Relationship-building shall always be the key to all that is PR: Akanksha Patankar Mirji

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, Akanksha Patankar Mirji, Professional Storyteller, Trainer & Educator, speaks about how PR has changed and where the industry is heading, her experiences of managing PR for a liquor brand, media relations in the digital era, and more.

You have been a PR professional for over 15 years. What are some of the significant changes you have noticed in the PR industry for the past 10 years?

The PR industry has been my area of specialisation for over 2 decades. With the advent of the internet and various other tools that have been made available over the past decade, there has certainly been a significant change in the manner in which the industry operates. Some of the significant changes are:

a) PR has evolved from a simple executive function to a proper management-level job - It is no longer about simply building media relations, issuing press releases and getting coverage. It has moved on from these basics to strategic planning of communication to various target groups, crisis communication, campaigns and a lot more
b) Shift from traditional media to digital media - Previously, all communication like press releases, reports, etc. were sent out to publications using print, television and radio as mediums. Now, it is critical to utilise digital platforms and social media to deliver the right messaging to the target audience. Digital media also includes podcasts, blogs and vlogs.
c) Stakeholder engagement & building personalised narratives - The manner in which stakeholders are engaged is no longer focused only on media, rather the focus has shifted to direct communication with multiple target audiences, including influencers. Also, narratives have changed from being focused on the organisation to building narratives that appeal to target audiences and getting them to feel emotional attachment to the companies/ brands. This is known as corporate or brand storytelling
d) Measurement of PR has changed from Average Visibility Index to calculation of the impact of campaigns using newer methodologies and techniques - AVI’s were always calculated on the basis of the sale value of space utilised along with other multipliers by individual agencies. This was a measurement model using just output as the final value. However, now agencies consultants and corporates are looking at the final impact of a campaign based on Objectives, Activities, Output and Organizational Impact.

Managing PR for a liquor brand has always been a challenge. You have worked in this category. What are some of the challenges and how did you manage?

I worked with the Alcobev category in the nascent stage of PR for the industry in 2001 for a period of almost 5 years. There were, and continue to be numerous restrictions on advertising for brands in the alobev industry. The biggest challenges faced while doing PR for this category are:

Only surrogate advertising was allowed. Therefore, many alcobev brands had to produce products that were in the beverage category in order to indulge in surrogacy. This led to increased production costs for the brand
The presence of women in the sales and marketing teams for the alcobev industry was discouraged. Thereby, making it a male-dominated sector.
On ground events and activations were purely conducted through sponsorship that only ensured presence and usage of the brand at the event

My boss and mentor was Pradeep Gidwani, Managing Director of Foster’s India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Foster’s Group, Australia. He was and continues to be an extremely progressive thinker. He had a strong belief in breaking traditional barriers. Firstly, our sales and marketing team consisted of men and women. As the Manager - PR & Communications, I, too visited hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants and even the local liquor stores for relationship building at a B2B level, and creating communication that was appropriate for each of these audiences. For consumers, all communication was driven by PR as there was no surrogate brand to advertise. We took the route of on-ground activations and built PR around it. For instance, the brand was Australian, and therefore had to communicate the Australian ethos. This was done in 2 ways. The first was the tour of the Australian cricket team to play a series of matches in 2001 that was titled ‘Wizards of Oz’, and the target audience was given multiple opportunities to interact with the cricketers through events and meetings at clubs, bars and restaurants.

Secondly, Australia is known for the outback including foods like barbecue and beer. What followed was a series of events hosted by celebrities/ influencers for their circle of influencers where the only alcoholic beverage served was Foster’s beer and barbecue food. This was similar to the associations that are done with online influencers nowadays. Also, Foster’s sponsored events like India Fashion Week and created a lounge area with the replica of a branded Formula 1 car (since Foster’s was a brand that sponsored Formula 1 Grand Prix racing) and we held pre-show photo shoots with designers and their clothing on models using the lounge area as a backdrop. Additionally, Foster’s promoted Formula 1 through various events across the city. As incentives to owners of liquor stores, international trips were organised to take them to watch an F1 race.

To put it very simply, everything that was a challenge was converted into an opportunity. We had first-movers advantage in many collaborations that are currently being done by other brands. Infact, influencer communication and marketing being done online currently was already being done offline by the Foster’s team over 15 years ago.

With digital making inroads where does the role of media relations stand in the scheme of things today? How important is media relations?

Media relations is an intrinsic part of PR. Whether news is shared through print, television, radio or digital, it has to be shared with the target audiences. Media is the tool to reach out to these audiences.

With digital making inroads, the scope of media relations has increased. Apart from publications, there are digital news platforms, social media platforms and social media influencers that PR practitioners have to build relationships with. So the manner in which media relations are being built (email communication, Whatsapp, brand associations with influencers) have grown manifold.

What was your approach in setting expectations with clients especially when you win a new business?

This is a great question. There is an extremely logical manner in which expectation setting has to be done with clients. For any new business pitch, clients are provided an insight to the kind of work an agency or consultant are capable of delivering. The final fees for the new business is usually decided based on Key Resource Allocations, Outputs and expected outcomes or key deliverables.

Once the list of key deliverables are agreed upon between the client and the agency/ consultant, there has to be a proper training session for the agency to understand the manner in which the client works, and the manner in which an agency/ consultant works. This sets expectations right on both sides of the table. Despite this, there are times when a client has larger expectations than what were decided upon at the start of the relationship. Therefore, it is critical to build relationships with the client such that the expectations can be managed. A statement that I have always believed in has been “Underpromise and overdeliver”. This will ensure longevity of the relationship with the client.

You have been mentoring many students who wish to take a career in PR. What are your valuable tips and advice to students who want to pursue PR as a profession?

Firstly, students must develop an understanding of Integrated Marketing Communication, the role played by PR within this, and working with other communication partners like advertising agencies, digital media agencies, news monitoring agencies, etc. to achieve the same goal.
Research across multiple traditional and new media to gain a better understanding about your client and the industry your client operates in. This will also help in creating unique strategies for your client.
Content has and shall always play a critical role in creation of appropriate narratives for clients. Build on existing content skills. In the current scenario, students even have an option to utilise key strengths in different areas of content creation, ranging from writing to creatives to social media content.
Relationship-building shall always be the key to all that is PR. This can range from client relationships to media, influencers, partners and even your own team. So, focus on nurturing and building relationships with all.
One must always have a growth mindset. Whether it is showing improvement in the quality of work for a client, mastering the skillsets at each level of professional development or having to work across multiple verticals.
Measurement is an extremely important element of the work done in PR. It must be understood and applied in an appropriate manner at all times.
Finally, remember that in this day and age, Public Relations executives grow to become part of the C-Suite executives who form the Board of Directors in numerous corporates. So, PR is now being truly recognised and acknowledged as a critical function.