The role of the media in India is ever changing. From the times when Bal Gangadhar Tilak was charged with sedition for writing about the Bristish Raj early last century, to the times when the media industry today has grown to an over 10,000 crore power house, the media continues, in one form or the other, to become one of the most important dominant factors in the Indian psyche.
Should the media compromise? Well, the important word to analyse here is compromise. What does compromise mean, and to what extent does the topic mean it should happen ? I do not mean that the media must compromise on its values, but must on the contrary grow to embibe some which seem to be on the decline today.
Compromise, means to come to a pact, or a situation which is at least partially beneficial for all parties so involved. A mother compromises on two square meals a day to feed her child, a father on the comfort of a car to pay for his sons college, a country does many a time, to make its citizens happy. With the role that the media plays in the country today, a compromise means nothing more than just a conscious understanding of what is to be put forward and how. The media should understand that there are various factors out there, which they must be sensitive to, and hence be able to responsible enough to filter all that may not be great for the people living in a diverse country such as ours. People may argue, that this will make the media nothing but boring, and incorrectly so. For years together, great newspapers across the world have been delivering meaningful news to people at large and still making a survival for themselves amongst those who have the intellectual ability to understand news rather than sheer sensationalism. It is disturbing to see this trend change over time as people seem to be drawn to newer newspaper who's USP seems to be sensationalism over all else, do we wish to portray ourselves as a nation of people who cannot understand the value of events and people ?
There are times when the media has compromised over issues, and the way they have been reported. National Security Issues have always been a matter that the media steps back on. Imagine what harm some of India's national security issues on satellite television could cause, and thankfully the Indian media seems to have been intelligent on these issues. But then again, we must also look at a variety of other issues that the media has been credited to have distorted over the years. The Mumbai flood images, where at times the media has been credited to have displayed images from the year before to homes across Mumbai spreading panic, is this the way one increases one's TRP ratings ?
The media has been credited to have caused one of the greatest revolutions in the recent past, the information revolution, at the same time man has also become aware that people en mass usually do not know what is good for them. The media plays a major role in creating a situation where people should realize what is good for them. On the lighter side, I hate to think what kind of an effect all the Ekta Kapoor serials have on the general population of the country, with millions of house wives glued to the tube watching episode after episode of intangible family drama, could ruin homes. The example was best seen when children died trying to emulate the famed Shaktiman who seemed to have become the icon of children in rural Indian in the not so far past. All I'm trying to say is that the media needs to understand its ever growing responsibility and not create a situation which causes great harm for the sake of TRP ratings.
Yes, one can argue that it is not the fault of the media when it comes to these sitcoms and reality shows, but a fault in the mindset of the people who view it. But then, a child is protected by its mother, and when the mother of the information revolution absolves itself of all responsibility, one cannot but blame it. The media can many a time twist the imagination and thoughts of all the people who view or read from it, in any form it so desires. The pornography ever so readily available on the net, or the falsified charges on a teacher in Delhi for making young girls move into prostitution are pretty much the same, the use the media to cause a sense of havoc, for TRP.
The media must learn to compromise on a variety of issues in order to come forward with a situation which would actually benefit the people in this world, and not only this country. The role of the media is growing every single day, the people in this industry continue to chase an elusive target called TRP. Some might say that compromising on creativity and news may actually mean curbing the freedom of the media, but what about the harm this so called creativity may cause to people ? Pornography is a well accepted fact in many countries of the world, but is our society ready for it? Our society is too value based to allow it even today, and that is the way it is. For once, sensationalism must take a back seat in our country today.What I say does not mean that I'm speaking out against the millions of people who practice arts which may not even me comprehendable to me. No I'm not against the students and faculty of the Baroda University who were lynched for painting nudes, I do understand the value of the fine arts. Neither am I blaming the producers of the SITCOMS, after all, it is a business that they're doing, and catering to any palate, just like a restaurant does. All I'm asking for, is for small mercies, and a compromises in the sense and sensibilities. After all the freedom of speech, and now the media should not be absolute, lest they cause incalculable harm. Our founding father did understand the value of freedom, but also that of conformance, and in our part we as future media professionals must understand our roles in molding the sensibilities of people across the country, whether it be the four year old child who watches the TV or the housewife who spends most of her day in front of the tube or even the seventy year old man who does not understand the newspaper today. It is our moral duty and right as professionals. Am I wrong? I don't think so, after all the best societies in this world are based on the moral sensibilities of people.

National Cyber Media Conclave- 09

Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), Pune organised National Cyber Media Conclave ’09, a media seminar on the 28th of March, in its Lavale campus. The event explored various aspects of the cyber medium and its vast potential. It was a first of its kind initiative by any educational institution.National Cyber Media Conclave ’09 focused on undergraduate and post graduate students from all over India, who are interested in pursuing careers in the cyber media, giving them a chance to interact with the stalwarts of the industry.
The Indian cyber media industry has evolved over the years and is today replete with innovative ideas and ventures. National Cyber Media Conclave ’09 was one such avenue which allowed students and aspiring media professionals to explore such opportunities. Interactive sessions with the leaders and pioneers from the industry provided the students with valuable insights, thus influencing and moulding future careers in the field of Media & Communication. The National Cyber Media Conclave hosted two panels of speakers on two different themes: First on the Potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing- Mr. Kiruba Shankar (Co-founder, The Knowledge Foundation) spoke on how twitter, podcasts,blogs, wikis have become a part of everyday life.
Ms. Jasmeen Bhateja, (Founder, The Blank Noise Project) familiarised the audience with the her project Blank Noise that was initiated in 2003 and fought against street sexual harassment, Mr. Shivam Vij (renowned blogger, Delhi and Tehelka journalist): spoke about how people and organisations mess up their image by asking bloggers to take their posts off and/ or sue, Mr. Shiv Bhaskar (CEO, The Viewspaper) enlightened the students on the ultimate fourth estate- Media who he also called the guardians of democracy and power of this medium, and the second session was based on Social change and networking and the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing had Mr. Rajesh Lalwani(Founder and CEO, Blogworks.com) who spoke on Broadcast, Narrowcast, Random Clusters, Tribes by choice, Sales Pitch and other markting jargons, Mr. Atul Chitnis (Senior Vice-President, Geodesic Information Systems) who spoke about Open source softwares and hpw life would become impossible without them as most of the electronic gadgets we use daily work on open source softwares, Mr. Namit Bimbhat (CEO, Switch Media Services India Pvt. Ltd.) who apoke about the video sharing and the revolution that has taken place in that arena and Ms. Rashmi Dhanwani (Breakthrough) who shared the wonderful Bell Bajao campaign against Domestic Violence.
This was followed by a workshop conducted by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani (Founder and CEO, Blogworks.com), and ‘Web Wunderkind’, a contest on the presentation of a business plan for the cyber medium. The winners of the contest won cash prizes worth Rs. 15,000/-.All in all, it was a fun filled event with lots of knowledge and insight!!

Should Media Compromise???????????

The role of the media in India is ever changing. From the times when Bal Gangadhar Tilak was charged with sedition for writing about the Bristish Raj early last century, to the times when the media industry today has grown to an over 10,000 crore power house, the media continues, in one form or the other, to become one of the most important dominant factors in the Indian psyche.
Should the media compromise? Well, the important word to analyse here is compromise. What does compromise mean, and to what extent does the topic mean it should happen ? I do not mean that the media must compromise on its values, but must on the contrary grow to embibe some which seem to be on the decline today.
Compromise, means to come to a pact, or a situation which is at least partially beneficial for all parties so involved. A mother compromises on two square meals a day to feed her child, a father on the comfort of a car to pay for his sons college, a country does many a time, to make its citizens happy. With the role that the media plays in the country today, a compromise means nothing more than just a conscious understanding of what is to be put forward and how. The media should understand that there are various factors out there, which they must be sensitive to, and hence be responsible enough to filter all that, which may not be great for the people living in a diverse country such as ours. Critics may argue, that this will make the media nothing but boring, and incorrectly so. For years together, great newspapers across the world have been delivering meaningful news to people at large and still making a survival for themselves amongst those who have the intellectual ability to understand news rather than sheer sensationalism. It is disturbing to see this trend change over time as people seem to be drawn to newer newspaper who's USP seems to be sensationalism over all else, do we wish to portray ourselves as a nation of people who cannot understand the value of events and people ?
There are times when the media has compromised over issues, and the way they have been reported. National Security Issues have always been a matter that the media steps back on. Imagine what harm some of India's national security issues on satellite television could cause, and thankfully the Indian media seems to have been intelligent on these issues. But then again, gwe must also look at a variety of other issues that the media has been credited to have distorted over the years. The Mumbai flood images, where at times the media has been credited to have displayed images from the year before to homes across Mumbai spreading panic, is this the way one increases one's TRP ratings ?
The media has been credited to have caused one of the greatest revolutions in the recent past, the information revolution, at the same time man has also become aware that people en mass usually do not know what is good for them. The media plays a major role in creating a situation where people should realize what is good for them. On the lighter side, I hate to think what kind of an effect all the Ekta Kapoor serials have on the general population of the country, with millions of house wives glued to the tube watching episode after episode of intangible family drama, could ruin homes. The example was best seen when children died trying to emulate the famed Shaktiman who seemed to have become the icon of children in rural Indian in the not so far past. All I'm trying to say is that the media needs to understand its ever growing responsibility and not create a situation which causes great harm for the sake of TRP ratings.
Yes, one can argue that it is not the fault of the media when it comes to these sitcoms and reality shows, but a fault in the mindset of the people who view it. But then, a child is protected by its mother, and when the mother of the information revolution absolves itself of all responsibility, one cannot but blame it. The media can many a time twist the imagination and thoughts of all the people who view or read from it, in any form it so desires. The pornography ever so readily available on the net, or the falsified charges on a teacher in Delhi for making young girls move into prostitution are pretty much the same, the use the media to cause a sense of havoc, for TRP.
The media must learn to compromise on a variety of issues in order to come forward with a situation which would actually benefit the people in this world, and not only this country. The role of the media is growing every single day, the people in this industry continue to chase an elusive target called TRP. Some might say that compromising on creativity and news may actually mean curbing the freedom of the media, but what about the harm this so called creativity may cause to people ? Pornography is a well accepted fact in many countries of the world, but is our society ready for it? Our society is too value based to allow it even today, and that is the way it is. For once, sensationalism must take a back seat in our country today.
What I say does not mean that I'm speaking out against the millions of people who practice arts which may not even me comprehendable to me. No I'm not against the students and faculty of the Baroda University who were lynched for painting nudes, I do understand the value of the fine arts. Neither am I blaming the producers of the SITCOMS, after all, it is a business that they're doing, and catering to any palate, just like a restaurant does. All I'm asking for, is for small mercies, and a compromises in the sense and sensibilities. After all the freedom of speech, and now the media should not be absolute, lest they cause incalculable harm. Our founding father did understand the value of freedom, but also that of conformance, and in our part we as future media professionals must understand our roles in moulding the sensibilities of people across the country, whether it be the four year old child who watches the TV or the housewife who spends most of her day in front of the tube or even the seventy year old man who does not understand the newspaper today. It is our moral duty and right as professionals. Am I wrong? I don't think so, after all the best socities in this world are based on the moral sensibilities of people.

Communication and Relationship Management

This is an assignment I submitted on the topic mentioned above and is consistent of information from every possible source.

Foreword:
Public Relations as a process has been practiced forever. Before Public Relations as an area of work/profession was recognized formally, it had been practiced unconsciously, as the art of creating an image or perception of an individual/business/organization which another individual/business/organization (buyer or consumer) perceives and therefore decides for or against entering into a transaction/relationship with the former. The first formal definition of Public Relations (henceforth, mentioned as PR) can be traced back to the “founding father” of modern public relations Edward Louis Bernays, who defined PR as “a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance", in the early 1900’s.
Today even after the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has coined the first widely accepted definition of Public Relations, different schools of thought continue to exist. The focus of this paper is to study and put forth the role of Public Relations in Communication and Relationship management. Interestingly, there is a school of thought which believes that Public Relations is completely about relationship management, which has been further explained by Philips in his paper "Towards relationship management: Public relations at the core of organisational development" in 2006 and a range of academics and practitioners support this view. Furthermore, one has to understand the function of Public Relations, which is well explained by the PRSA, which says, "public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." Communication and Relationship management are an important part of this process of adaptability, and in turn mutually beneficial successful businesses. With interesting developments in the very definition and interpretation of PR, and the functions of these three areas having massive areas of intersection, one cannot deny the important of “PR in the Relationship and Communication industry”, and vice versa.


Introduction of the Sector:
What is Communication and Relationship Management ?
“Communication Management is a systematic process of planning, monitoring, implementing and revising all the channels of communication that fall both within an organization and between organizations. There are various aspects inclusive within the umbrella of communication management which are developing Corporate Communication strategies, designing internal and external communication directives, managing the flow of information including online communication.” (* Source ???)

Relationship Management on the other hand can be seen as a broader cover of the field public relations. Though public relations is generally considered to be embodied only by the corporate image and strategies that one sets up, affecting the target audience or customers directly, the perspective of relationship management can be seen in a much broader perspective. Relationship management contains areas such as customer relationship management, enterprise relationship management, and even employee relationship management. It works at not only the world outside, but also the important asset within to ensure the best business strategies. Public Relations in its true sense can be considered another form of relationship management as Philips suggests, since the publics can range from customer to employee, where the adaptability must happen (as per the PRSA definition).
The public relations industry is can be classified into two important divisions
In-house and
Agency.
The in house teams for Public Relations are generally prevalent in very large organizations which many a time, consist of several business verticals. However, even these organizations may hire agencies as consultants to get a better picture of the direction their efforts must take. Similarly, the agencies can of two broad classifications, the smaller more specialized firms and the larger firms with many specializations and a large number of employees who may be working on a number of accounts.
Methodology, Approach and Trends
Let us for one, examine the two areas, relationship and communication management separately to allow us to understand them better. Communication management for one involves the method by which communication flows:
Within an organization, and
Between two organizations, or in the broader sense of the term,
Between an organization and an outsider.
Organizations with more than one level of management suffer from communications problems that can interfere with almost any aspect of the organization, including corrective actions. Though strategies to tackle problems in these areas are developed on a regular basis, there are some basics which do not change. For example, within an organization, say a call centre, a customer complaint is tagged according to the levels of priority, and moved within the organizational hierarchy according to these priorities. The problems are usually graded in accordance of the number of decisions which need to be taken and the impact of the same, the higher the number of decisions of large impact, higher the priority and higher the level the problem must reach. This is the case of a simple hierarchical bidirectional process which needs to be followed in intra organizational communication. Such a process is one of the most effective and simple methods of maintaining effective communication management
Communication can be defined as a two way flow of information between two or more parties. Communication is not always limited to physical facts and figures but also moves onto the realm of qualitative data which can be very helpful while solving a variety of issues. The way the strategies and policies of an organization, as well as its values and ethics are built into its employees is an important part of communication management. Some might argue, that this falls into the realm of relationship management, however, the same is effected by communication management.
Modern Tool; Trend : One of the tools used in today’s perspective is what is known as the weekly reporting method, where every employee composes a report, once a week, including their activity reports, their plans for the following week, and any other information deemed relevant to the larger group, bearing in mind length considerations. Reports are sent to managers, who summarize and report to the next level, eventually leading to an overall summary led which is then presented to the highest level of management within the organization. They then send their understanding back down the ladder, where each manager can add a new note, or an interpretation and pass it on, downwards.
Eventually, what this allows is a condition where the employees are well oriented towards their task and the entire organization is aware of the approach that every level of management has towards a certain task. One also has to understand, that many a time, the tasks lead to various results, and hence the final result is not always important to the employee, but the communication of the appropriate strategy makes it easier for everyone. The entire tool if analysed shows the use of a Public Relations with employees, so as to make them feel important and heard resulting in more motivation and a better work culture. In the PR strategies, this could be rated as a “Publics Targeting”, where a tailor made messages is passed on to affect certain groups of people.
Communication also spans into Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), where a company may decide an overall strategy to present itself to the market and communicate with the people/other organizations which comprise of it. An overall communication mix comprises of the following aspects :
Advertising
Personal Selling
Sales Promotion
Public Relations
Direct Marketing
Public Relations is an important aspect of this mix by which Integrated Marketing Communication takes place. PR is used here to create a brand image which may result in individuals or organizations wanting themselves to be associated with that brand. For example, the portrayal of a certain mobile phone in a manner such that the entire advertising campaign as well as the image which is set up by the sales team points is youthful, automatically the target audience of people between the age of 18-30 who may or may not be on the lookout for such a product would want to be associated with a phone of the sort. Similarly, a classier look to the phone, and the advertising strategy, may ensure that the phone projects itself as something of a business class phone, targeting an audience between the age of 30-45. Hence public relations may to a large extent determine the entire strategy of the Integrated Marketing Communication.
The art of relationship management is not an entirely new one. In fact, it has taken on many forms, addressing specific organizational constituencies (customers, channel partners, specialized service providers, employees, suppliers, etc). The most obvious being CRM (customer relationship management), that focuses on improving top-line growth by maximizing an organization's ability to identify sales and business opportunities with its customers. The broad classifications in relationship management, amongst others could be:
Customer Relationship Management
Employee Relationship Management (and in industrial setups Labour R.M.)
Enterprise Relationship Management ( Vendors, Technology partners etc.)
Investor Relationship Management
Most of relationship management, is all about PR. Public relations and publicity are not synonymous but many PR campaign include provisions for publicity. Publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective relationship management planning. For example, when Hutch turned into Vodafone, before all else, and the entire exercise hit the markets, internal publicity in the form of employee level publicity was done to ensure that they were in sync with the organizational goals. Similarly one might ask, why do we need ERM ? Simply put, because relationships are becoming more and more prevalent and more integral to an organization's success. Statistics show that more than 60% of all alliances do not come up with the desired results, even after following all mechanised processes involved. The direct problem on the face turns out to be the lack of ERM, and the use of appropriate PR techniques, be it either a direct Meet and Greet method, or the use of other tools to analyse and understand your role and position in any deal or situation can help derive the maximum from a situation or oppourtunity.
Some of the strategies that are used in the various areas of Relationship Management are :
Publics Targeting, where a demographic classification is used to deliver a tailor made message to a group of people. Such tailor made messages ensure that the public’s, whosoever they might be have a sense of importance and feel as if the message is directed towards them. This is a general strategy could be used internally also for a set of employees at various positions within an organization.
The controversial use of Spin, which is signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation, has been a matter of contention for years now. Some people work towards the creative reporting of news, Spin on the other hand can literally be defined as bending the news, or reporting parts of it as per convenience.
Fundamentally adopting ERM is a cultural and change management issue more than a technology or process one. The human side of the equation is sometimes more important in the case of implementation of ERM. Practical Technologies and Framework in this area are techniques such as Value Network Analysis and the use of technologies such as the Velox framework. Both these methods can be classified as the back office PR, where the research in the entire process network allows one to understand the areas where PR can be used the best.
Innovative work practices are always the best method to create a sense of belonging for an employee. In today’s high stress world it may not always be possible to retain an employee by professional means only, the human approach which is also a part of ERM is a necessary factor. An employee must feel secure and be allowed to grow within any setup. Today, organizations are reaching out to employees with a variety of “help-in-need” packages, which ensure that they’re always secure; regular outings and bonding amongst colleagues is always considered a plus point for enhanced growth and productivity. Public Relations plays an important role here, with the need for creating a belonging, as well as strengthening relationships between individuals and organizations.
These amongst many other strategies such as the use of the “meet and greet”, or the use of other tools such as collateral literature such as websites, or even the direct approach are used by PR professionals today to effect best relationship management within organization.
The Role of PR and Branding
Public Relations include publicity staff, human resources, finance or government relation staff. PR is usually used to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with internal and external stakeholders who most likely would be the customers, employees, investors, community. PR has set a trend by proving better and cost efficient from advertising. There are many companies like the law firms, medical consultants, liquor and beverage companies who rely hugely on PR for brand building as they restricted to advertise.
As I have mentioned previously, the fields of Public Relations, Communication and Relationship management are interwoven extensively. The role of PR in relationship and communication management is nothing but the use of Public Relations strategies effect the best form of both these areas. PR is an essential part of ensuring the appropriate communication being filtered into the markets, and organizations, where even advertising and signage can also be considered a form of communication to the consumer. Similarly, filtering of communication, creating and effective communication flow within organizations creates a better relationship with employees and stakeholders.
Branding is another important aspect of Communication and Relationship management. Branding is not about advertising alone, it is also about aspects such as brand image, and a corporate identity. For example, studies have shown that it is a general perception that Nokia, which is India’s most recognized brand today, has high levels of reliability. Now, any other cellular phone manufacturer probably comes up with similar amounts of reliability built into their phones as well, however it is the effective brand management of Nokia, which makes it tough brand to fight against.
How does PR work here, one might ask? It works by means of good relationship building. Nokia replaced thousands of batteries which it had sold as a part of its phone after rumors spread that the batteries have a tendency to explode. Customers would have never gone in for a Nokia phone again, but the pro activeness of Nokia has been a deciding factor in whether an individual’s next phone will be a NOKIA or not.
Branding, brand management and PR is what creates effective communication and relationship management and ensures that organizations have a future and an identity.
Interviews
The following interviews with industry experts and stakeholders. Relationship managers have always been the highlights in industries such as hospitality, but in today’s competitive world, organizations across the board are working on the lines of creating the best relationship with clients, employees and stakeholders alike. The field of corporate communication is also taking an upswing, with organizations understanding the need of filtering information and at the same time ensuring appropriate communication with the outsider.

INTERVIEWS:
Ms. Sonal Zode, Account Manager, Adfactors PR:

Ø PR-Whats your definition?
è PR is the tactics to filter the relevant information pertaining to developments with your client’s business and communicate effectively to the relevant media.Most importantly the role of public relation agency is to understand the client’s business, its competitors business and to exceed the expectations of the client to maintain a satisfactory relation.

Ø Role of PR in branding?
è PR plays a vital role in brand management and rebranding as it address your consumers directly through ‘non-paid form of advertising’.eg when HLL was christened as HUL the continuous flow of information through various forms helped people to easily get accustomed to the change in name.

Ø Clientele!!!!!!
è My team deals with mid-cap listed clients from varied fields like retail to KPO

Ø Big Players??????
è FABIndia, Pantaloon Retail, ITC.


Jayati Biswas, Associate account manager, Brodeur PR India:

Ø “YOUR” definition of Public Relations?
è To me PR is interesting because we have made an entire industry that defines relationship management & handling. One can think on their feet and operate out of a virtual office.

Ø Challenges!!
è There are no boundaries-the world is open, anyone can make a dash- so very competitive.

Ø Clientele??
è Corporate clientele.

Ø Take on Relationship Management?
è Need of the hour!

Ø Strategies?
è Mostly region specific –media differs everywhere and so do the corporate culture therefore to strategies we keep regions in mind.

Ø PR vs. AD??
è Not necessarily – companies like a Johnson Controls uses PR – relying on coverage over a period that would appear on print. Ad covers other grounds.

Ø Importance of PR to retain brand leadership?
è For eg,impurity issue Cadbury faced –The Ad campaign was a part of the PR strategy. There is no end as to how far you can take PR and how much you could do for your client from press releases to launches of products to announcements- for brand management…

Ø Future of PR in India!!
è PR is bound to mutate and as an industry it would grow more profitable than what it is currently, with plenty of scope


Nitesh Bajpai, Vodafone:
Ø Challenges??
è How to localize?
How to inculcate color red from pink?
Operational level difficulty with over 50000 retailers, call centers, etc
Ø Strategies!!
è Innovation was our key call. We introduced animated characters over celebs, chota credit, alerts and many facilities of the kind.
Ø Brand Values of a Global brand in India?
è Remained constant except some adaptations depending on the market like concentration on cricket, cinema, etc
Ø Rebranding?
è Was very essential for both us and our stakeholders.
Ø Programs for Internal employees?
è Vodafone has presence in 16 circles and in various zones events were organized for employees like Bandra carnival in Bombay.

Mr. Sheshadri N. Iyer, the National head of Sales and Marketing at Godrej Interio, one of the leading business verticals of Godrej, one can see the rather simple policy behind the image transformation that this man is also a part of. He’s been there for 12 years in Godrej now and sees this transformation as an important strategy and a technique which is built on a massive platform of the existing market relationship. “An average Indian comes across a Godrej product atleast 10 times in a regular day, and could, statistically come across one as many as 28 times in a day”, he says with great pride. This he believes gives him much more than what other could ask for, a massive market visibility, with a name which an Indian cannot, not know. Mr. Iyer, is a part of the new emerging change in this organization, a motivated part of rather top level management who enthuses the same motivation into his juniors, and is a classic example of great relationship and communication management. More than the organizational picture, I was enthralled when I saw the way the employees were convinced that it was the right way forward. Advertising is now high priority at Godrej as can be seen with their splash all over IPL, and this employee attitude is nothing but the right way forward. Godrej has only recently started working extensively towards the areas of employee relationship management, and is now not only a very good pay master, but also offers great additional benefits. “We Bank on our strengths” says Mr. Iyer and rightly so, the approach to Public Relations can be seen as a proactive one, in order to attain a newer younger image, but not at the cost of its responsible family brand.

Satish Nair, Marketing Specialist, CISCO:
Ø PR for you?
è Understand Clients business, market and synchronise the two.
Before one gets into understanding the stake holders of the industry, one needs to be aware of who the stake holders are in this case. Stakeholders are all those people who might be affected by the actions of an organization or a group within it. They range from employees to shareholders, customers etc. and generally all people who are associated with an organization as such. For the stakeholders, I decided to take an eclectic mix of people ranging from employees to channel partners and clients.

Stakeholders:
Arnab Ganguly, Marketing Manager, Vodafone:
Hutch to Vodafone transformation- your take??????
è On a personal front,change has been phenomenal. Vodafone is a much youthful & energetic brand.

Values company passed on?
è RED: Energetic,Vibrant,Youthful
ROCKSOLID: Integrity,Values
RESTLESS: Passion
Seniors!!!!
è A very open organization & anyone can walk into the room of their senior to express their issues.
Rebranding exercise?
è Rebranding has been fantastic & thanks to all our partners/vendors in making this possible. Reaching every distributors, retailers in the largest state in India was a nightmarish challenge & we executed it pretty successfully
Branding strategies?
è The entire brand focus is on stakeholders-Internal & External. The Internal stakeholders are the employees, shareholders of the organization & the external are our customers,partners and vendors.

Emotional attachment to Vodafone?
è With the brand YES.


Animesh Singh Chauhan, Key Accounts Manager,Nirmal Datacomm(Channel Partner, CISCO):
Interaction with Cisco?
è Yes, through regular training and other ERM activities.
Strategies?
è Highly appreciating to keep us in the loop.A high number of greet and meet conferences, lined with added incentives such as stay in resorts etc seemed like the perfect internal PR strategy to ensure that the channel partner was always up to date.
Barnita Biswas, Interior Designer(Internal Stakeholder,Godrej Interio):
Similarly Mrs. Barnita Biswas is an Interior Designer who is attached with Godrej Interio division for the design and execution of turnkey interior jobs, at the post of Asst. Manager. Not only does she use the furniture that Godrej produces in practically all her designs, she is motivated enough to build her designs around the same, she is also a user of the furniture in her own office. When I asked Barnita how much she felt associated with the brand Godrej, it was very apparent with her reaction that she was very much a part of the new brand appeal, and though she felt the transition had been slow and painful at times (indicating that better change management could have taken place), now the new Godrej was a way of life. She was proud to be a part of an organization with such a rich heritage, and stated to the extent that even her family was proud of her association with Godrej. Godrej went ahead and had nice little pre launch session with their employees and re decorated all offices with colourful “New Godrej” material. Today there are many employees like Mrs. Biswas who are extremely happy with the image that their organization carries outside and how their association with such a brand. Again, Internal Employee management, with decent enough change management resulting in a full blow out motivated organization.

Nitin , Nitco Tiles(Customer of AdFactor):
PR and Growth of your company?
è Pr is a tool read and believed. Communication format became easier and manageable.
Public Image because of PR?
è Perceived as fastest growing IPO.
Relationship Management?
è In our industry it’s the backbone. We have dealers who play an important role and henced very essential to have a good relationship with them.
Rate PR help in your profits!!
è 8/10.