Flash Mob in PR

Flash mob has been effectively used by many organisations where in a busy market place or a mall, all of a sudden, a group of people would start dancing to the music or performing a coordinated action gig, and then suddenly disperse.  It is a derivate of 'smart mob' concept where groups of people communicating through mobile sms or twitter would gather and perform; and some may work out a big discount from retail store through collective bargaining.
Here's a group of Chandigarh youth break into a dance gig in the midst of a busy Sector 17 market plaza. It's a treat, and hats off to some of the young media guys who devised it.

What 2011 was like? Have we forgotten it?

Well into 2012 we might have forgotten how 2011 was like. Here's an excellent recapitulation by Google.

Chandigarh wakes up to Mail Today

I woke up to the thud of the bundle of newspapers that arrived in the morning.  As I reached the mailbox through cold foggy morning, it was a pleasant surprise to see the bold masthead of MAIL TODAY, peering prominently through a dozen newspapers that I get to see.  Lo and behold, it is the Chandigarh edition.  It was in the air for sometimes, and I am pleased to find the English tabloid from India Today to give some exciting newer and different perspective to the news happening in this city that is the hot seat for three governments, Panjab, Haryana and UT of Chandigarh. 
But surprisingly the press release on 'exchange4media' press release announcement says that  "the content strategy of the Chandigarh edition would be similar to that of the Delhi edition with complete focus on national news and no local news from Chandigarh". That comes as a shocker but I think that is a typo, because after all Chandigarh edition will have to have the local news. 
However, I am looking forward to seeing as to how local it gets.  Will it be reaching out to the local industry, businesses and professions, and voicing their concerns and celebrating their successes?  Most of the local editions have failed to do that, and the latest to do that had been THE ECONOMIC TIMES, that has dispensed with the local business stories in its region's page.  With the service industry and commercial activities on an upswing in the city involving a large number of upwardly mobile young professionals, we hope MAIL TODAY would cater to them. 

25 Years of Our Journey!

10th of September in 1987, I had put in my papers resigning my corporate communication job in a German company, after six years of exciting work.  Armed with the new knowledge and experience I felt the need for the small enterprises to benefit from the public relations services.  It was an unheard of concept at least in Chandigarh, since only a few PR consultancies existed at that time in the country, and that too were limited to big metros. .  It was a shocker for most of the journalist friends at that time, who nevertheless wished me luck.  And on 13th September CorePR was born. 
As we look back these 25 eventful years, and long association that we have enjoyed with many of our clients, we wish to thank all those who believed in us, and trusted our capabilities.  It is gratifying that we continue to travel together with most of them even today.  And credit goes to my last employers for taking us on board as their PR consultant that helped us venture into the arena and sustain ourselves for more risks. 
Having started my career as a journalist, and moving over to an entirely new field of corporate communication, nearly three decades back, I have seen the growth of Public Relations profession in the country.  At a time, when only handful of PR agencies existed in the country, we entered a virgin domain in a region, where the concept itself was a novelty and when PR was considered as a unwanted service with no significant tangibles to prove. 
Twenty five years back, there were no computers, no mobiles, fax machines.  With limited telephones and the telex number that we obtained from the post office, and a manual typewriter with reams of paper and carbon paper, (as xerox was still experimenting with duplication), we were in business.  Imagine the time when each press release was first vetted from the client, retyped with corrections, got signed, and then delivered to the newspaper office manually.  That was the time when exposed film rolls were carefully packed in black sheets of paper, and sent through the roadways bus to Delhi for the use of Doordarshan.  There were no flights from Chandigarh and no Shatabadis. 
That was the exciting time as we faced one challenge after another and emerged winners, together with our clients. 
I recall the help of numerous PR professionals who helped us through this journey. In our initial years, I wish to pay tribute especially to the legends of our PR profession, who always lent their year to hear me out and mentored.  Some of these stalwarts included,  the then PR Director of Pfizer Mr. K.S. Neelakandan, Greaves Cotton's PR Manager Mr. Sushil Bahl, Good Year's Anil Basu, Indian Airlines' PR Director Ajit S. Gopal, Groz Beckert Saboo's Managing Director R.K. Saboo, Molins India's managing director Subhash Bijlani, and of course, our first client besides my former employer, the management of Crompton Greaves, to name just a few.  
Working with these stalwarts, opened up unlimited opportunities for us to understand how effective communication changes lives and empowers people to grow and succeed.   Thank you every one as we reach a significant milestone of our journey.  Thank you for lending us your shoulders so that we can stand on them and scan newer horizons.  

Media should report unreported India: H.K.Dua

Member of Parliament and former Resident Editor of The Tribune, Mr. H.K. Dua, addressing the students and faculty of  Whistling Woods International School of Communication at Chandigarh, vehemently underlined the media's role to provide adequate coverage of "unreported India".
There are millions of people who are unemployed, starving, and living below the poverty line, whose voice must be reported and covered by both the print and electronic media, he averred.
He lamented the fact that our Parliament, our executive and our judiciary have failed the society and have not been adequately doing justice to the people they represent, and therefore, only option left for them is to go to media, which increases the responsibility of media persons.
"We are accountable to people and we should not betray them", he reiterated. And every journalist's 'dharma' is to maintain credibility by being truthful and report only the facts instead of coloring them with bias.
Jyoti Kamal, bureau head of CNN-IBN in the city however came up with defence for the electronic media saying that even tv channels are providing adequate coverage to the 'unreported India' though it has to strike the balance between what's more demanded by the viewers as established by various baseline surveys and feedback, and the issues that face the common man.
Vivek Atray, former director of public relations and tourism, information technology for UT Administration for many years, however pointed out that looking at the convergence of  technologies the most significant skill set required would be writing appropriate content for diverse media.
CII Chandigarh Council Chairman Vikram Hans pointed out the lack of necessary skill sets amongst fresh pass outs from different institutions that the industry needs, and complimented Whistling Woods for providing students the opportunity to interact with students during their studies.
Dr. Ujjwal Chowdhury, Dean of WWI School of Communication very ably articulated the vision of the School and how the students are being empowered to balance academics with experiential learning.
Somnath Sen, Vice President of WWI, and Maitree Ramaiya provided insight into the film production, and corporate communication respectively.
I had the opportunity to share dais with the stalwart communicators, and it is indeed gratifying that WWI School of Communications has started an MBA in Communication.  This was much needed considering the fact that in any organisation or business, the man, material, machine, and money management is made possible only through effective management of communication for which the country needs experts to strategise.  Public Relations as art and science of managing communication, and as a management function, it can not only  help any organisation improve its brand image but also contribute to its productivity, profitability and convert it into a winning organisation. 
I'm sure the debate that brought together the media people on one platform provided fair idea to the younger generation aspiring to enter into the field of communication, the challenges and opportunities that exist in the field.  Congratulations to WWI for their endeavours.

ABCI challenges Communicators to be the Leaders in Innovation

Dr,C.V.Narasimha Reddi
Editor, Public Relations Voice
(Thanks to our regular contributor - a noted public relations professional of India, Dr. C.V.Narasimha Reddi, we have another brilliant round up of the recently concluded ComFest-11

Two major communication events of national importance ‘ ComFest-11 Winds of Change” and ABCI 51st Awards – For Excellence in Business Communication” organized by the Association of Business Communicators of India in Mumbai on11 & 12th November were not only a cynosure of all business communicators and public relations practitioners but also galvanized them to be change agents and leaders in innovation to transform India as a global economic player.

Dr. J J Irani former Managing Director, TATA Steel whose acumen and technological innovation has made TATA Steel the lowest cost steel producing company in the world has set the tone of the conference with his inaugural address on “ Tomorrow’s Corporations” and said the future companies must be licensed by the community for their survival. Anti-Kudankalam Nuclear Power Project agitation was quoted as an example to emphasize the need for community approval. He suggested that the most significant contribution, that an industry could make was by identifying itself with the life and problems of the people to which it belonged and by applying its resources, skills and talents to the extent that it can, reasonably spare them to serve and help the poor: “Employees will choose corporations which care for them, investors and customer will prefer to buy from ethical, socially responsible corporations, Islands of prosperity cannot survive in a sea of poverty, if markets must expand the poor must also become customers’ were the other highlights of J. J Iran’s keynote address.

M.S.Swaminathan, pioneer of Green Revolution who was the Chief Guest at Awards function complimented the ABCI for its excellent record in unfolding the hidden talents of business communicators by presenting prestigious awards and told the audience that he had an inspiring evening in his life in the midst of national change makers and lifetime achievers. He pointed out that with the growth of Indian economy there was also a phenomenal growth of business communication. However, he cautioned the communicators that their commercial message should be integrated with social, ethical values and integrity to ameliorate the 121 crore people of India .

Earlier Yogesh Joshi, President, ABCI welcoming the guests said that the Com-Fest a festival with a difference when national change makers interacted with business communicators to convert them as change agents. As many as 952 nominations were received in the 32 categories of awards. ABCI President observed such a number of nominations was a national record and also indicative of growing competitive talent in the field of business communication.

Sylvester da’ Cunha the creator of the Amul Brand was proud to say that a country like India which was starving for milk became world’s largest milk producer. The catchy slogan ‘ Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread with Amul Butter” caught the imagination of the Indians, he added.

M. V. Nair, Chairman, Union Bank of India in his keynote presentation informed that the bank was inaugurated 93 years ago by Mahatma Gandhi as a bank of Swadeshi Promoters. In a world of constant change, the Chairman Union Bank felt that employees’ mind set should also change to implement the vision, mission and core values of the bank. Communication he said was an important input in change management that should be handled by public relations practitioners with utmost personal communication skills.

In a thought provoking presentation “Maveric in Motion”, the advertising legend Alyque Padamsee said that 50 per cent of Indian population whose age is below 25, the third largest young group in the world paradoxically was ruled by another 50 per cent of the population who are above 60. This dichotomy is a challenge. If we look to the future, he said we must involve youth as our target audience.

Neelima Mishra, Ramon Magsaysay awardee who spoke on the transformation of rural women through self-help groups said the communicators must understand the needs of the audience and communicate with them through the media accessible to them. Being a village girl, she could transform women by identifying their aspirations towards better life which earned her an award of the type of Asian Nobel Prize.

Among others, who interacted with delegates include: Roger Pereira, world renowned PR Consultant, Hudson Samarasinghe, Chairman, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and Jayant Pendharkar, former Global Head, Marketing & Communications TCS Ltd.

10- POINT GOLDEN RULES
A 10- Point Golden Rules could be drawn from this ComFest as a follow up by the Public Communication Professionals

1. Public Relations and Business Communication professionals must act as change agents by identifying the changing socio-economic scenario.
2. Communicate both with internal and external publics as to make them partners in reaching the corporate goals

3. Counsel the management to adopt corporate ethics with social responsibility as good ethics leads to good business

4. Adopt public relations ethics in tune with corporate ethics to gain credibility for public relations messages

5. Public relations, advertising and marketing must work in unison coupled with information technology in building and positioning the brand of global relevance and also to occupy a unique place for the brand in the minds of the target audience

6. Public relations and business communication professionals must become leaders in innovation to professionalize the discipline

7. Break the tradition and ageold customs to change for the better future

8. Reward success, reward failure also, but also punish ‘ inaction’

9. “Occupy Wall Street Campaign” a division between the one per cent rich and 99 per cent poor is blooming all over the world. Communicators must understand this movement and advise managements to share their profits with the poor.

10. The last but the most important lesson that one should learn from ABCI Awards is “ compilation of best public relations case studies”. As many as 129 awards were given in 32 categories whose achievements could be converted atleast in 10 best case studies for the benefit of both practitioners and academics.

ABCI Leader in Innovation
India today needs a strong public relations professional body and leaders of national repute to advance the profession in the service of the society. Yogesh Joshi, a thoughtful, committed, self-effacing and inspiring man who now heads ABCI proved beyond doubt that any professional body if moved with a good leader and team spirit can do wonders for the growth of the profession. The successful conduct of ComFest and 51st ABCI Awards with about 1000 nominations along with National Change Makers like M S Swaminathan and international standards bears an eloquent proof to the fact that ABCI has now become a model and trendsetter for other professional bodies in the country. An award winner in the category of house journals commented ‘Yogesh is now ABCI Leader in Innovation’ which I think he richly deserves.

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