Relations industry has undergone a drastic shift that has accelerated all our plans. The pandemic has tested the gears of the PR agencies at every level and every designation. It also laid out stronger ground rules for stronger PR-marketer collaboration. Both have worked together to ensure that the brand would have a voice. But how have the dynamics in this relationship changed?

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The panel discussion on ‘How the Pandemic Laid the New Ground Rules for a Stronger PR-Marketer Collaboration’ during the first ever IMAGEXX 2021 Summit, held on July 7, saw senior PR, Corporate Communications and Marketing experts discuss this pertinent topic. Moderated by Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR, the panelists included:

Nandita Lakshmanan, Founder & Chairperson, The PRactice

Nitin Mantri, Group CEO, AvianWE

Varsha Chainani, Senior VP & Head Group Communications, Mahindra Group

Pooja Chaudhri, Executive Director, Concept PR

Shakun Bansal, Vice President & Head - Marketing, Mercer | Mettl 

How has the marketing and PR dynamics changed in the last 12 months?

Nandita Laxman: “Public Relations has long moved away from the shadow of marketing and has established itself as an independent standalone industry. In the pre-COVID-19 era, most of our time used to get consumed in resourcing externally. After the pandemic struck, everything came to a standstill and this is where Public Relations came up front to manage the internal communications of the business, stakeholder engagement which became a part of the lingo of every CEO in understanding that without direct, consistent and sustained communication, things won’t move in the direction that the stakeholders wanted to.”

“Without undermining the function of marketing, PR took centrestage in demonstrating a deep sense of integrity and dependability during these unprecedented times.”

Nitin Mantri: “As an industry, PR has come of age, not just in these last 12 months, but even before that without getting into a clash with marketing or any other function. The clients wanted to see empathetic and authentic communications with the audiences and that is where PR has always stepped forward.” 

Relationship between Marketing and PR firms

Shakun Bansal: “Marketing is about creating demand and to create these demands, marketers need platforms to convey their story to the customers. Despite Social Media and other websites, Public Relations is the foremost platform for marketers to tell their stories and explain it to their audiences in the right manner. How PR is such a great enabler of creating strong relationships from a marketing perspective is the relationship between PR and Marketing, which tends to change as the companies grow bigger. Once the brand spreads worldwide, it is PR which is again responsible for maintaining the brand’s reputation.”

Pooja Chaudhri: “PR has always been an integral function of every organisation. It has always stood for credibility and authenticity and even after the pandemic struck, PR firms have continued to remain the same. The shift towards authenticity is now being followed by marketing organisations as the entire digital universe is filled with digital stories and people are now looking out for articles rather than advertisements. The pandemic has brought the need for purpose-driven campaigns with aligned communication.”

Varsha Chainani: “The pandemic has changed a lot of things and purpose is something that comes first now. People want to be perceived as purpose-driven and with sensitive communication during these times. Both marketing and PR have essential roles to play in their lines of communication and, according to me, every corporate communications team should turn the table to the other side to learn critical feed that the marketing team brings up.”

The above are edited excerpts from the panel discussion. Watch the complete session below:

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