Spirit W | PR was never on the radar: Vibhuti Agrawal

Vibhuti Amarnath Agrawal, a communication professional with over 9 years of experience in Public Relations and Social Media has a fair amount of experience in media relations, crisis management, account planning and various aspects of internal communication.
 
Adgully spoke to Vibhuti Amarnath Agrawal, Communications Consultant to know more about her journey and experience in this domain.
 
Sharing about her journey so far, Vibhuti said, “It’s been an interesting journey so far. Looking at the last 9 years that I have spent in this industry, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best agencies and brands in India.” She believes that the learning curve has always looked at the sky. “There have been lot of challenges but thanks to the support of my bosses and team members I have enjoyed every bit of it,” she added.
 
When asked what prompted her to choose public relations and social media as her profession, she said with a smile, “Public Relations was never on the radar when I was in college. I took Computer Science in my 12th and like most others had planned to go for Engineering.”  But after going through the grind of Derivatives & Integration in 12th, she understood that she couldn't go ahead with all that.  Adding further she said, “Fortunately for me 2 things happened then – I scored less in my 12th Boards (enough to not qualify for Engineering) and BMM was introduced that year.” And so in the dream and passion of doing something different, she missed the BMS entrance dates and took the BMM route and got through and that was her first step towards a career in PR. Vibhuti also added that she would definitely have been a Criminal Lawyer, if not a PR professional. According to her; listen to your heart, be genuine and have variety in life - these are the 3 key mantras that worked for her to survive and reach this mark.   
 
She says, “You don’t eat the same food everyday; you don't wear the same clothes every day. Then why do the same work every day? Yes, while your profession might require you to follow a particular regime, you need to add spice to your life by indulging in other interesting activities also, something that we call hobbies.”
 
She started with her own business, not an official entity though, in November last year after spending 8 years in various agencies. Since she had expertise in PR & Social Media, she decided to go ahead in the same field. Her parents have been her inspiration. Vibhuti says, “I have learnt a lot from them and try to implement those lessons in my life. My Dad heads a company. I have seen him as a compassionate and approachable leader who has solutions for every problem. My Mom is a multi-tasker and that's exactly what I enjoy doing – 10 different things at the same time.”
 
When asked the most inquisitive, question of the section: Do you see any prejudice in the industry? She said, “Not really. If you see most of the PR agencies have women in the top management. Also with the changing times, organizations are offering flexi-working hours and work-from-home options to encourage women to take up more responsibilities.”
 
Vibhuti believes that the industry still revolves around numbers – number of coverage, number of fans, etc. and this is one thing that she believes that needs to change.
 
Vibhuti is of the opinion that the industry has evolved a lot from when she started up till now and believes that there have been many positives too and most important being that agencies have become consultants in the real sense. She says, “Clients now take them more seriously and treat them as partners rather than vendors. Agency representatives now sit and discuss strategies in the boardrooms.” Also she strongly feels that the approach towards getting your news out has changed drastically over the years because gone are the days when a press release could easily get 10 pieces of decent coverage.
 
While signing off, she made a strong point and explained saying, “Besides, the ‘E’ of this e-age is being utilized to its best for networking and information sharing. There are online groups that connect communications professionals from every part of the country, which help them not only share information but also seek ideas and discuss issues.”
 
Vibhuti,  an independent communications consult, has worked with leading Indian communications companies such as Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, Rediffusion Y&R, Windchimes Communications and Siemens India. Interestingly, besides being a communications professional, she is a state-level shooter and competes in 10M Air Rifle Competitions. Having won a Gold in her first state-level match in June this year, she now plays at the pre-national level and is hoping to play her first Nationals in December this year. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]
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