Tier 1 & 2 cities – The future of communications!

Digitisation has brought with it blurring of cross border boundaries. Small towns have become a driving force for e-commerce companies, OTT platforms FMCG, telecom and more. Yet in the COVID world, brands and companies have been reticent in communicating with their stakeholders in these cities. In this episode of Mrigashira, we spoke to communication experts, working closely with brands in Tier 1 and 2 cities to find out if small towns are the future of PR in 2021.

Our guests are seasoned experts from the hinterland and include Alice Gurum, CEO of Media Pulse PR; Shailesh Goyal, Director, Simulations Public Affairs; and Shishir Somani, CEO of Archer communications.

Listen to the podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/28sT1Bi60Q5KIwdvKaI5G2

PR in small towns is far beyond product launches, how has the communication landscape evolved in these last few years in smaller cities?

Alice Gurum: In the smaller cities, we have always tried to keep changing things and make ourselves suitable to the marketing environment. When I started the business, I remember having gone to various agencies and people saying – our consumers don’t live there. We have now reached a stage where Mercedes sells the most in places like Punjab and Chandigarh. COVID-19 has really brought us to rethink and to really look at how we can make ourselves more suitable to the current environment when corporates don’t have that kind of money to spend.

Shailesh Goyal: The interests of people in the smaller cities or towns are more of a hyperlocal nature. They are keen about what’s happening around and how it impacts them immediately and directly. So, national affairs or national grants do not make much of a difference if not connected with some local historian or local farmers. So, that’s where they would like to read about new brands – in local media, only if connected with the surroundings.

Shishir Somani: Well, smaller engagement media is getting important. Every new day is a better day as compared to the last one, because each and every brand is looking out to reach out to the final consumer, which is Tier 2 cities now. Tier 1 cities are mostly saturated. Now the focus is coming to cities like Indore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Raipur and the likes. I have been observing that these brands were mostly influenced by The Times of Indias and The Economic Times of the world, but then they realised that getting into the world of Dainik Bhaskars and Dainik Jagrans is equally important. Thus, in last two years it has been recognised that it is very important to reach out to regional and smaller media as well.

Are there enough opportunities with the New Age media?

Shailesh Goyal: While Print continues to rule the smaller towns, the addiction to the digital platforms also has grown significantly during the pandemic. But the consumption is still largely on the most convenient mediums like Whatsapp, SMS, as it is easy to forward. We need to see that the new age medium is used in a larger context as these platforms give better opportunities to consumer oriented brands.

Alice Gurum: We have really moved into getting onto the digital sphere of the print media. Papers like Ajit, Punjab Kesari, which are very important for us in our markets, have lowered their rates on the digital platform vis-a-vis print. Print is no longer as important as digital in this post COVID-19 area. We have to move to digital now, especially in our market, which is a more educated market, and which is a market which has a large computer influence. Getting a little snippet in a newspaper doesn’t really hold that much importance anymore as much as if it is available on a digital platform. YouTube, Instagram and these kinds of social media platforms are really making a large dent.

National bloggers, Instagramers have redefined communication and specifically for fashion and beauty brands. Are local instagramers as influential in the smaller cities, or do people prefer to follow national Instagramers?

Alice Gurum: What is peculiar about Punjab and Chandigarh is the fact that we have a very educated and a very young audience. So, Instagramers, our local influencers are a very big chunk of what we are now working with for not only fashion and lifestyle, even food, restaurants, even five star hotels, or even TV. When it comes to travel and tourism, national Instagramers are really looked at.

Shailesh Goyal: Everybody will have an aspiration, such as what Deepika Padukone is using, which cosmetics she is promoting. But if anything  is connected with the local influencers, the nature of the product should be such that it is not like a large cosmetic brand that local influencers are suddenly using; that will not create a connect with them. But if it is something which is farm oriented or, let’s say, food grain or food service or for that matter even a salon service which is opening in the local market, services or products talked about by the local influencers, then we will probably value them more.

Historically, the PR industry has been dominated by women in the metros. This has not been the case in the Tier 1 and 2 cities. Any tips for more women to take the lead from these cities?

Alice Gurum: Honestly, if I even look at a lot of other agencies that have come in, there are hardly any women; you can count them on your fingertips. It is not as if to say that the media and the consumer do not accept you. I was welcomed with open arms 20 years back, I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know anything, I was really taught by the very people I was addressing, and also it is for women to be able to take up the challenge. The market is very welcoming. It is just that the remuneration is not commensurate to the effort that you put in.

Shailesh Goyal: The possibilities for both men and women are plenty in this industry. But yes, as you rightly said, traditionally, women have been more into the public relations industry and this can further penetrate down in the smaller and medium cities also. The opportunities are more because the local service centers, local products and local shops and super stores need these kinds of services. So, they can have 2-5 times the local clients and service them accordingly, providing them with good content. I have now seen that some of my ex-colleagues have started doing restaurants PR or lifestyle or healthcare PR. Thus, it helps them to focus and get expertise and specialisation in one particular domain.

Shishir Somani: When it comes to strategy, creating communication, even influencing people by means of stories, I feel female employees are good. In my team of nine people, there are three female employees and three female team members and most of them are working on strategy, communication strategy, they develop presentations, they develop SOP’s questionnaires. However, mostly we don’t encourage them to go in the field.

*Edited for length and clarity

(Mirgashira is a podcast for Indian PR and Communication professionals anchored by Radha Radhakrishnan and Charu Raizada. To listen to all episodes visit https://www.digitales.co.in/industry-insights/mrigashira-podcast/)