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Change ain’t no good! Transform we must!

By S Narendra

Former adviser to PMs & Ex Spokesperson, Govt of India

Transform or Perish - the Focus of the 12^th PRCI Global Conclave to be held in Pune in March 2018 is a continuation of PRCI’s attempt to expose the Communication community to the emerging challenges ahead. Last March, we had zeroed in on Disruption. In a modest way, the Conclave hopes to enable fellow professionals to tap the potential for making Communication a dynamic and innovative force and responses.

A recent McKinsey Global Institute report is titled Disruptive Technologies: Advances That Will Transform Life, Businesses And The Global Economy. The advances are coming in a cascade, leaving no aspect of life in any geography untouched. The transformational technological advances demand of every human being, and organisations ,public, private, created for the welfare and progress of the  human beings on this planet, to not just adopt ‘change’ but to transform, to be in the vanguard. Or sadly, left behind.

The dimension of the transformation challenge requires a collaborative global leadership, that has to work with the national leadership, that works with local leadership. Such a leadership has to emerge in several fields, in most cases from within the organisation and its several levels. That is because a new Political-Economy of the Future is being created with or without the consent of the political sovereign powers; not to speak of The Blockchain technology and Bitcoin are worrying examples. No borders and no intermediaries. Uber and Airbnb intruded on this old concept of sovereignty of ‘states’, and in some cases doors were kicked open. The digital challenge operates in a new political and economic ecosystem. If that is the plight of border conscious ‘sovereign’ states, one can only imagine the impact on other less powerful entities.

In an  earlier era, management gurus focused on ‘change management’. Adjusting or adopting and adapting to change meant putting in place processes, a route map towards a destination. There was some time for ‘change’ to be accepted and adopted. It could take place in stages. In the emerging tech world of innovations, the demand is for transforming organisations, its workers, preparing for a journey into an uncharted territory. Whole scale technology -led disruption could arrive without notice. What is demanded of organisations and their leadership in the merging situation are: to be alert, assess the threat as well as the opportunity potential. But in the real world, the challenge is much more complex to face than such a simple formula. Watch this space for more on Transform 0r Perish.

PRCI launches Swachh Bharat Survey

BENGALURU, February 8, 2017: As a prelude to the forthcoming 11^th Global Communication Conclave with theme as ‘Disruption’, Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) has embarked on a nationwide survey on the efficacy of the Swachh Bharat campaign.

“Swachh Bharat ought to have created a positive disruption and through the survey we plan to find out the effectiveness of the massive communication programme,” said PRCI national president B N Kumar.
In Mumbai, the survey is being conducted in association with The Press Club

Powered by Concept PR, The survey will be completed in the next ten days and a comprehensive report will be presented, along with interesting anecdotes, during the three-day Conclave to be held in Bengaluru from March 3.

“The campaign touches all of us at every step of lives and we will know the level of awareness and people’s involvement,” said M B Jayaram, Chief Mentor and Chairman Emeritus of PRCI.

During the survey, PRCI volunteers will ask simple questions on Swachh Bharat and check in their localities whether people in general and the authorities that are responsible for cleanliness are making efforts or not. PRCI hopes that the survey will also help in reminding people of the need to maintain cleanliness for good health.

“We will have young communicator volunteers going around in their respective localities, asking questions,” said Geetha Shankar, Chairperson of Young Communicators’ Club (YCC) – the youth wing of PRCI.

PRCI is mobilizing 500 volunteers to ask questions.

Disruption: Brace yourself for the future shock!

Launching Disruption series as a prelude to the 11th Global Communication Conclave, Bengaluru - March 3 to 5, 2017 

By Deepak Menon

Business Strategist

Deepak Menon

Disruption represents change and, therefore, is usually not welcomed in our lives. It implies changing of longstanding norms and adapting to something new. Most people do not like that and prefer to smooth sail into the future. At times disruption can be good news, no matter how difficult to internalize. We all learn to adapt sooner or later.

In recent times forces that are causing disruption include the Environmental Crisis, Population Explosion, Economic Monopoly, Global Terror on the negative side and the Internet, Technology, New Discovery, Spirituality (not religion) on the positive side. These forces impact every society in every country in every possible way. Human beings are becoming increasingly aware of notions of a global village, a global community and that we are all in it together. There is certainly a marked shift in our preferences, decisions and actions. The choices we then make influence everything around us: politics, governance, education, societies, cultures, businesses, and borders.

Disruption that has an international impact compels communication norms to be adjusted or redefined so as to be most effective and efficient. The stakeholders involved, the channels being used, the skills required, the sensibilities of focus groups, the industry best practices are all subject to an overhaul. In such a scenario, all communication upgrade and development seem to revolve around two focus-points: Culture and the Internet.

Culture is both contemporary and traditional, both local and international. Communication practices that speak a language which is all-inclusive are most likely to succeed in a disruptive environment. Individuals with a keen sense of geographies, languages, music & arts, literature and human behavioural sciences surely have an upper hand and are prone to endure in the long-term. Lessons must be learnt quickly and on the fly. Street smartness and hands-on experience will therefore prevail over conventional academic achievements.

A PRapport Exclusive

Add the Internet to the mix and you have a very strong prospect for success. Thankfully, contemporary societies have already evolved with the Internet and embrace it as the preferred medium to communicate. This already makes all intercultural and international public-relations exchange happen today over the various channels offered by the Internet. Digital sensory communication like videos, images and sounds are most effective today. It is no surprise then that traditional channels like newspapers, radio and even television are slowly phasing out.

Today, more people resort to Google for knowledge,  Youtube for news & entertainment, Twitter for breaking news and trends,  Facebook and various apps to develop relationships, to Skype for business and personal meetings than ever before. With the advent of smartphones and their growing reach we are already living in the Web 3.0 version of the Internet. Everybody is connected, everybody can be reached somewhere and in the shortest time.

Perhaps the biggest implication of disruption is to adapt by developing new strategies. On the foundation of culture, the Internet and strong leadership, a plan to stay afloat, stay relevant and stay efficient can be conceived. This requires careful analysis and an approach that leverages past learning and experience into a whole new world of things. Being politically-correct is being replaced by being culturally-correct. For example, a plan that incorporates high integrity, good intention and strong values helps dodge imminent pitfalls. International partners with equally strong values, and public domain endorsements from historically progressive organizations matter most in a disruptive environment.

The skillset of the workforce changes too - the more heterogeneous the skillset the better, the more variety of ideas in the teams the better. Ideas and thoughts have to be vetted, used, archived and reused; slowly building an arsenal of multipurpose tools that can be deployed to tackle disruption in the immediate, short and long-term. These tools cannot be bought off the shelf, they have to be developed in-house based on a plan with a vision for the future.

Humanity has taken a quantum leap from the past decade towards a future time and space where uncertainties are the only certainty. International communication societies and individuals are likely to encounter disruption more than ever in the era of Web 3.0, Mars Missions, alternate Ancient Histories, Economic Consolidation, Global Environmental crisis, depletion of Planetary Resources and the dawn of Consciousness. Challenges will include economic survival, continuation of existing partnerships, engaging audiences consistently and finding your place in the overcrowding of the Internet. Brace yourself, pace yourself and tread forward strong. (Twitter:@TheDeepakMenonLinkedIN:https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepakmenonmba)

PRCI Global Essay Campaign makes news!

Hail Sobhagya, PR agency of the year!

Here is a collahge of media coverage for Sobhagya which has been awarded PR Agency of The Year at PRCI awards during the 10th Global Communication Conclave held at Kolkata on Jan 22 & 23, 2016.

From the President’s desk-2: Towards Inclusive Communication...

I may not be young, but I too have a dream!

The dream of contributing to PRCI emerging as a truly ace and premier communication platform.

Ever since I have been appointed as the President of the National Executive, I have been flooded with greetings and goodwill messages which are full of enthusiasm to do something new. It’s nice to so much of energy and eagerness to take PRCI to new heights. While it is natural for us to expect the youth among the PRCIans to show lot of promise, it is equally heartening to note that even the veterans are full of ideas. What is even more important is the fact that they all love new ideas. And one common thread that holds us all together is the determination to keep the PRCI flag flying.

Over the past decade since its formation, PRCI has come a long way, but we have miles to go. The field of communication is rapidly changing with technology serving as the enabler. We have begun to use the technology in a unique way.

Perhaps for the first time, we at PRCI have launched our e-Mag truly online at no cost at all. You must have seen http://prrapport.blogspot.in/ which has caught the imagination of not only PRCIans, but the communication world around.

It's a big wow! As I key-in  this message, PRapport has crossed the record 500-page views mark in a short span. The audience wise breakup is: India 353. US 141. UK 4 and one each in Spain,  Kuwait, Maldives and Turkey. Thank you friends, let’s look forward to 1000 soon and as Mr S K Kaul says 100,000 mark!

PRapport is one of the many ways to stay in touch on a continuous basis. Do keep visiting and commenting and contributing. Please send your reports, pictures, videos to me. The subjects could be PRCI related activities, information that can enhance knowledge and policy issues that may have an impact on our profession.

As I have been talking and moving around, one question that I have been facing is: So, Mr President, what do you want us to do?

It is not the question of what I want the teams to do. It’s about all of doing it together as a team, and all chapters put together.

I have set this agenda for myself. Do correct me if I go wrong anywhere.

Strengthen PRCI Chapters: We need to plan and launch chapter wise activities which will culminate into at least quarterly zonal and half yearly national activities. But before that we need to activate our existing members and hen launch new, but a select, membership drive. Unless we have a broader representation, we cannot grow from the present position. I am sure all of you must be tired of seeing the same faces at conclave after conclave.

We did couple of unique activities for strengthening the participation at our recent conclaves. In Mumbai, we had an inter-collegiate contest and winners with their supporters participated in the 8^th Conclave. In Delhi, we had a large number of corpcom friends from PSUs joining us at the 9^th Conclave.

YCC: While we look at approaching senior professionals, we also should activate the YCC chapters. The mass communication and journalism students who join the YCCs will be our future brand members and even ambassadors.

Guest Faculty Pool: At Mumbai, we successfully experimented with initiatives like The Guest Faculty Pool and Knowledge Forums. The guest faculty pool is like a speakers’ forum from where we keep nominating professionals for lectures/presentations/seminars at mass communication colleges and the professionals include those from PR, Advertising and Media.

Knowledge Forums: For Knowledge Forums, we tied up with The Press Club where we conduct programmes on issues of general interest. For instance, we had a couple of media seminars with the BARC scientists on Radiation for crops and Urban Garbage Management. This helps us in increasing the awareness about PRCI in the minds of media fraternity. I am sure we can do at last one activity a month with the Press Clubs. Its cost effective and its useful.

Professional Training: At the 9^th Conclave, a suggestion cropped up on the need to train upcoming PR professionals in public and private sectors. Taking the NTPC example, we offered to work with the corporates on making their professionals industry ready. For this, we could take the help of senor journalists who are ever ready to share their knowledge and tell us on media expectations from PR in this ever changing world. For instance, cocktail dinners which were a vogue ten years ago, do not get any media response!

Fastest 500: With 25 chapters, if we look at a monthly activity each with Press Clubs and one YCC programme, we can look forward to 50x10+ 500 activities to report at the 10^th Conclave. It is an achievable target for all us of put together. I am sure the Zonal chairmen will all agree with me! Even if we achieve 200-activity target, we would have made a solid beginning.

The activities could be very simple – from addressing local issues to professional matters. Let me tell you how it works in Mumbai. The Press Club, being the partner,  gives us their 40-seater hall free. The hi-tea costs less than Rs 5,000. But the goodwill that we gain is priceless.

Website: The work on – www.publicrelationscouncilofindia.com – in progress and we should see it up and running soon. I am getting quite a bit of content from our headquarters in Bengaluru. I request all chapters to keep sending their activity information.

We have to make a beginning, let’s do it now.

Please send in ideas and suggested plans of action as we move on. More importantly, please guide me to do well.

Yours sincerely,

Vikram Kharvi launches his first book – PRactice What you PReach

NEW DELHI: A seasoned PR practitioner, lecturer and a blogger – Vikram Kharvi, launched his first book focusing on the world of Public Relations industry during the 9th Global Communication Conclave organised by PRCI in the capital on March 13, 2015.

COAI Director General Rajan Mathews and Editors Guild India's General Secretary Ajay Upadhyay released the book which is an insider’s account about the changing face of public relations. Published by Revelation House, the book aims to provide practical solutions to common problems faced by PR practitioners.  

Mr Rajan Mathews, DG of COAI, launching Vikram Kharvi's book

The author has provided comprehensive answers to myriad questions including what constitutes PR, how a PR practitioner interacts with the media and how one can communicate effectively. Public Relations requires a lot from its practitioners – be it communication, knowledge, skill, writing ability, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence etc. Through this book, Vikram intends to bring up all these essential ingredients and discuss them in detail.

Author, Vikram Kharvi says, “This book will provide the practicing PR professionals with tips and tricks of the trade and for the students of public relations across all levels it is aimed to be an invaluable study aid and a quick peek into the industry they plan to enter. I sincerely hope that the educators too find it useful.”

Mr. Madan Bahal, MD, Adfactors PR, in the Foreward of the book cites, “Vikram has done a fine job in explaining why it is imperative for a PR professional to keep oneself updated at all times. Indeed, a PR consultant needs to engage with multiple stakeholders from different walks of life and develop multi-faceted relationships with each community.

He has drawn beautiful parallels to the art of PR with examples from mythology and metaphorical situations. This, I believe, will make the book an easier and more interesting read among budding and prospective PR practitioners.”

Mr. Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing in the Preface says, “With the changing times, especially with the internet playing an important role, across all industries that rely on communication, the world of PR and communications has been dramatically altered. To be successful in such a dynamic industry, PR and communication professionals need to stay on the learning curve 24 x 7. I hope this book reaches the right people and in the process of reading this, they are enlightened about the marvelous world of PR and communications.”