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Top 12 posts at India PR Blog in 2007
2007-12-29 14:29:00 We have some good developments at India PR blog in 2007. Firstly, we have the India PR Job Board launch that is used by many leading PR agencies and read by hundreds of PR professionals today. Then the formation of India PR Blog writer's team with PR professionals and journalists from across organisations, formally to be announced soon, came as a significant milestone that is pushing the blog as an industry platform for free and frank discussion.Among all the posts at this blog in 2007, we have some posts that stood out from the rest in terms of readers' participation and page views. These are the top 12 PR posts at India PR Blog in 2007, one for each month:January 2007:15 media relations tips by PR professionals and journalists: A list of select media relations tips from PR professionals and journalists who participated in the recent online survey 'Media Relations Best Practices' on this blog.February 2007:Corporate Blogging - Making a strategic approach: Should your organisati... More About: Posts
Media Trends - 2007
2007-12-25 19:41:00 This time of the year is naturally devoted to some introspection of the past and reflection into the possibilities that the future would bring. We can look forward to glossy anniversary editions of magazines, the catalogs of ?the best and the worst? developments in the newspapers and panel discussions on TV on the? celebratory and grievous moments? for 2007.Since there will be all this and more to assimilate, I promise to keep this post on my learnings and observations on media in 2007 as brief as possible.The Fall of Simplistic Media Relations and the Rise of Space CrunchThis report in the Business Standard on the record number of product launches this year corroborated what I have been experiencing in my daily media outreach as a Public Relations professional. While in the past 2 years we have seen an increase in the number of newspapers, magazines and TV channels, this increase is hugely outpaced by the number of brands in the market today. Given their new presence in the space a... More About: Trends
Future PR Communication Models
2007-12-21 07:33:00 We have learned through experience or through academics that there is basic simple model of communication. Here, you have a sender, who creates the message then you have the receiver who receives the message. There are 5 key elements that define a communication process:Source ? the originator of message, codes the messageMessage ? a set of signs and symbolReceiver ? the message intended to, decodes the messageChannel ? a means of communication or accessNoise ? any form of disturbance (physical, psychological) that can disturb the original contents of the messageThe above is the Linear Model of Communication which was constructed by Shannon & Weaver, 1949. The communication is successful, only when the receiver gives feedback in a particular form of communication.Basic models of communication were based on one-to-one (letter writing) or one-to-many (speeches, television broadcast) form of communication. Since then models of communication evolved into something more complex, only ... More About: Models , Future
Policing The Media; Is Regulation Required Or Is It Another Retrograde Atte
2007-12-20 19:35:00 At a time when the India Media is racing ahead and projected to growing faster than the Indian GDP, as much as twice in some recent reports, our world suddenly seems on fire with the news that Indian media stings may soon require oversight to determine if such a sting is indeed in public interest as well as being able to stand true on the test of entrapment.The venerable Delhi High Court was rancid when it asked whether the media was carrying out sting operations or ?stinking operations?.The state of affairs has come to such a pass that in disposing off a petition on the now infamous sting telecast by private TV news channel in August, the court suggested that the information and broadcasting ministry constitute a three-member committee and all TV channels should seek permission from it before airing any sting operation. The suggested panel is proposed to have a retired high court judge and two officials with the ranks of additional secretary and additional commissioner of police.Th... More About: Regulation , The Media , Etrog
Thursdays with Tushar: The Affair continues...
2007-12-19 20:09:00 In the last week's post we discussed about basics of public affairs and how it is becoming more relevant in recent times. This week, we will take our journey forward and discuss about the various tools being employed to manage this socio-political equations.Every organization has a different view towards how to manage this set of stakeholders and many of them devises the system which works best for them. Organizations do active lobbying, offer sponsorships, deploy code of conduct, some even pay bribes, offer consultation (directly or through industry bodies), sometimes practices voluntary self-restriction or even go for legal remedies in order to manage the socio-political stakeholders. We will discuss about all these in a step by step method.During my past experience, I have worked with an organization which followed a very strong 'code of conduct' and believed strongly in consultation and voluntary self-restriction if needed. I have also worked with an organization that strongl... More About: Affair
Thursdays with Tushar: Digital tools!
2007-12-19 19:33:00 Dear Sir, I am working with one of the India's leading PR agencies at the Sr. Executive level. Now we all are hearing about the next wave of Public Relations being digital communications/online PR or the digital PR; could you help me to understand on the various tools of digital or online public relations? - PratibhaDear Pratibha:You asking us a question on this blog is the power of digital PR. Don't you agree? Okay, I have just one suggestion to make - please read through our blog and you will become an expert of digital PR. In fact, one of my previous posts on the same subject would give you some ideas to begin with and there were quite a few posts on the subject available on our blog from my fellow contributors. But since you have asked this question, let's discuss about how it all started and where it is leading to.All through the 20th century, most of our communication was using old media vehicles and in a monologue form. It was a top down approach (even today we follow that... More About: Tools , Digital
To call over phone or to email ? that is the question
2007-12-18 20:20:00 I briefly debated internally before writing this piece - do we the campaigners of the communication age actually need to discuss something as mundane as a phone call and an email. I mean standing at the footsteps of a virtual revolution that will potentially change our business interactions (as it already has our personal ones), do we still need to discuss if we have got the basics right?My instinctive sense from observing the everyday use of these basic tools is ? YES. We often see people around complain about the ?delay? caused in taking action due to email ping pong. And there are those who spend hours over phone trying to persuade and ?explain? but the party on the other end, ?just doesn?t understand?! (It would be worth sharing similar experiences that any readers of this post may have had and actually help explore this theme better)Most of us haven?t read text books on email and phone etiquette and manage reasonably well, following invisible guidelines based on our judgment an... More About: Phone , Email , Question , Call
Top PR goof ups of 2007
2007-12-18 19:44:00 Who could forget the incident of Microsoft PR agency sending off the spokesperson briefing document to the journalist instead of the client by accident? Don't worry, we have an Indian version of it as well. Ok what about that one about the YouTube video of rats in a Taco Bell?Shel Holtz has picked out the PR and marketing gaffes from the newly launched Money magazine's annual '101 Dumbest Moments in Business' list. Check them out. Quite a few lessons to be learnt from our global PR counterparts' misadventures: #8?A YouTube video of rats frolicking in a New York Taco Bell gets millions of views. #16?Microsoft PR agency Waggener Edstrom sends a 12-page dossier on a Wired contributing editor to the Wired contributing editor. The less-than-flattering dossier, calling the editor ?tricky? and ?sensational,? was meant to go to Microsoft executives. #17?Redux is warned by the FDA to rename its energy drink, which was called Cocaine. It was renamed to Censored, then NoName. #21?Th...
Calling the Best PR Agencies in India: The Profiling Project
2007-12-17 20:24:00 The PR Agencies page is one of the most viewed pages on India PR Blog. The page lists major PR agencies in India.Since the India PR Blog is read across the blogosphere, it can be a good platform for PR agencies to be seen by prospective clients and partners across India and abroad. Also, it is a good way to expose your agency to potential employees, young and experienced, who are just entering the PR industry.Till now, we have been listing only the names of PR agencies. This doesn't provide much information to any reader. They are only sent to the respective PR agency websites.However what if we include some basic information on the page itself in about 3 paragraphs. The information could include:1. Your current clients2. Your expertise areas3. Branches across India4. Key people5. Awards won/ key projects handled.6. Your agency logo7. Contact informationAll you need to do is send us the information to editor@indiaprblog.com. Like before, we are not charging any money for this.But i... More About: Project , Calling , Profil
Calling HR consultants: Using India PR Jobs Board to reach out to potential
2007-12-17 19:50:00 We launched the India PR Jobs Board six months back and since then, there have been 25 job postings, more than 4000 views, and more than 150 applications.The most popular posting was that of CMCG India on Aug 30, 2007 that was viewed 175 times and had 18 candidates applying for the job. The second was of K2 Communications on July 25, 2007 that was viewed 123 times and had 11 candidates applying for that job. The third most popular job posting was from brand-comm on Oct 30, 2007. It was viewed 112 times and 12 candidates applied for that job.Some of the other organisations that have used the job board so far are LINOpinion, 20:20 MEDIA, Dag Communications, Text 100, Aarohan Communications, RockeTalk, P'zahn Consultants, India News Communications Ltd., Finesse PR, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick, Imprimis Life, PRHub, and IPAN.Not bad. But it could have been better.When we launched this job board, we focus more on HR professionals from PR agencies and corporates to post jobs and ma... More About: Calling , Reach
Managers/Sr Managers
2007-12-17 11:01:00 Managers/Sr ManagersBangalore, Karnataka, IndiaDec 17, 2007 More About: Managers
External Affairs Manager
2007-12-17 07:04:00 External Affairs Manager Delhi, Delhi, IndiaDec 17, 2007 More About: External
Putting News First
2007-12-16 16:36:00 "The world seems a whole lot bigger than on the map"?says one of the promos on Discovery's Travel and living. I kind of agree to that. With all our perceptions of the world getting closer and distances fast dissolving with the evolving and increasing modes of transportation, conveyance and communication ? and with the almost homogenization of all world cultures (would refrain from using the word Californication), the contexts and references, incidents and situations that are of relevance today are getting more local, niche and far from the macro-global issues that supposedly make news to us.This brings me to the word that surrounds our very senses today and brings about that sense of deliberate connectivity ?NEWS! There is an overarching need to reach out to the audience, to get him to listen to us first, be that first source, the most credible source, and the all encompassing source of news?everyone claims to have hit the pulse and understood the audience's nerves in terms of wha... More About: News , Putting
84% PR agencies in India focus on media relations, only 2.5% on consumer to
2007-12-14 12:24:00 Only 2.5% of Public Relations agencies in India focus on ?Consumer touch PR?, while 84% execute the ?white & pink paper PR? focused on media relations. This is according to a recent survey conducted among 216 PR agencies in the country by Harish Bijoor Consultants.(A far reality from what most PR firms portray or should be doing!)That's Harish Bijoor, Brand Expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consultants Inc. speaking at the 29th All India PR Conference organised by PRSI at Chennai. Harish also emphasised on the need of infrastructure development in India becoming more sensitive to the people and how planning needs to be done bottom-up and seamless in its involvement of all consumers and it is in this key area that PR needs to play a more strategic, long term role.Are the other speakers at the Conference echoing similar opinions? Are we all just press release pushers, and need to ideate and manage programs more that involve the end-consumers directly? Maybe in the guise of the 'in... More About: Media , Focus
Buy side or sell side; Agency or Client, Doer or Make Doer, where's the gam
2007-12-13 19:38:00 The weather in Mumbai or Bombay as I tend to yet and maybe always will refer to it is amazing. For those interested in the weather, the best time to be here is from November through February.As I look outside the window, around me the madness continues. No one has noticed the weather. When I moved back to Bombay, my adopted home from Bangalore earlier this year, the weather was the last thing on my mind. The excitement of the rubber hitting the road again in a sell side assignment is what was floating my boat. That the traffic in Bangalore is arguably and notionally more crap may have entered my mind.Where am I taking you with this? Well, simply: Where would I rather work today, Agency or Client ? For years, it has been the path of exodus from PR or Advertising or other MarComms agencies to Client or Buy side roles. Traditional wisdom seems to suggest that moving to a client role has been the staple ambition of most communications or marketing interns, a larger aspiration seemingly b... More About: Make , Sell , Side
Thursdays with Tushar: The Affair of a different kind
2007-12-12 19:31:00 Whenever we use the word 'affair', our mind starts working overtime thinking about sultry Bollywood romances or those office gossips you might be hearing inside elevators or in corridors, but here we are going to talk about the affairs of a different kind. In today's edition of Thursdays with Tushar, we are going to talk about the business of Public Affair s.Let's do a 'google' on Public Affairs:Public Affairs: Pub-lic af-fairs: plural noun: general matters:Issues that affect people generally, or issues arising from the relationship of the public to an organization such as a government body or a financial institution ( takes a plural verb )noun:definition:field of study: the study of issues involving the interrelationships between the public and major institutions such as government ( takes a singular verb )This is what I found while googling for a definition of Public Affairs from one of the web dictionaries. Pretty simple, isn't it? Is practising public affairs as simple as ... More About: Diff
PR Consultants are not Spin Doctors
2007-12-11 19:49:00 'Spin Doctors ' is what many think a Public Relations Consultant is?Well, I was quite flummoxed when I realised that that is how many perceived Public Relations or PR Consultants to be?so you are in the business of creating news huh?", "You create news when there is none?" ?"You make sinking organisations look nice?" Of course, the most common understanding of PR is getting covered in print and judging the works of the Agency per column centimeter of coverage in Print et al. So, is that all that a Public Relations Consultant does?Well, I say, NO!Public Relations has been slow in evolution and needs some definitions beyond creating corporate images. I define Public Relations as the Art of communicating with the masses and formulating a Scientific approach to reach out to your target audience to enable the publics have better understanding of an organisations' objectives and intention thereby building a favourable image.PR or Public Relations is not just about Media Relations; it is... More About: Ulta
What they don?t teach you in PR schools ? Part I
2007-12-11 07:36:00 This post is specifically dedicated to young professionals in Public Relations who in the years to come will be the change agents for the industryI am someone who not so long back, made the transition from a PR student to a Public Relations professional (yes PR to Public Relations :) ) . From attending endless sessions on ?what is a press release?, ?what are the 5 must-dos for a press briefing?, to more exciting prospects of real-life work experience at an internship to the final placement week, I have been through the regim of any average communication student.While I am not the right person to speak about the improvement areas for PR academia, I feel there are gaps between what one is taught in a communication school to what the ground realities at work are. In this post, I have shared some thoughts based on my experiences as a young professional ?Press briefing, press release, newsletter are NOT Public Relations only Public Relations tools. While we learn what they are, it is als... More About: Schools , Part
The Blog Council talk goes on...in India now
2007-12-10 19:36:00 Some big corporations recently got together and formed a private blog club called Blog Council to share best blogging practices. Current members include AccuQuote, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Wells Fargo. The Council will organise its own events with the next one coming up on January 22.This is generating quite a buzz in the blogosphere curently. While some bloggers chose to report about the launch positively like Direct2Dell and BlogworldExpo, others slammed it outright. From the name to the press release and FAQs pasted on the main page, the brickbats keep flying in. They say Blog Council promotes worst blogging practices. Mashable says 'Not a single corporation from the list of founding members is the maintainer of a blog or New Media presence that I?d consider to be ?doing it right.? I think of Yahoo, Brightcove, Southwest Airlines and Google as examples of effective and pro... More About: India , Talk
Developing relationships in the World Wide Web
2007-12-09 19:47:00 Some people fondly call it PR 2.0, in few western PR markets they have even moved to PR 3.0 and some call it Digital PR. What exactly is it? Does online PR exist? Can we develop relationships in the WWW? Well, let's try and find out.We live in societies. Our social life reveals much about us than anything else. The way we dress, the way we interact, the neighbourhood we stay in, the vehicle we drive, the organization we work with and so on... There are many factors, which symbolises the society we belong to. Today's marketer analyses all these and more to interact with us on a daily basis. In the world wide web, we reflect the same characteristics. The groups we belong to, the applications we use, the blogs we write, the networking sites we hangout on, the friends we keep and so on. The new age marketers need to analyse all these in order to interact with us - but hold on! There is one BIG difference.The big difference is that in the www, I am the one who has the power not only to... More About: Relationships , World , World Wide Web , Wide , The World
Get ready for the big daddy of PR conferences - the 29th All India PR Confe
2007-12-09 19:39:00 More than 250 PR professionals from across India and abroad will meet at the upcoming mega PR conference - the annual 29th All India PR Conference from December 13-15, 2007 at Green Park Hotel, Chennai. Yup, it's a three day Woodstock, where the networking will flow free and sharing of ideas and PR guru mantras will be the order of the day. The beer and the entertainment will flow in the evenings.The theme for this year's conference is 'infrastructure'. The PRSI site explains - The gains of infrastructure development will be seriously affected if there is failure or delay in its continued progression; failure or delay could affect the lives of the common man and, indeed, GDP growth. PRSI members believe that there is need to take the subject of infrastructure development beyond industrial boundaries, to impress its importance to as many as possible. However, such an exercise is best carried out in a non-technical manner. And that can be achieved by using PR as a tool and as a pl... More About: Daddy , Conferences , Ready , Get Ready
Employer Pet Peeves: An Indian PR Firm Perspective from the Corner Room
2007-12-08 07:03:00 As a sequel to last week's article this week I want to showcase the view from the wrong end or right end of the shotgun barrel, depending on your status in the food chain.In a business, that is slowly maturing there is yet lots of road to travel down the professional path. The resource crunch pandemic is becoming a reality, as is the case with all other businesses; PR Firm's too like every other enterprise are seeking to keep, up skill and attract new talent!The above is a regular star in the everyday nightmare of a business leader in a PR Firm. The other cast include Mergers, buyout led account re-alignment. The loss of people can mean a lost account, worse loss of reputation and making it further harder to retain and hire and get general traction.Employer pet peeves further include offer letter terrorism. This is any interesting phenomenon that involves swimming the job market and stacking offers. While everyone wants to offer their services at the best price, the mechanics invo... More About: Indian , Corner , Peeves , Room
Blogs getting recognised as media outlets in India
2007-12-06 19:49:00 In my previous post I had written about ten reasons why PR professionals could benefit from pitching to bloggers, including the smaller ones. While many still fail to see merit in the arguments presented, or are unable to find ways to monetise such coverage unlike a traditional press clip, the good news for bloggers is that many companies are engaging with bloggers already in India .And these range from big organizations to smaller ones including start-ups. During a recent interaction with Arathi Vedantham, Head-Corporate Communications, Yahoo! India, she admitted bloggers hardly figure anywhere in PR plans for most agencies and their clients. ?But they are important to us at least, and we engage with them on a regular basis,? she says. Proof of this? Bloggers and online media get invited to junkets by Yahoo India along with journalists from mainline media.In fact, while covering some conferences in the US and UK recently, I was surprised to see media rooms full of bloggers and onlin... More About: Media , Blogs
Thursdays with Tushar - Is the cilent always right?
2007-12-05 19:32:00 "Sir, I am working in a medium sized PR agency as an Account Director in the NCR. Recently, I went for a client meeting along with a team. We had a small argument with the client representative on some event we were planning for and though we arrived at a mutually agreed solution to that problem, he contacted CEO of our company and complained about us with adding more fuel to it and in the end, we felt the ire of our CEO without any fault of our team. This was very demoralising and disturbing for all of us.This leads me to a question, why do we always believe that client is right? Why can't the bosses have trust on their own team? Would you help us understand this issue? - Vikas & Team"Dear Vikas:I am not surprised. We have heard so many such stories. We also read a lot on 'Customer is King', 'Customer is always right' and 'Grahak hamara bhagwan hain' and so on... The client is paying the money to the company, while you are being paid by the company. Am I sprinkling salt ...
A Flat World of Paradoxes
2007-12-04 19:49:00 Photograph Source: Time MagazineThis post does not qualify under the head of ?Public Relations?, ?digital media? or ?trends in communication?, that the readers of IPRB may be used to. The author however in her attempt to observe the underlying currents of all these heads, in this inaugural post, seeks your indulgence :)I have been mulling over for some time now on the bit in The World is Flat where Friedman talks about the challenges of dual identities that we face today. As a consumer we want the best products at the cheapest rates (the labour conditions and environmental protection then not highest on our priority). However as a citizen we are concerned about how we treat people and our nature.I feel the same duality everyday when I read newspapers ? as a PR professional/Friedman?s consumer I reverently look at the mainstream media as a tool that enables me to connect my client with its audience. However as a common reader/citizen, I am less reverent and more critical of the same ... More About: Paradoxes
10 things you should learn before finishing your PR internship
2007-12-03 19:37:00 A number of young interns at my current and previous organisation would ask what they should look forward to learning during their internships, how they can set their career graph, etc. Being the friendly colleague, I'd give them a few tips whenever I could find the time. I wonder how many interns at other places must be having these same sort of questions.So to all the young PR professionals, this is a list of the top 10 things you should learn during your PR internship, in no particular order:1. Writing: It is said in PR, out of your total skill set, 50% should be verbal communication skill and the rest 50% should be good writing skill. Get to learn and write compact press releases, media pitches, invitations, etc. These are the basic writings that every PR professional should know before going to the advance stuff - white papers, case studies, speeches, etc. Make yourself good enough to have your drafts ready to go out to external audiences without any edits from your bosses.2. ... More About: Things , Learn , Internship , Nish
Are PR Firms People Friendly; Employee Pet Peeves!
2007-11-29 19:50:00 This week I want to talk about the state of the PR firm business. Are PR firms people friendly?What are the latest trends in human resource development that qualify for being people friendly and enable organizations to retain and yet allow employees or consultants to be productive, despite challenges of everyday life like large commuting distances, family emergencies, medical exigencies, maternity, or even something as common as burnout!The record of PR firms in this regard has been rather poor I must confess. The report card on the other side of the table in buy side roles, whether in marketing or communications, has not been exactly inspiring either though there are instances of evolved organizations that have understood the benefits of such policies in retaining talent and keeping rare skills and IP (Intellectual Property) sticky despite the challenges that cycles of life pose to a typical employee.So what are these things that make everyday life easier, yours and mine too?Teleco... More About: People , Friendly , Peeves , Employee , Firms
Thursdays with Tushar: Shoot us!
2007-11-28 19:33:00 Now on, every Thursday we are going to provide answers to readers' queries on public relations - how to? what to? mid-career crisis, beginners blues, or anything you feel comes under the purview of Public Relations (Everything it seems!).You can be a PR or marketing professional, entrepreneur, journalist, event management professional, student, or just anybody.And yes, if we don't have the answer(s) available with us, we will get some of the best brains in the business to answer your query. Please shoot your questions to us on editor@indiaprblog.comThis week's question is from Mr. Abhinav Pathak:"There is one thing I want to know about that how we can do the public relation for the builders? If I want to sell the one apartment what should be the strategy for that? Please help me in this. I am waiting for your early response."Abhinav, the first part of the question is quite easy but the second part of it is like a bouncer from Shoaib Akhtar! Once, as a senior cricketer I thought o... More About: Shoot
Now watchdog for PR industry
2007-11-27 20:04:00 ABC television's Media Watch program is going to start reporting bad tactics and activities of the PR industry from next year.A theAge.com.au's article has quoted Jonathan Holmes, reporter with ABC TV saying that he hoped to 'expose the more egregious antics of the industry that all too often tries to sway, or mislead, or simply stonewall journalists who are trying to do an honest job'.He said the public relations industry permeated government and business at every level and exerted undue 'influence these days on what we read and hear and watch'.It is unlikely that the program would cover the Indian PR industry but definitely this is one landmark development worth taking note of. Such a media program were to start in India, I wonder how many funny antics of PR agencies will be exposed.PR agencies with black practices, beware.Tech Tags: pr public+relations india More About: Industry
All rounder or a specialist PR professional?
More articles from this author:2007-11-26 19:56:00 Are you an all-rounder or a specialist PR professional? As the Indian PR industry matures, we are seeing a number of specialist functions in PR agencies and specialist PR agencies coming up in the recent years.We have new business development teams, media relations teams, planning & teams, and creative writing teams apart from the client servicing teams in big agencies. In small agencies, all this would be bundled in the client servicing executive's profile.We have specialist PR agencies servicing only specific industry verticals like IT (20:20 Media, Text 100), healthcare (Imprimis), Investor Relations and IPOs (Adfactors, Concept... though A has a number of other clients in other verticals as well), social media (Blogworks), in-house PR ad agencies (Rediffusion, LinOpinion, IPAN, etc). Then we have the generalist PR agencies that services multiple verticals (Corporate Voice Weber Shandwick, Genesis, Perfect Relations, etc).Which one would you go for? Do you see yourself and g... More About: Rounder , Professional , Fess 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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