Public Relations and Communicators Blog

When a newspaper like The Hindustan Times shuts down its editions, 4 of them simultaneously, letting go of nearly 1000 people (as reported in the media) it does so because it is seriously considering its future options. At the same time there is news of large regional media houses like the Kolkata based ABP cutting down staff by 40%, creating a frenzy of speculations, including many professional orbituary writers inking their pen while anticipating the next business demise to be that of print media. At the same time, there are reports to the exact opposite like the recent World Press Trends Survey 2016 which have globally shown 4.9% growth over last year largely on account of the growth of print in India. Sometimes, these two situations seem quite contradictory, throwing all print media related businesses into a tizzy.  I have been in businesses that are considerably dependent on print media and, if print media were to shut down tomorrow, three of our group's five businesses wou...

In a country like India where population can be termed as plenty and human resources, immense, an Industry like PR always must have a bright future. Flamboyant marketing, effective advertising and intelligent PR are sure to hold importance in the second most populous country and the 4th largest economy in the world. Public Relations in India is fast becoming a growing component of the enterprise marketing budget. Often bordering on business consulting, the scope of Public Relations firms is getting more and more complex. It no longer seems strange to see companies hiring firms for managing the image specifically of their C-Suite, public advocacy campaigns or litigations. According to the recent Holmes report, the western growth of PR is almost plateaued in the range of 9% to 11%, with India (as China too) growing at 4 times that pace. To quote the report, "The greatest future in growth is expected to come in China and India, with good prospects for growth in Eastern Europe (pa...

After the telecom thunder and the retail rush in India, Healthcare seems to be the next biggest bet for everyone. With promises of many billions of Indian Rupees, large diversified conglomerates such as Reliance, Birlas, Tatas are all betting their money in the Indian healthcare delivery space. As has been with other high growth sectors in India that witnessed a rapid meteoric rise, those who don’t jump into the bandwagon quickly are likely to miss the speeding bus completely. Industry experts promise that among other businesses which will ride the crest of this healthcare delivery boom will be the erstwhile non-starter business of healthcare communications. Many communication giants who were early starters in healthcare communications (having started two to three years ago) in India had to face the embarrassing ignominy of their businesses not taking off despite repeated attempts at survival. Some continue to struggle, but on the whole, it would be safe to say that most have been deci...

Indeed, these are wonderful times we live in. I prefer to call this the Disruptive Age - an age where almost anything, anyone (and not to mention, any country) can disrupt even century old concepts, beliefs and businesses. An era where the old gives way to the new with ease, a time when anything is possible! This era has also seen a resurgence of some old business concepts like public relations which have reinvented themselves and have taken a prominent central stage in all other businesses. Till some years ago, it was rare to find someone who understood public relations, and today while many understand it, not everyone who does uses public relations to do what it is meant to do, viz to build brands. Reputation is the most basic building block of brand image, and public relations is arguably one of the most reliable tools of reputation building, making it indispensable to brand building in the current disruptive era. For practitioners of PR in India, 2006 will be considered a watershed...

Background The organized PR industry is just over a dozen years old in India and over these years, PR is slowly evolving to become a critical tool for Indian businesses. Currently valued between Rs. 175 & Rs. 200 crores the industry is estimated to be growing at robust pace of approximately 40-45% p.a. Estimates show that the top 15 to 20 PR agencies in the country contribute upto 60-70% of the total sector turnover; the balance 35 to 40 odd agencies form the middle segment and the balance 1000 to 1100 odd agencies are one-man shops set up (usually) by ex-journalists/ex-professionals. The total number of professionals working in the PR industry is estimated to be between 10,000 to 11,000; with 25%-30% of them working with the top 20 agencies. The Indian PR market is burgeoning into a force to reckon with, and the world’s focus on India, and India’s focus on the world will make the communication imperative impossible to ignore. The real challenge The biggest issue that faces Blue Lo...