Week at a glance: Notes from IMAGEXX 2021; More news bodies challenge new IT Rules

Industry leaders chart the future roadmap for the PR industry at IMAGEXX 2021

Adgully held its first ever IMAGEXX 2021 Summit & Awards this week that saw the doyens of the Public Relations and Corporate Communications industry congregate to address the most pressing issues and challenges in this industry, as well as identify the upcoming trends that will shape this industry and set the future course. IMAGEXX 2021 covered some pertinent topics such as ‘The post-pandemic PR consultancy: What will be disrupted?’, ‘Is the communication industry ready for managing the online crises?’, ‘How the pandemic laid the new ground rules for a stronger PR-Marketer collaboration’, and many more. 

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IMAGEXX 2021 Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award for PR veteran Prema Sagar

Enthusiastic response was received for the first ever IMAGEXX 2021 Awards. The winners were unveiled during the Summit held on the virtual platform on July 7, 2021 across three broad categories – Industry Awards, Discipline Awards and Special Awards. Prema Sagar, Chairperson and Founder, BCW India Group, was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her vision, creative mind and outstanding contribution to India’s Public Relations and Communications industry. 

Even amid the disruption, the PR retainer fees have remained fairly inelastic: Madan Bahal

Madan Bahal, Managing Director, Adfactors PR, is known for his forthright views on communications. His brilliant insights find eager reception in the industry. Bahal far exceeded all expectations in his fireside chat with Bijoya Ghosh, Founder and CEO, Adgully, at the inaugural edition of IMAGEXX 2021, held yesterday (July 7, 2021), where he did a 360-degree indepth scan of the PR industry as it is today and where it is headed in the heavily disrupted new normal. 

Why Public Relations as we know it has come to an end?

Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Global Communications, Mobile Premier League, shared a keynote address at IMAGEXX 2021 on ‘The End of Public Relations’. Delivering his address, Sekhar said, “I think the PR industry as we know it has ended, but PR professionals need to come together to reform it.” He further said that the days of the generalists in PR have come to an end, instead what was needed were specialists. He also asked, “Why can’t somebody take a leap of faith and start a PR tech industry? Let there be a new beginning for the PR industry.” 

upGrad Co-founder Mayank Kumar’s mantras for building a credible & relevant brand

Co-founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli in 2015, online higher education platform, upGrad, has grown from strength to strength. Now, in a move to accelerate its global expansion, Upgrad has allocated $250 million for M&A deals. As per media reports, the edtech start-up is valued at almost $4 billion. Delivering the opening keynote address at IMAGEXX 2021 Summit, Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and Managing Director, upGrad, had several deep insights to share on ‘Building a credible brand in education’. 

Preparation, ownership mindset, speed are critical for managing online crises: Experts

How prepared is the communications industry to manage the online crises? Researchers have compared the nature of social media crises to zombies, where if you shoot one down, another comes to take its place. In today’s age of viral social media content and 24-hour news cycles, one wrong move can land a company in the throes of a PR crisis and tank its reputation. Thus, it becomes key for company leaders to limit the damage. 

Brands need to experience new technologies to know their advantages: Lilia Glazova

Adgully’s IMAGEXX 2021 Summit, held on July 7, saw an interesting conversation between Lilia Glazova, CEO, PR News & Chairwoman, Russian Association of PR Consultancies (AKOS) and Member Association of International Communications Consultancy Organisation, and Atul Sharma, Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI). The discussions specifically focused on ‘Role of measurement and evaluation in creating value in PR’. 

Decoding the post-pandemic PR consultancy – what will be disrupted?

With the onset of the pandemic, the disruption has forced agencies to shift their gears fast to meet client expectations. Many agencies took several concrete steps to meet those challenges. While some of them looked at technology, the others were more concerned with employee motivation and keeping their morale high for them to perform and deliver well. We also noticed some changes in behaviour in the new normal due to which both client and agency had to revisit their communication strategy as Work From Home, etc., changed the consumption pattern of content. 

The traits that make for a great PR professional in the new normal

The main objective of ‘The DNA of a new PR Professional: New Learning and Behaviour’ panel at the IMAGEXX 2021 Summit was to get behind the journey of young PR professionals, their view about the world of PR, how it is changing and evolving, what is their mantra to learn, and what are the expectations that they have. 

Communication is very stage dependent in a company’s life: Experts

After the pandemic struck last year, communication has taken a different approach in this dynamic and challenging environment for all the industries, including start-ups. Achieving sustainable growth is possible only when start-ups set strategies in place from the very beginning, believe experts. Adgully’s inaugural IMAGEXX 2021 Summit saw an expert panel get together to discuss ‘The Changing Fabric of Communication for Start-ups - Brand Storytelling in a Dynamic Environment’. 

OTT players return to Print and OOH media as movie calendar gets jam packed

July may go down as the month with most star-driven film releases this year, albeit on OTT platforms. With cinema halls and multiplexes remaining shut across the country, OTT players have become the alternate platforms for film releases. As the film release calendar gets packed and films queue up for release, OTT players are increasingly leveraging traditional media like Out-of-Home and tactical print advertising to create an impact and cement their brand. 

Disney+ India paid subscribers equal that of US & Canada subscribers combined

In March 2021, Disney+ experienced a huge transformational growth with 100 million global paid subscribers globally within just 16 months of its launch and as of the end of the June quarter, Disney+’s global paid subscribers stood at 110 million. Disney+ is continuing to see traction in India as well as in Latin America. According to a report in The Information, in the June quarter, India contributed almost 38 million paid subscribers to Disney+’s total paid subscribers of 110 million. 

Now, PTI and NBA challenge new IT Rules 2021, move court

Press Trust of India (PTI) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) have joined the increasing chorus of news organisations that are challenging the new IT Rules 2021. PTI has moved the Delhi High Court against the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, calling the Rules an attempt by the Centre to regulate digital news media. 

No coercive action against NBA for non-compliance of new IT Rules: Kerala HC

At the hearing on the petition of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on July 9, 2021, challenging the constitutional validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Kerala High Court gave its interim order in favour of NBA. In its interim order, the Kerala High Court said that no coercive should be taken against NBA for not complying with the new IT Rules 2021. 

Viacom18 will launch its biggest property 'Bigg Boss' S15 first on VOOT

In an industry first move, Viacom18 will launch its marquee entertainment property, ‘Bigg Boss’, first on VOOT for 6 weeks. Christened ‘Bigg Boss OTT’, it will premiere in August 2021. In addition to the 1-hour episode on VOOT, viewers will get a chance to watch exclusive cuts, round the clock content drops and a fully interactive 24x7 LIVE feed from the house. After the completion of the digital exclusive, the show will move seamlessly into Colors with the launch of Season15 of ‘Bigg Boss’. 

With a strong sports calendar, advertiser interest in SPSN to surge in July-September

Sony Pictures Sports Network, the official broadcaster  for India Tour of Sri Lanka, has roped in 15 sponsors – Byju’s, Pan Bahar, Amazon Prime, 99 acres.com, Cars24, Oppo, Tata Motors, Raj Niwas, Vimal, Kent, Unacademy, Housing.com, Policy Bazaar, Paisa Bazaar and Dafa News – and is closing more brands before the start of the first ODI on July 13, 2021. 

The role of a PR professional is to influence the influencer: Arwa Husain

In conversation with Adgully, Arwa Husain, Director, Adfactors PR, speaks about how individual contributors and digital native publications have taken over from the traditional newsgroups for breaking stories and information. She also highlights how understanding the digital landscape and user data is opening communication to unexplored channels. 

“PR strategy will evolve to micro targeted ones with segmented messaging”

In conversation with Adgully, Priya Patankar, Head of Communications, PhonePe, highlights the new trends that the PR industry will see in the coming years, such as PR strategy becoming more personalised and local, digital channels taking centerstage, and a more proactive reputation management strategy, among others. 

Engaged employees are your best promoters: Varsha Chainani, Mahindra

In conversation with Adgully, Varsha Chainani, Senior Vice-President - Group Communications, Mahindra, speaks about some significant ways in which Public Relations has evolved over the last 10 years, COVID-19 impact on the communications industry, why customer centricity is the key in today’s world, and much more. 

“The future of PR is in harnessing an optimal mix of creativity & technology”

In this interaction with Adgully, Abhilasha Padhy, Co-founder & Joint Managing Director, 80DB Communication, affirms how the days of using PR to blast information are on the wane. Instead, she points out how the blurring of lines between marketing, public policy and reputation management shine the spotlight on PR. 

Employees, more than celebrities, are emerging as brand ambassadors: Pooja Garg Khan

In conversation with Adgully, Pooja Garg Khan, Head - Corporate Communications, Panasonic India, speaks about how digital is transforming the PR industry as well as media relations. She also talks about the science behind PR, which has the potential to change conversations. 

“Enterprises can cut ~80% cost of ops and increase CSAT by 20% by using voice bots”

In conversation with Adgully, Vartika Verma, VP - Global Marketing, yellow.ai, shares her thoughts on the significance of their rebranding initiative, as well as how Yellow.ai is helping Indian brands and marketers deliver value to their customers using the power of Voice AI. 

Kantar completes Numerator acquisition, creates global leader in shopper behaviour

Kantar has completed its acquisition of Numerator, the Chicago-based, tech-driven consumer and market intelligence company from Vista Equity Partners. Numerator blends proprietary data, including a digital panel of over one million U.S. consumers, with advanced technology to create unique insights that help companies understand their customers in real time and identify growth opportunities. 

Ranveer Singh - Revolutionary iconoclast who marches to his own beat

Think Ranveer Singh and the picture that one gets is that of a bizarre sense of fashion and some really quirky behaviour. But there is more to Ranveer than the plain bizarre. The actor has shown enough brilliance on the big screen to balance out his quirks – ‘Gully Boy’, ‘Lootera’, ‘Gunday’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Band Baja Baaraat’, etc. As the actor celebrated his birthday this week, Adgully takes a look at his brand associations and social media engagements.

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