-
5 things you must know if you want to work with a PR boutique firms
As a young aspiring PR professional, I thought getting into PR would be glamorous lots of parties, networking, and more. It wasn’t! There were a lot of things I learnt along the way. The best teacher for me has been experience; I’ve dealt with bosses from hell, clients who never budge on their actions, or their budgets! Media, that’s been tough to crack and extremely difficult and demanding. Text books, courses, and classrooms can teach you theory, but real PR practice comes when you’re in the field actually working, networking and it isn’t always glamorous!To someone who would love to work in PR- here are a few things you should…
-
Now, CEOs walk the talk
The Covid-19 pandemic has been an event of unprecedented proportion, for the world. Some have equated it to the second world war in terms of its impact on the planet. While the human cost and business losses are still being calculated, the psychological effect on people is beyond compare. Humans are social beings, and hence have found it extremely difficult to adjust to paradigm shifts like WFH and social distancing. On the work front as well, some dramatic changes took place. Instances such as job cuts, reduced salaries, reduced privacy – became commonplace. In this immensely fluid situation, the CEOs broadly responded in two ways: Short term and Long term.…
-
5 Easy Strategies to embark on Your Professional PR journey
Are you a fresher struggling to succeed the first job interview? Read on. Vivaan and Mishka are front-runners in their Mass Communication academics. Every professors’ delight, they are forever ready to answer, participate and contribute. In the final year, their eyes are sparkling with the zeal to get acknowledged by the professional communications fraternity. Armed with the know-how of various domains in communication fields, these Gen-Zers are ready to take on the world. To their surprise, the preparation interviews rocked their dreamboat. It exposed them to a parallel world that is real and a far cry from what they have understood so far. It appeared different from the glamourous world…
-
Telling the Environmental, Social, and Governance narrative, authentically.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on ESG. But having been involved in the preparation of a report, the learning curve has been steep and has me deeply interested. Sharing some of my views and I hope they resonate with you. As a real-life story goes, the CFO of a listed entity flew down 4000+ miles to London (of course pre-covid) to meet an investor. Armed with a robust business plan, there was not an iota of doubt of the deal coming through. Cut to breakfast in London, there was confidence and crispness in the air, perfect weather, and tea for company, when the potential investor walked…
-
Regret to inform that you are not shortlisted (After 18 rounds!)
Unreal or ridiculous? Am I exaggerating? Oh sorry, let me first set the context. If you happen to be on a job hunt, then the unending number of interview rounds, could actually overwhelm you. And now you think I’m trying to look for a shortcut from hardwork! Really, may I turn around the tables and say how incompetent are the hiring teams in decision-making? How can one humanly need beyond 5-7 rounds to make up their minds and evaluate the talent they intend to hire or not. Absolutely understand the need to evaluate talent across various functions, avoid any unconscious bias and ensure expectations are met, from various teams. Sometimes,…
-
How to design a compelling sustainability campaign?
Taking forward the discussion on the PRPOI panel discussion on sustainability and PR Sustainability can mean different things for different people. For organisations wanting to prove their sustainability credentials, the motivations could vary from wanting to attract ESG (Environment, Society and Governance) focused funding, to meeting compliance requirements, to attracting talent wanting to work with organisations that care about planet and purpose over profits. For grassroots organisations or brands wanting to encourage more sustainable living, success graduates from raising awareness levels, to shift perceptions to ultimately changing habits and behaviour. In this article, we’re going to focus on the latter. We’ll cover storytelling for corporate sustainability separately. Here’s how we…
-
Sustainability & PR
PR professionals on the Twitterati was abuzz on the chat hosted by Pooja Trehan & curated by Tarunjeet and Sonali Sokhal along with participation from panelists Preeti Binoy, Sourav Das, Navin Nair, Vinod Reddy and Sayesha Arora. We took up Sustainable PR in digital era and expressed our views on various questions raised by the PRPOI team. The chat delved into various aspects such as the troll army making sustainable PR difficult, best practices to deal with troll armies, sustainability PR in Indian context, measuring PR campaigns in sustainability, employee engagement and sustainability, best communication tools & platforms that talk about sustainability, up-skilling PR professionals in digital era and sustainable…
-
Motherhood gifts us with the art of storytelling!
Being selfless for a lifetime, never missing a single meal, constantly teaching and learning and yet all we relish in return is a huge bear hug and those simple words – I love you mom! Yes, having written so much around motherhood previously, how could I miss an opportunity on “Mother’s Day”! Right now, I’m counting 4 blessings – My favourite teacher, my son Shlok; my truest pillar of strength, my Mom; the love that I could get from both my (late) grandmothers and the motherhood that my (late) ‘mother-in-law’ showered on me. All these women, and my son, have played brilliant roles in helping me stay strong, each day.…
-
PR Lessons on How Not to Handle a Pandemic
This is not a political blogpost, but a one written out of purely professional interest! As a PR Professional I have currently seen a slew of negative press, social media memes and general frustration with the way India’s monster second wave is being handled. It’s been a lesson for any well honed PR Person on ‘How Not to Handle Public Perception’. So here are my two bits on how this reputation management disaster can be addressed. Communicate: People want to know that the people in charge are doing something! In a time of panic, people want to know that there is someone at the helm of affairs, taking change and…
-
PR is Dead! Long Live PR!
A collection of thoughts from the Industry, this National PR Day, as we look to check on doomsayers and look ahead with optimism! It feels like strange times, doesn’t it? The PR Industry has survived more than a year of the unprecedented global crisis. Yet, we are also seeing a word where PR is having to change its very definition to survive…is it a slow death, or evolution? In this year, there have been many learnings, many setbacks, and much evolution for the PR industry itself. As we manage remote working, shaky economies, worried brands, and a shrinking media universe, what is the way forward for the PR industry? Is…
