Be digital sharp, not just savvy

 

By B N KUMAR

(This article first appeared on Reputation Today)

The days of physical distribution of Press Releases and Invites, which my generation of PR professionals used to do, were over long ago.  After frequent visitors from PR departments and agencies, media offices have started experiencing flood of mails from PR agencies and departments. Then came the tsunami of mails with PR agencies discovering mass mailers. That’s how media started distancing themselves from Press Release ATMs of certain PR agencies, much before the current distancing came into being.

One has to be digital savvy to survive in this era. But being savvy is not just enough. As I mentioned in one of my previous columns, the journalist at the receiving end enjoys select-all-delete option.

For details: http://imageinfluencer.in/Single?bid=63

What an Idea Sir Ji!

POSTED BY: BN KUMAR APRIL 25, 2019

Gone are the days when PR could function with a straight Press Release or announcement and the corporates would remain happy. Today, media has developed fatigue to Press Releases. PR consultants face increasing challenges in getting media clippings. Anything and everything goes out in Press Releases and the tendency is to expect coverage in big newspapers. Everybody wants (coverage in) Times of India and ET. Clients often ask consultants and PR firms: “why are we paying you (so much!), if you can’t get my press release published.” A PR firm’s or consultant’s job, therefore, is to make their clients understand what makes news. Man bites dog is no more the news. Man bites snake and snake dies is also old.

The definition of the NEWS used to be akin to the weathercock. It became part of the history before the World War-I ended. I keep telling my clients during media familiarisation sessions that what is new makes The News or plural of new is news (with apologies to Wren & Martin)!

So, my dear fellow consultants and corporate communication professionals, we have to keep finding something new when we approach media friends.

During my campaign to protect mangroves in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), a TV journalist doing her fifth story told me: This should be the last story, I guess…unless you discover something new. It’s not difficult to understand what is new and what makes the news.

Sample this simple example: If I tell you, the face of the new government will be known on May 23, you will ask me what’s new about it. Right? So ask yourself what’s new before you gun for media coverage. And sit with your clients and bosses to understand a new aspect. Else, your press release would end up as an FYI note with no information in it!

During my initial days of PR, we could see the size of wastepaper baskets increasing from plastic buckets to huge bathroom drums (which we would otherwise use to store water as concept of loft tanks did not exist). Today, in paperless communication era, you have the option of select-all –> delete.

The same principle could be applied to any media announcement – even through a press conference or one-on-one meets. For journalists, their newspaper, magazine or TV news bulletin is their product and their readers or viewers are their consumers. Hence, as a reader or viewer, you always looks for something new, interesting and not a promo, even if it is a political story. You as a media consumer do not like to be bombarded with promo material, right? You exercise the right to use your remote.

Once you and your clients/bosses understand this, you would not like to bombard the media with irrelevant content. Now you know what’s new and what makes the media take a look at your content. Would you like to read or hear about an XYZ company getting an ISO certification or winning an award? So why expect your announcement on similar developments to be covered by the media!

Awards do not make news anymore as every media house has its own sets of awards. And there is no cross coverage. Simply put, The Indian Express does not cover Filmfare Awards; The Times of India does not report about Screen Awards. So, only an exemplary or unusual award gets covered in media – not necessarily across the board.

During the recent 13th Global Communication organised by PRCI at Jaipur, the theme was: PR – What’s the big idea; and the conclusion at the end of two days of deliberations was: PR is a big idea!

What an idea, sir ji, is applicable to even social media since your tweets or FB posts have to be new to get eyeballs and shares. I had the privilege of starting my PR career under Dhirubhai Ambani and his words still echo in my ears:

Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are nobody’s monopoly.

 (First Published by Reputation Today)

The views expressed here are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect that of Reputation Today.

BN Kumar - Executive Director at Concept PR
B N Kumar (BNK24x7 to his friends) has almost 40 years of experience as a media professional. He started his career with Free Press Journal in late 1970s, worked with United News of India and wrote for The Daily, Times of India, Mid-Day and Indian Express. He also ran a county paper called Newsbank New Bombay catering to the needs of Navi Mumbai before returning to mainstream by joining Business India. He started his PR career with the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani's Reliance Industries and was part of the team that set up O&M PR - the first PR arm of an Ad agency - 30 years ago.
He is also the Chairman, Governing Council - Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).

Why should I read newspapers?

Recently, we (at PRCI) had an opportunity for interns in journalism for working on editorial supplements for a Mumbai newspaper. While we received few entries to our invitation to write essays on some current topics, one of the candidates bowled a bouncer! We asked him as to which are the newspapers that he reads. He shot back: “Why should I read any newspaper and know about what has already happened?” The panel of interviewers did not know where to look! And this reminded me of a question that a journalism student at Andheri (Mumbai) asked me: who is Rajdeep Sardesai! 
(This article first appeared on Reputation Today)

For the detailed comment, please check:
http://reputationtoday.in/views/i-read-newspapers/

Urban chaos – the need for constant communication #vrplayingwithfire

Please check my column in Reputation Today:

http://reputationtoday.in/views/urban-chaos-the-need-for-constant-communication/

Communication in Death

Communication does not end with death. My dad – Honorary Capt. BSRV Subba Rao (89) – who died in Hyderabad on September 25, 2017, donated his body to a private medical college through an NGO to serve the purpose of education. His cornea was taken by Vasan Eye Bank. Two persons are expected to get vision.

PS: There was another element of communication in death. In a matter of seconds, Daddy became body. Nobody referred to him as ‘He’.  All of sudden, he became it! Such is the truth of life, I guess!

For detailed piece, check: 
http://reputationtoday.in/views/communication-in-death/

News comes with an immediate expiry date

News is no more about North-East-West-South. Man bites dog is no more the news. Man bites snake and kills it makes the news.

It has to be of relevance to the reader. News is also the most perishable commodity. The moment you see a flash on your television set or get alert through your news app on your smart phone, the novelty of the news is over. For instance if someone tells you about that particular development even after a minute, you say: Yeah, I already know it!

Like any other product that you buy in the market, news also has an expiry date. It is immediate!

Details:

http://reputationtoday.in/views/news-comes-with-an-immediate-expiry-date/

The Fulcrum Awards 2017 Shortlists Announced

The Fulcrum Awards Management has announced its finalists for 2017. The shortlist was arrived at, after day-long deliberations by an esteemed jury of 18 communication professionals. The process has been reviewed by PwC – a first in the history of PR Awards. The shortlist is announced for 11 sub-categories in Technique Awards and six sub-categories in the Special Awards. The winners will be announced for Individual and Lifetime Achievement awards at the Awards night.
Details:http://reputationtoday.in/features/the-fulcrum-awards-2017-shortlists-announced/

Meet Deadlines to Hit Deadlines

From Reputation Today

For Details:
http://reputationtoday.in/views/meet-deadlines-to-hit-headlines/

Communicating for a Cause: Reputation Today

We can use our skills and, more importantly, our presence of mind to focus attention on issues of community interest. It could be the overcrowding of local trains and city buses, issues in aircraft, destruction of environment, child labour at restaurants and tyre repair shops, spitting in public places, long queues for utility bill payments or an NGO doing some good work – we can click pictures and shoot videos and post on the alternative media. We can even form groups for various causes.

A case in point is PRCI which has taken a cue from Prime Minister’s latest Mann Ki Baat message to observe the World Environment Day on June 5 and spread the message – Connecting Nature To People.PRCI has taken up the cause of plundering of Parsik Hills in the name of quarrying. The once picturesque hill range today presents a pathetic site with huge destruction and damage done to the nature.

For details:

http://reputationtoday.in/views/communicating-for-a-cause/

No Quick-fix, PR is investment in future

(From Reputation Today)

I think it is time the communicators forget to think Uske Kapde Mere Kapdo Se Zyada Safed Kyun and start telling their bosses and clients to understand the importance of perception building as an early and long-term exercise. You may not be able to get the attention of big media instantaneously, but getting media acceptance is a slow and steady process. A particular newspaper may not enjoy huge circulation, but the editor of a big newspaper does read that so-called small publication for several reasons: to check for stories missed and look for rising stars for future recruitment. This is exactly why reporters often fight for bylines – to get visibility among those who matter – as I did as a cub reporter ages ago!

At the risk of revealing some business secrets, let me say that business houses should not look for instant solutions and not think of PR only as the last resort for using at times of crisis. Like diamonds, Public Relations is forever. The more we polish diamonds, the better they shine. And that is exactly how PR gives you a polished reputation in the long run.

For more, click:
http://reputationtoday.in/views/no-quick-fix-pr-is-investment-in-future/

Lessons from Rewari Girl Power - for Corpcom & Media

Call it the Bollywood blockbuster Dangal effect or the new awakening arising out of the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 90 girls from Gothra Tappa Dahina village in Rewari district of Haryana had gone on a hunger strike and won their relentless battle for upgrading their school to senior secondary level.

One after the other, the media has started taking interest but it remained mostly region centric. When India Today

TV and CNN NEWS 18 took up the cause at a later stage, the nation’s conscious was shaken. Nobody had to scream ‘the nation wants to know’. Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma was forced to issue a notification to facilitate the higher secondary school for Gothra Thappa Dahina, which shot into limelight thanks to the girls’ agitation.

For detailed story, click:  http://reputationtoday.in/views/lessons-from-rewari-girl-power/

The Power of Creativity in PR

Friends, creativity comes into play right from the beginning when we start making our PR strategies. It all begins with media familiarisation for the spokespersons in accordance with the rapidly changing dynamics. Let us as PR practitioners, first of all understand ‘what makes the news’. It is no more the case of man biting dog; Today’s headline is: Man bites the snake and kills it! (did someone say yuck?!).

Now, let me present a case study scenario. Our spokespersons and we as PR pundits might feel very happy with a Press Release that we write using all the creativity at our command. But it may not find its way into print the next morning. Worse still, the press conference that we hold, using the ‘highly creative’ press release, turns out to be a damp squib. No one accepts any number of excuses.

At the Press Club, where I get to meet many media friends at leisure, I hear complaints after complaints about ‘you PR guys’. As an old friend from Hindu Business Line often complains: ‘Why can’t your guys write simple, straight stories and send is to us instead of using bombastic language and tables and graphs that may impress your bosses or clients?’ Another friend from ToI says: ‘I don’t even open some PR guys’ mails since I don’t want to waste my time’.

For details, please check my column in Reputation Today:

http://reputationtoday.in/views/the-power-of-creativity-in-public-relations/

You can’t kill a story!

Reproduced as it is with permission from http://reputationtoday.in/

TOPICS:BN KumarConcept PRCrisisPRCIReputation

POSTED BY: BN KUMAR APRIL 19, 2016

Crisis communication is about getting facts right, setting the record straight.

Crisis comes uninvited! And it happens when you least expect!

In fact, even the best of us do not enjoy any immunity from crisis. But the severity of crisis could vary depending on whether you are an individual or a corporate.

It could be a traffic constable holding you up when you are in a hurry to go for an appointment or for that matter what happened to Vijay Mallya or Maggi.

During my media training sessions (aimed at making corporate honchos media ready!), I am often asked this question: So, how do we handle crisis?

My answer is simple: Be prepared for it!

Three decades on, Union Carbide’s Bhopal disaster continues to stay top-of-the-mind when one talks of corporate crisis. The company avoided the media when MIC leaked from its shut-down plant and killed hundreds. As a reporter at UNI – the then premier news agency – in 1984, I was struggling to get official information.

A knee-jerk reaction to crisis that I have been witnessing among corporates is: “Get that damn story killed.”

I keep telling my clients during that requesting a journalist to kill his story is like asking him not to do his job! No journalist worth his salt would like to be told to kill his story. Instead, you should look at the facts and give your side to keep the story balanced. It is only when the journalist gets his information absolutely wrong that one can suggest that he should not do the story and even caution him about the legal consequences.

Some corporates and PR practitioners may brag that they can get negative stories killed. But such ‘successes’ cannot be repeated.

Even if you are successful in blocking a story in one particular publication, there is no guarantee that it won’t appear in another publication. The ‘source’ of that information can always approach another media house. For instance, a client of mine pressurized the space marketing department of a publication into killing a news item.  His celebration was short-lived as the same story with a big headline appeared in another newspaper, two days later.

Please check this case study as well. A PSU complained to a small newspaper management about a reporter who was writing so-called negative stories about the government company. The reporter was asked to quit. The PSU might have thought that its problem is over. But the sacked reporter joined a larger publication, which thrives only on negative and sensational reporting. Guess what happens now? The reporter writes against the PSU with vengeance! The government company’s crisis multiplied instead of dying down!

Many manufacturing units, which handle hazardous material or are prone to accidents, do conduct periodic safety drills. It is essential that even their corporate communication departments and their PR consultants (who handle hazardous stories!) oil their machinery well to handle crisis.

Here are the Ten Commandments for crisis communication; some of these may sound simple. Yet please keep them in mind (or as an air hostess says: Some you may be frequent fliers and are familiar with the safety instructions. Yet we request you to pay attention to the demonstration).

1. Do not behave like an Ostrich. Trying to hide or run away from the problem will add to complications.
2. Do not be evasive. On the contrary, be responsive. Set up crisis communication machinery, let there be a single source speaking to all – internal and external audiences.
3. Keep disaster management machinery on tenterhooks – With regular drills and surprise checks.
4. Always be transparent – If the problem has arisen due to your fault, admit it and ensure that you take quick corrective steps. To err is human?
5. Take crisis head-on – Address the problem, analyze it and try to find solutions.
6. Do not panic – Remember, crisis can happen to the best of us.
7. Communicate, you must. Others may say, communicate in crisis; But, we say: communicate always to avoid crisis!
8. Maintain credibility. Credibility is the 1st victim in any crisis. Remember, liars will always be losers.
9. Educate yourself, educate the media and TGs on crisis and plans to overcome. This is all the more important if the crisis situation arises from the media reporting.
10. Listen to PR counsel. Don’t brush them aside. A PR professional is not a fool. Otherwise he wouldn’t be working for you!

BN Kumar

Executive Director at Concept PR

B N Kumar (BNK24x7 to his friends) has about 40 years of experience in mass communications as a journalist as well as a PR professional.

He started his career with Free Press Journal in late 1970s, worked with United News of India and wrote for The Daily, Times of India, Mid-Day and Indian Express. He also ran a county paper called Newsbank New Bombay catering to the needs of Navi Mumbai before returning to mainstream by joining Business India. He started his PR career with the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani's Reliance Industries and was part of the team that set up O&M PR - the first PR arm of an Ad agency - 30 years ago.

He is also the National president of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).