Posts Tagged ‘public relations’

Bloggerati of the Fortnight: Amith Prabhu

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Prabhu_Amith_lightAmith Prabhu writes a blog like many other tech savvy individuals do. But what makes him a commendable blogger is the fact that his blog addresses and touches upon various facets of Crisis and Communication management, Employees engagement, Brand positioning, Media relations and Strategic planning, all under one roof.

Amith sees himself as a Public Relations practitioner who loves electoral politics, fascinated by brands and enjoys philosophy. Most importantly, the buck doesn’t just stop there. His blog also accounts for much talked about topics of prominence and opinions pertaining to and not just restrictive to, happenings and trends but also sporadic posts about his own personal life as well.

Although majority of his posts are a reflection of his experiences and learning with respect to the communications industry (PR); as is expected of someone who has spent close to a decade swimming through the sea of changes the industry has been through, both in India and overseas, the manner in which they are presented is surprisingly, positive. Most blog posts are compelling enough for the reader to nod his head along to as they are well substantiated with logic.

Aesthetically, the blog is laid out in the simplest of manner without much jazz as seen in contemporary personal blogs. One look at the page and it is evident that Amith is quite methodical in his approach and knows his tricks of the trade well. In closing, his attempt at using the medium to the utmost while staying true to the art of blogging in its most nascent form demands his entitlement as our Bloggerati of the Fortnight.

From the Horse’s Mouth: Social Media Better Than Offline Communication?

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Why I chose Public Relations as a career still remains a vague subject for many. Yet again, why I chose social media as my bread and butter in a market like India, still amazes people. I have to ask why?

For all enlightened minds unaware of Public Relations, it is managing the reputation of a brand/ corporate with constant outflow of information through a perfect blend of creativity in communication. Simple! You have information; you’ve got to inform the masses about it. You’ve got a reputation hitch; you’ve got to set it right through talking to people and using feedback they provide to modify your communications strategy (The Wisdom of Crowds, I tell you!).

Coming to social media, it just gets simpler. I will not brag about what social media is (Just go to our free e-book download, mate!) But here is how it just works better than the above-mentioned offline medium:

It’s the in-thing! Well yeah! Since every trend, every thought, every discussion that makes a difference to our lives is up there even before it is on the news or in the newspapers (As an offline PR professional, I referred to Twitter religiously to catch up with all that was happening around the world, to gauge what the newspapers would write next). The dynamics of the word ‘fastest news’ have changed (as they have for ‘breaking news’:P).

What’s working, what’s not? You get to know it immediately. Couple of fiery comments on your blog, and you go –“Well, perhaps I should rephrase this? ” Pat comes the Crowd’s reply- “Dude! I said remove this horrible commercial. Hear me right?” With so much room for heart-to-heart talk between the consumer and the brand that social media offers, any business will have to prove the favourite fact-We’re Listening! This is a must for any business, since the crowds run it!

Power of Mass Intelligence and Collaboration: Probably where social media does a dance and a hop and a skip while conventional communication stands and stares. A pleasure it is, to see your consumers design products, collaborate for fun and knowledge and come up with new ad-campaigns (Flashback: ITC Bingo Mad Angles)!

Better and Tangible Results: Looking at sales charts to trace back to what article, and which news worked for your business, is morose, futile and does not reward the efforts of the company or the communications agency (If number of articles, headlines etc. promised to the client could have changed the face of brands, advertising would have had its natural fall way back!). Social media is measurable, more so in terms of consumer reaction to your moves in the market (Flashback: Blogs on HUL changing the age-old formulation of Pears).

But here is why social media will delight focused communication professionals more than anything else: Your efforts translate into direct consumer engagement, not in a news article,the readers of which you wouldn’t have an idea of.