We are living in times of predictive analysis, social listening: Archana Jain

As part of our latest series on ‘PR Conversation’, we at Adgully are speaking to some of the industry leaders from both PR agencies and the corporate communications world about how PR as a business and communication tool has evolved and grown over the years. In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media in a big way. While the PR business has grown, some of the challenges that the industry is facing have also multiplied as clients are becoming more demanding and are expecting their consultants to be on their toes to manage their brand reputation, as news today travels fast and clients are expecting quick response and action in case of a crisis situation.

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In conversation with Adgully, Archana Jain, Founder and Managing Director, PR Pundit, speaks about the changing face of Public Relations, virtual engagement with stakeholders in the new normal, strategy for building and maintaining long-lasting relationships with clients, and more.

How has PR evolved in the last 10 years? Going forward, how will this industry shape up as the dynamics of the PR are changing with the acceleration of digital?

Every 6-7 years we have seen evolution in the media landscape and also of PR in India. The 90’s was when business journalism came of age. With the advent CNBC TV18 in 1999, business television added a new dimension to our profession. While digital media emerged on the scene in 2010; social media in 2015; and podcasts in 2020; digital migration has truly made its mark now.

Integrated communication solutions came to be expected from PR firms with the arrival of global brands starting 2007-08. Adoption of digital communication has accelerated this process. PR firms today are not only expected to manage press communications, but also recommend creative formats of engagement with consumers, foster marketing and communication collaborations, offer influencer marketing solutions and have the capabilities to manage owned social media platforms.

The pandemic has disrupted everyone. In these times how have you managed the client expectations and how did you manage to keep engaged with your clients?

Few people anticipated, as we packed up our laptops in March to work from home, that we’d still be video-conferencing from our dining tables several months later. Few expected to be home-schooling children, or that everyday activities – such as seeing friends or shopping at stores – would become public health risks. Yet, these are the strange new realities of life.

As new socio-economic behavioural patterns are shaping consumption and consumers are realigning their preferences and spending, our communication has had to move in tandem to recognise this disruption.

We have worked closely with our clients to accelerate their shift in communications to the digital mediums; we have designed and supported more purpose-led communications focused on health and safety; highlighted our clients’ environmental and sustainable values; as “nesting” at home has increased, we had to innovatively communicate home-based services for customers – from video beauty consultations to DIY content to using augmented reality for experientials; home grown & local production has been key messages; and so on.

As we are staring down the barrel of an economic recession, we have had to rethink the way we approach constrained clients, revamping our services at accessible price points reflecting sensitivity.

How different are you as an agency and what are some of the interesting tools that you deploy to give the best in terms of result to your clients?

We are a 22-year old integrated PR firm adept at multi-stakeholder communications. Our team of 90+ practitioners based across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru pursue a channel-agnostic approach to achieve our clients’ communication goals – whether it is to build brand appeal or change the conversation!

We are known to look beyond the traditional, employing creativity and skillful storytelling to engage relevant stakeholders – whether through collaborative partnerships, influencer programmes or via creative deployment of the owned platforms. Innovation, agility and entrepreneurial drive are a way of life at PR Pundit. We have a pulse of the now and are swift at adapting to changing needs of the market.

We believe in nurturing brands by providing strategic communications counsel & services to drive true brand preference, gain maximum credibility and buzz, to move products off shelves and into customers’ carts & hearts. Our clients can expect a continuous flow of fresh new thinking and game-changing ideas to make an impression.

Our strategy for building and maintaining long-lasting relationships with clients is based on supporting their business objectives through made-to-measure communications approach.

Today, artificial intelligence and data analytics are becoming very important in marketing and communication. How is your agency making use of this to help your clients on overall messaging and achieving the desired ROI?

While consumer, community and culture lend wings to our creative approach, we have always communicated our clients’ proposition through messaging powered by trends and insights to shape brand journeys.

We are living in times of predictive analysis, real-time monitoring of trends, social listening, and are keenly studying consumer touchpoints. Measurement and interpretation of data have become indispensable. We are required to incorporate more data into reporting to provide clear evidence of value. At PR Pundit, we have invested in talent who are dexterous in analytical tools like Google Analytics, Khoros, etc., that help in identifying the publics, track media and listen to conversations. As story-tellers and communicators, we closely work with the data team to gather insights to architect relevant messaging for our clients.

PR measurement and effectiveness of PR has always been a subject of debate. As a PR professional, what steps should the PR industry take to bring in uniformity so that everyone speaks one language when it comes to PR measurement?

If the industry can come together to get clients to wean away from advertising value equivalent measurement format and invest in gathering consumer perception in the next five years, we would have achieved a lot. As we all know, there are multiple ways of measuring effectiveness of PR across outputs and outcomes from reach (opportunity to see), content analysis, share of voice, key title analysis to awareness, recognition, perception that are being deployed across progressive organisations and brands.

Getting the right skillset and training has always been a challenge in the PR profession. What is your view on the same and what would be the valuable tips that you would like to give to the budding young PR professionals?

Hiring right and investing in training are critical, as people are the greatest asset of an organisation. We tend to look for talent that exhibits passion and energy. Uniquely in consumer PR, agility is key.

We invest heavily in systematic employee trainings as part of our Learning & Development programme from:

  • Skill based training: Our in-house trainers help team members to learn and understand basics of PR and have covered topics like presentation skills, scoring in the digital media landscape, client servicing, etc.
  • Media master classes: This is a review and analysis of 1-2 key titles - reviewing formats, journalists, topics, special editions to keep pace with the changing formats
  • Inspiration sessions: We discuss award winning case studies to understand successful campaigns and the strategies pursued therein
  • Visiting masters: As a part of this programme, we invite senior editors, influencers, independent PR consultants and other experts to address our team on a subject of expertise
  • External training on leadership development to open workshops of varying subjects are pursued for talent development

For young talent evaluating a career in PR, my guidance can only be biased as I love this profession. I believe that PR offers the best opportunities to young talent – better than any other function. We work with the top management – spokespersons themselves. It’s wonderful to see CXOs engage so effortlessly with young PR practitioners. Our profession also offers a unique opportunity to engage with intellectuals as we have to engage with senior and top editors.

For the fence sitters, PR is not spin doctoring….it is telling a good story to the right people. PR is not just about the over-glorified launch, PR must help build and sustain a groundswell of brand support – incrementally changing consumer behaviour via a steady stream of relevant and candid communication to both “media” and “consumers”. PR is proactive in idea generation and responsive in a crisis.

Do you feel the traditional role of interpersonal communication, which was so critical to the profession, has somehow been put to the back burner because of too much virtual engagement? How are you experiencing that, is it bringing down the efficiency of the agency?

On the contrary, virtual engagement has been able to bring about a much more regular and robust dialogue with stakeholders at the senior most level. At the practitioner level, senior talent have been able to make more time for clients at even short notice. Setting aside time to get on a plane to visit a client or spending hours on the road to undertake a face-to-face meeting require must more longer lead times. I hope this format of engagement continues in large measure for efficient client management.

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