Achal Paul, Founder Director, BUZZ Communications explains that in PR ‘if any brand has to survive, it’s important to keep the pot boiling
A brand is an identifying logo to distinguish from others. It needs to be respected and taken care of. In today’s scenario, one is bombarded with multiple brand messages through different mediums viz. print, online news portals, social media platforms and electronic. As a result, it becomes important to ensure that the brand’s value is retained by being visible on all the relevant platforms so that the brand is in the top of mind awareness of its target audiences.
Getting associated with the visits of global celebrities like former President Bill Clinton (two times) and Akio Toyoda, Chairman, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, were certainly high points of my career. Such high profile visits involve the utmost planning so that there are no hiccups. I’m proud to say, they were implemented with utmost care and in the most professional manner.
As you’re aware, Clinton is one of the best speakers in the world, very impressive and charming, too. I had the privilege of travelling and interacting with him face-to-face. His presence was charismatic with amazing memory as when I met him during the second visit he greeted me with my name. As regards, Toyoda’s visit here planning was of most critical nature. He was precise and very well informed with a vision to take his company to a different level. Both visits were successfully implemented to client satisfaction.
Language plays a very significant role in any form of communication. It is the basic medium on which communication relies upon. Language enables us to convey information, thoughts and feelings, which is essential for successful communication.
As for the written word or visual language, I believe they both go hand in hand with the transformation to digital. Both forms have a set role and both are crucial for effective communication. But, as they say a visual is worth a thousand words, so it is also true that a visual can be equally persuading and can suffice if it is strong enough.
I dare say during my advertising days, I have experienced in various advertising campaigns which were visually dominated and very less of text, yet was found result oriented by ensuring reaching the message to its core target audiences.
Well, your question has the answer! In today’s scenario social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter are extremely important. Digital media has emerged as an excellent tool for corporate communications in the past few years. BUZZ helps its clients from diverse industries to satisfy the exigencies via its digital PR model, blogging and comprehensive leverage of smartphone space. But at the same time, traditional print media cannot be ruled out completely. So, we have to keep working very judiciously across all platforms simultaneously
Like I said, social media is turning out to be a very effective communication tool these days. It can be helpful in creating brand awareness and can work as both reminder media and add to announcement value.
Every corporate house of repute has its corpcomm team in place. Their main KRA is to take care of the brand for which brand marketing strategy has to be charted out. By virtue of this, corporate houses keep the brand alive and create a lasting impression for brand recall.
Each corporate house has its own set of parameters as per their requirements and each parameter is given its due weightage viz. Understanding of the industry, strategic plan to leverage in the media, outreach plan (pan India or overseas), media contacts and a track record preferably of the same industry.
“Social media is turning out to be a very effective communication tool these days. It can be helpful in creating brand awareness and can work as both reminder media and add to announcement value”
Our foremost strategy to safeguard our corporate clients’ reputation and that of its protagonists is to be proactive rather than reactive and follow a strategically planned route. Keep both plan B and crisis communication plan for any contingency.
As a communication professional, there is no major difference in the approach towards the communication strategy of India Vision Foundation. BUZZ’s Strategic PR inputs remain the same as to any other Client/NGOs. However, the only difference is that the professional PR services offered to IVF are pro bono!
To be frank, unfortunately, mostly corporate houses are not taking CSR seriously with exceptions, which are always there. Majority of the corporates consider CSR as a burden than ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’. Whatever little they do, more out of compulsion, they go gaga about it.
Yes, the need for effective corporate communications will only grow by the day, as I truly believe that communications are a vital tool for every organization, or corporation for that matter. I personally feel, down the line, corporate communication is going to be even more of a necessity than now. With so much competition in the market and with the advancement in the field of digital media, it would be essential for corporates to put across their message loud and clear across platforms to survive in the industry. In PR they say ‘if you have to survive, it’s important to keep the pot boiling!’
Corporate communications have a great scope as it is probably going to be even more of a necessity in the near future. This could be credited to the ever-growing need of corporates to have a presence across all platforms and to keep the brand alive with its value intact. For this, communications is key and might become even more vital to surviving ten years down the line.
I feel like both of them hold a charm of their own. In today’s scenario, technology has made things simple, like reading a news article, even simpler with means like tablets or smart phones. When I’m on the go, I prefer to stay up-to-date with what’s going on in the world with the help of my ipad/smartphone, where I get news alerts of the industry of my interest. It’s a quick, convenient and easy way to get updated. But at the same time, I also like flipping through the news in daily newspapers and magazines as I have mentioned before that traditional media would go hand in hand.
By Orchie Bandopadhyay
