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Welcome to the industry. Now the real work begins.
Placements are the gateway, not the destination. The next twenty-four months will decide whether this becomes a career or just a job you held for a while. What follows is not theoretical. It is what twenty years across agency and in-house work has taught me – and what I tell every young member who joins my team. 1. Begin your career in an agency. An agency will teach you what no classroom and no corporate induction ever will. You will handle five sectors in three years. You will pitch, write, present, recover from a missed deadline, and do it all again before the week ends. You will learn how to…
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The Agency Doesn’t Need Another Rockstar. It Needs Someone Reliable.
Class of 2026: Congratulations. Placements Are Over. The Actual Job Begins Now. To the fresh graduates entering the workforce this month, armed with degrees, internship certificates, LinkedIn announcements saying “Excited to begin my professional journey…”, and enough optimism to survive agency life — welcome. You’ve made it through assignments, attendance shortages, group projects where one person worked and four got equal marks, presentations made overnight, and internships where your biggest takeaway was “Please coordinate.” Now comes the real world. And if your first stop is an agency across PR, advertising, digital, branding, communications or marketing, here’s a perspective from someone who has spent years watching fresher’s walk in enthusiastic, overwhelmed,…
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AI in PR. Or Just PR Being PR? You Tell Me.
Remember Salman Khan’s “Being Human”?I understand its importance more now. AI could have never helped me with this hook, right? :’) No matter how much AI we use, we humans will still connect to human tone more. We will relate to human essence more. Not against AI, but so many of us are not realising we are way smarter than this tool. AI is becoming the benchmark, it has quietly entered everything we do. Drafting pitches. Writing thought leadership. Summarising briefs. Rewriting subject lines for the tenth time. Even writing simple texts! PR is so, so simple. Yet so complicated and difficult. Not because the work itself is tough, but…
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PR in the Intelligence Economy: From Storytellers to Strategic Power Centers
Artificial intelligence is no longer a look good tool but the infrastructure shaping how narratives are created, distributed, challenged, and believed – every single day. In this AI-first world, PR has evolved into a strategic nerve center that influences reputation, risk, and revenue at the highest levels of organisations. The public relations industry is indeed poised for its most profound transformation since the advent of AI and it’s just the opening chapter of a much larger story. The Acceleration of AI in PR The adoption curve of AI in communications has been nothing short of exponential. Those of us who have been in this industry for over 20 years can’t…
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What It Means to Be a Woman in Corp Comm & PR in 2026?
A Year of Reckoning — or Just Toeing the Line? After (and while) spending a whole afternoon designing “creative” pieces to impress my tribe on Women’s Day, the mind just kept circling back to one thought. And that was – year after year we celebrate this one day so special for women by announcing special & limited offers. But do we really need this? Can we as women leaders step back and break the pattern, maybe design something interesting for another day? Or even create something unique that will spotlight impact! Yeah! Goal for another 365 rotations of the planet, probably. Long ago, I used to think getting a seat…
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The Future of PR: Alive, Evolving, and More Human Than Ever
I almost wrote “PR is Dead!” but by the next morning I realised how wrong that was. After more than 25 years in this industry, I’ve watched public relations transform into one of the most dynamic and adaptive fields out there. From the days of explaining to clients what PR even meant, to now drafting content with AI tools like ChatGPT, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Yet one thing hasn’t changed: convincing clients they need authentic, newsworthy story angles. PR is alive and evolving because people are evolving. The “Public” has fragmented into micro-communities, and “Relations” have been reshaped by social platforms and post-Covid behaviour. Stories still need to be…
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Measuring PR Beyond Media Mentions: ROI, Domain Authority, and Brand Equity
Public Relations has predominantly been measured through a rise in circulation, increasing column inches, and front-page coverage occasionally. The yardstick to measure the successful of a PR campaign usually involved some form of measurement by volumes, number of articles, key touchpoints in media houses, extravagant headlines and share of voice. Sounds familiar? It is. These are all various forms of disguise for the erstwhile AVE. I kid you not. It is still around. However, in the current digitally dominated world, the old metrics are being challenged and a push towards making them obsolete in underway as they do not reflect audience behaviour. Visibility alone doesn’t translate to generating value. For…
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The Rise and Fall of the Social Media Influencer: A Changing Digital Landscape
The world of social media influence is shifting, and recent events have underscored just how fragile online stardom can be. Podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, a well-established digital entrepreneur with seven YouTube channels and over 12 million subscribers, has seen a notable decline in his follower count following controversy on comedian Samay Raina’s roast show, India’s Got Latent. His remarks on the show sparked massive backlash, with many labeling them as vulgarity disguised as comedy. The fallout from this controversy threatens not just his reputation but also his lucrative brand partnerships, which reportedly bring him an estimated ₹35 lakh per month. While Allahbadia’s influence is undeniably vast, his situation reflects a broader…
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How Well Do You Know Your Client?
In the shadowy intersections of corporate ambition and public trust lies an uncomfortable truth that many PR agencies would rather not confront. The rush to onboard clients, driven by revenue targets and the allure of big names, often blinds agencies to the very dangers they are supposed to shield against. The industry’s silent compromise with due diligence has become its Achilles’ heel. For PR professionals, every new client is a promise to shape narratives, protect reputations, and build trust in a world that increasingly questions everything. But what happens when this promise is built on a foundation of ignorance? When agencies fail to ask hard questions about the companies they…
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RFP Must-Dos for Brand Teams: Crafting Proposals that Drive Results
Everybody I know needs what I‘m selling – Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) Yes Calvin, that’s true but how do you let everyone believe you have what they need? That’s where PR comes into play. And how do you get the best partner for your communication needs – why yes you release an RFP. Let’s start by understanding what is an RFP. An RFP or Request For Proposal is a process and document needed to get bids for potential business requirements. It’s not unique to the PR industry and should typically outline a statement of requirements including but not limited to brand objectives, solutions sought, commercials and process details. But creating…
