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<ul><li>2021, a year full of controversies saw brands turning to <keyword id="255227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-relations" source="Orion">Public Relations</keyword> and Communications experts to save their reputation and regain consumer trust.</li><li>We look back at how PR evolved in 2021 and catch up with a few experts to discuss the trends that lie ahead.</li></ul>This year, we witnessed many brands become a victim of the boycott culture on social media and each of them adopted a different Public Relations and Communications strategy; while some decided to give in to the pressure, pulled off campaigns and maintained a low profile to cushion the blow, a few others stood their ground and fought back. Gone are the days where a brand could hope for social media controversies to die a natural death and wait for consumers to move on. Now, a small tweet can snowball into a boycott trend and a little bad PR move can cause a company’s stocks to plummet drastically or lead to a huge amount of audience permanently boycotting a brand. At the same time, some experts also advise that brands should not feed the trolls. So, in a year that saw numerous controversies, Public Relations and Communications experts proved their prominence yet again. They acted as the brand's anchor when needed and also helped them reach the shore successfully through tumultuous seas. During the initial stage of the lockdown, <keyword id="562730" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-agencies" source="Orion">PR agencies</keyword> had to think on their feet, engage with editorial media to help brands share their side of the story with interesting nuggets, offer positive stories, work on personalised pitches, ensure internal and external stakeholders were updated frequently with utmost honesty and transparency. PR experts also pushed brands to connect with their communities on a personal level through truthful, authentic human acts. The crisis also caused paradigm shifts in the industry and digital PR took the center stage. Experts were required to monitor trends in real-time, find various consumer touchpoints through social listening and offer predictive analysis. As we move forward, PR agencies are working towards expanding their offerings with allied competencies like creative, experiential and social media capabilities. They have also been helping brands to find the right balance between profit, people and the environment. So, the future of PR is in strong storytelling in the digital world. The future is also unpredictable and PR professionals can’t rely on annual calendars anymore. With the news cycle changing every day, PR experts are required to be more flexible and agile. We reached out to experts to look back at 2021, discuss a few trends that lie ahead in 2022 and understand what kind of role will PR play next year. Here’s what they had to say: Archana Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="12776689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-pundit" source="Orion">PR Pundit</keyword> The sway of top celebrities has diminished as was the case back in the days. With the advent of digital and social media, people have begun to trust recommendations from peers far more. Audiences find authentic content or recommendations by actual consumers to be more honest and believable than other forms of promotions and advertising by brands. This is reason enough for brands to actively nurture a community of advocates. PR will be required to work with brands to shape and foster a community of brand advocates. A set of loyal and vocal customers who can help humanise the brand in addition to boosting brand appeal &amp; trust, promoting its products &amp; services to new cohorts, providing invaluable user-generated content (UGC), word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media chatter. Community-led storytelling is more acceptable and authentic rather than a direct brand-led communication. Community advocacy will need to be consciously harnessed and not left to chance. 2022 will see many more brands structure a meaningful brand advocacy strategy. Ameer Ismail, President, <keyword id="10059988" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lintas-live" source="Orion">Lintas Live</keyword> My biggest takeaway from 2021 is that agency brands and professionals have learned to be resilient and this is based on the multitude of challenges everyone has faced. Smart PR agencies have managed to reinvent themselves with offerings that are built for new realities and collectively have made sure that the relevance of PR is as strong as ever. While a move to everything digital will continue and a lot has been spoken and written about that, I feel that ‘collaboration and consolidation’ will be one the most important trends in that will emerge in 2022. This will be fueled by a few factors, first, resources will be deployed judiciously and talent will continue to be in short supply, the churn agencies have been experiencing at mid and junior levels will continue in 2022. This will lead to a need for agencies to find collaborative ways to deliver on client briefs and they will tap the vast pool of independent talent and specialized agencies and we will see newer collaborative models emerge. Second, clients will be in a hurry to get solutions from agency partners that can get their brands back in the mindspace of consumers and other target audiences. They will want to deal with fewer, better established partners which will lead to a need for consolidation. Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, <keyword id="8878758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="genesis-bcw" source="Orion">Genesis BCW</keyword> If there is one word that will be at the centre of everything in 2022, it is ‘people’. With the world—India included—teetering between recovery and anxiety around ever-evolving COVID variants, people will need to be communicated with, engaged, assuaged, motivated, retained, developed, and more. These people include every stakeholder a company has—customers/consumers, employees, partners, the government, the community at large. And public relations is the only marketing discipline that touches all of them. Digital will continue to be the medium of choice, and within that, metaverse will be flavour of the year. While the Indian industry still has some distance to cover in that, there is curiosity about this next big thing. No matter what the medium though, the message will have to be aligned to the company’s purpose. And delivered creatively, with authenticity. Akshaara Lalwani, Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="3573568" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="communicate-india" source="Orion">Communicate India</keyword> Over the past decade, PR has been moving away from traditional business models towards a more holistic and integrated approach. Whether it is the shift from pure media relations to content or the migration from print to digital, there is a marked change in the way the PR landscape functions. In 2022, this trend will further solidify its presence. There will also be a blurring of demarcation lines between PR, marketing and advertising, digital and offline, eventually leading to PR &amp; Communication professionals to further value the importance of integrated communications. Agility and the ability to pivot will thus be key attributes that will enable the industry to thrive. Also, since the protracted fight against the pandemic still continues, companies and organisations need to prioritise responsible communication over all else. We live in a world where the spread of disinformation and misinformation is not uncommon, hence, agencies need to be able to work in tandem with their clients to help them steer a middle course between capitalistic desires and ethical communication. Mayank Sen, Co-founder, Moe's Art For the longest time, ‘content’ has been the flavour of the season. At first, it began as an accessory, gradually ruling as a king on a kingdom. In 2020, content and its marketing became an undeniable powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. The evergreen axiom of marketing – ‘delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time’ – took a redefined meaning. And for the times to come, the fundamental aspect of the content ecosystem will be founded on a framework of a performance driven-model, driven by contextual marketing. Within the emerging framework, data and technology will take a strong precedence. The industry will focus on delivering optimal consumer experience while capitalising on the opportunities in hand. Attention will be paid to provide more personalised and relevant content. Measuring the performance will make sure that the experience is scalable. It will present a continuous assessment of how the content is performing, and from that perspective, make decisions on what to do with the content in the future. Measuring success, building a cohesive brand story, and fostering a transparent, interactive consumer loyalty will be the ‘WIN-WIN’ strategy for the year to come! Asif Upadhye, Director and The Dark Knight at <a href="http://www.sprd.co.in/">SPRD</a> If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything, it’s that moving forward at a snail’s pace is undoubtedly the quickest way to get left behind. While pre-pandemic, the public relations and communications industry was already making significant strides in technology by analyzing data to craft a better customer experience, the pace of digital adoption and the advent of a digital-first PR approach have been accelerated. From my own experience, a key ingredient across PR strategies, content marketing, corporate communications, and media coverage that will rule the PR roost in 2022 is the crucial need to customize bespoke services and products, every step of the way. From unified communications (UC) that are employee-centric to personalizing media pitches, customization sits at the heart of nearly every PR and communications trend. Customers are growing tired of the ‘media universe’ and now look for frameworks based on behavioral and business insights that truly put their needs front and center. Eventually, this is what will separate the mediocre brands from the greats. Case in point, the State of PR 2021 report points to the fact that flexibility, agility and attention to detail when it comes to personalizing something as simple as a pitch email is 96% more likely to grab a journalist’s eyeballs, rather than sending out a generic email blast. While consumer habits and employee working patterns that have been developed over the past year and a half are likely to continue well into 2022, hyper-personalization will bear fruit and result in more contextualized communication and inevitably greater conversions.” <keyword id="10618036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan" source="Orion">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Managing Partner, <keyword id="12776690" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nucleus-pr" source="Orion">Nucleus PR</keyword> There are three very distinct trends that we will see in the coming year: <ul><li>While the models of working and mediums will undergo a change, what will remain strong is the need for strong storytelling. What will change however is the degree of authenticity in storytelling. It will take a hard turn towards stark reality …almost raw. Consumers want to know why the brand matters, why they should care about it and what is the brand impact? How are you adding value to the life of the consumer? Authentic storytelling will win over aesthetics.</li><li>The role of the founding or leadership team will become even more crucial. One cannot hide behind a faceless brand persona or logo anymore. You will have to put yourself out there to create a strong, credible and believable story about your brand that brings out its authenticity. This also brings in a lot more accountability that brands will have to guard their reputation on. Consumers want to pick up brands that walk the talk. You cannot be a CEO that promotes mental health and fire your agency on twitter. You cannot be talking about environmental sustainability and create a toxic work culture for humans. It just won’t fly anymore.</li><li>Community Building will take Center Stage. We saw a strong glimpse of this across 2020 and 2021. This will gain more ground in the coming year where communities around a brand vision will be created and drive conversation around a challenge.</li></ul>Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications 2021 saw high demand in PR, especially in the area of influencer marketing. Brands, big and small, capitalised on this rising trend in the first half of the year. But, once the ASCI guidelines came into place from June 2021, there was a downward slip observed in the engagement. Instagram algorithms underwent a great uphaul as influencers had to win against AI algorithms. This phase again got brands and companies to focus on creating news and building brand recall. While demand has been high for PR, there have been some apprehensions also noticed when it comes to being out in the open/media. The second half of this year, saw print media come back, as newspaper circulation started, and people started reading it like before. This behavioural change instigated a need to be present in Print media, via editorial articles, and this will be the biggest trend in 2022. The need to present in Print media. Print media has always been a factor in bringing in trust and authenticity and clients do require to build that kind of strong trust within their stakeholders to continue businesses in a post-pandemic phase.

Trends that will dominate the PR industry in 2022

<ul><li>PR for <keyword id="89160" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="political-parties">political parties</keyword> is different from that of a government body.</li><li>Our guest author, <keyword id="10618036" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Founder - <keyword id="10736859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PRPOI">PRPOI</keyword>, picks five poignant points that can come in handy while working for a political party. </li></ul><keyword id="10764595" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="political-pr">Political PR</keyword> is not a field that we are new to, but it is only in the last couple of years that this vertical has gotten the recognition it deserves and has been elevated into the core group. However, while this seems like a recent phenomenon in India, it has been making mainstream news in other parts of the world. Though it is an exciting time to be in Political PR in India, never have so many common people been a part of the conversation and actively voiced their views instead of being dispassionate observers. Does this mean there is more opportunity or the possibility of a bigger crisis? In 1967 Hannah Arendt (Author: Truth and Politics) wrote that nobody ever doubted that truth and politics were in pretty poor relations. However, politics and political communication has gone through a sea change in the last decade. The new changes – good or bad, could be attributed to contemporary PR practitioners to some extent. Advaita Kala, Political Columnist (India) , David Ball, Principal, Ball Consulting Group LLC (USA)and Li-or Avon Deputy CEO &amp; Strategic Communications Consultant, Together – Strategy ( Israel ) joined us on the PRPOI panel to take a deep dive into this intriguing vertical of PR and understand how much has the modern PR professional contributed towards this new era of political communication. We pick five poignant points from the conversation with Co-Founder Sonali Sokhal, to create a cheat sheet (oops … reference sheet) for you: Political Media: Every media house has a bias as do journalists. Ideally, news reporting should be devoid of personal beliefs. However, we live in very polarised times dominated by eyeballs, click baits and hits. Journalists / anchors have now become celebrities themselves. When this transition happened in India in the last decade, they became far more opinionated, made their political positions very clear, and they took a side. That has fuelled more bias. Most media houses now prefer to choose a side. Either they are pro-government or rest their loyalties with the opposition. However, most strive to have a more balanced view via a few programs that tie in supporters from both sides. All panellists agreed that even if a media house /journalist/ program chooses to be neutral they will be labelled one way or the other. The overall tonality of a media house is now defined by their biggest celebrities. Media and Political Communication: There is a definite trust deficit in the minds of the viewer. It is a tough time for media. They are now choosing to seek a media outlet that confirms their world views. This is what is called as confirmation bias. This runs the risk of further polarising the nation and moves away from the conversation we need to have. The moment it presents opposing news, it is labelled as fake news. Democratisation in the segment has come from social media which is a tough battle with trolling being taken to an art form. Social media is now being channelled to drive the 24X7 news cycle which might or might not be true. This added with a blatant showcase of political bias and lowering tolerance levels, has given opposing parties a reason to target media houses. Credibility has been a huge casualty in the current age of fast-paced news. Our experts opine that there will be a moment of truth on the horizon for all media if they want to retain their viewers and build trust and credibility. For PR professionals it is now a question of creating a media strategy with mediums that they need to decide will do more harm or good to the client. PR should ideally follow the credibility trail to ensure it rubs off on the client they handle. Political PR: PR for political parties is different from that of a government body. The first is pro-active and aggressive while the latter has a majorly reactive approach with defensive tonality merged with a tiny bit of proactive PR. Political PR tries to seize the news cycle to benefit a client. A lot of effort in Political PR goes in pre-event preparation – briefing the candidate, doing background checks, and anticipating questions. Once the candidate goes on record about a particular issue, it is difficult to pull it back (rather it is unflattering). In the age of digital media, a comment once made stays forever…and sometimes gets meme-d. There is always a debate in this vertical on what are the best practices and how good/ bad the vertical is. But all panelists agree that it depends solely on the integrity of the individual and company that the person represents. In Israel, relationships with media in political PR are much tighter and one can express an opinion without being quoted. While in India, most PR agencies are still finding their way on the vertical and gaining maturity that could develop strong relationships on both ends in the future. In US the new administration’s press team is setting new benchmarks for PR professionals by creating a mutual society of trust and respect. Best practices for PR professionals in Political PR: <ul><li>Communication skills: Writing and speaking succinctly will work in your favour. </li><li>Consume News: Read, watch and listen as much as you can. Being a news junkie will benefit you. </li><li>Don’t react quickly: Understand the question and its impact before you shoot out an answer. Be guarded at all times. It always pays to err on the side of caution. </li><li>Don’t let your candidate leave without a briefing on the journalist or media house no matter how experienced they are. </li><li>Be tougher than the situation at hand because you will always be in fight mode. </li><li>Read about the journalist and the kind of stories s/he does before pitching. (pretty please) </li><li>Measurement will continue to be a challenge even in this vertical, but the ultimate effectiveness of your job can be judged based on how your client is perceived. Their popularity is directly related to the excellence of your job.</li></ul>The above is by special arrangement via a collaboration with PRPOI Watch the video here for case studies and more: <div type="Youtube" id="uf_as2SMvkM" title="Ep 36 : Political PR" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uf_as2SMvkM/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

Here is what you need to know about Political PR

<ul><li><keyword id="10618036" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Founder - <keyword id="10736859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PRPOI">PRPOI</keyword> answers an important question that every PR professional often ponders upon: how to build a strong global network. </li><li>Being a part of a global network catapults your career growth into a higher orbit. Rattan shares a few tips for you to help you find your way in a global network. </li></ul>‘Hmmm… that sounds like a lot of work?’ ‘Why do I need a global network?’ ‘What is in it for me?’ ‘That must be really expensive!’ The moment you talk about joining a global network is when these questions will start running across your mind. You will wonder about the ROI of joining a network. Lynnette Werning, President – PR Boutiques International, Kavita Lakhani - National President – WICCI PR &amp; Digital Marketing Council and Bianca Ghose , Co-Chair - Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors' India Chapter joined us on the PRPOI panel to address these questions. Being a part of a global network catapults your career growth into a higher orbit. However, it is essential that you choose a network that aligns with your core beliefs and career stage. Our panel delved into global trends within the <keyword id="7783041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PR-Industry">PR industry</keyword> and how PR professionals can leverage global networks to evolve in their careers and find their niche. We pick out the five must-knows from the session for you. Why should you join a network? Network-ing with different minds from different genres and geographies will give you a new perspective about your own profession. The knowledge that you swap with them will give you a more holistic and global understanding of how media and communication is perceived and works in various parts of the world. The learning opportunities are immense. Leadership and learning go hand in hand. Cross country and cross vertical learning sessions or speakers will only add to your knowledge base. Career guidance will be on a global level. The experts who are a part of your network will give you unbiased and unfiltered guidance and feedback. They have nothing to gain or loose from your growth or stagnation. You can choose to have a global mentor and have an edge over the competition bringing you new opportunities in a smart way. Mentoring is a huge advantage with a global network. With seniors in the network, consider picking out a mentor who will help you grow in your own career, guide you towards skills you need and open doors for you when they can. It is also the fastest way you can rise in your field. Most essentially, if you have been in the industry for more than a decade this is one of the best ways to give back to the industry that made you who you are. How do you select a network to join? Do your research. Find what you are passionate about or aim to achieve from these networks. Select a network that resonates with your objectives. When that happens, it will not sound overwhelming. Because once you join you must make time for it. Don’t be that person who joins and then ghosts on people. You will be wasting your time, money and a seat that could have gone to a more deserving candidate. If you join a network make use of it through and through. Is it costly? Some networks come at a paid membership while others are free. Whatever the monetary cost you also need to consider your time cost. Weigh the options and the possibility of how you accelerate growth in your career if you were not a part of this network. What is my ROI ? While we all love ROI ! Do not look at calculating any sort of ROI for the first five years. Give, give and give some more. When you do set about calculating this aspect first define what is ROI for you from the network. This should align with your objectives based on which you choose to associate with the network. If that objective is met, then continue to give some more. If it doesn’t then you will atleast gain an insight what you don’t want and crystalise your objective further. This is the time you look at researching and identifying the one that meets your new objective. When should you join? Today. Right Away. Now. There are networks that are available to you at all levels. You don’t need to join the workforce to be a part of one. Start as a student. When you enter the industry you can add another one that caters to you as a fresher. As you move up more networks will open for you at the middle and top management level. You can keep adding to it and move up the ranks as a mentor. So join one now ! The above is by special arrangement via a collaboration with PRPOI Watch the video here: <div type="Youtube" id="t2XeZ6W5h5s" title="Ep 35: Building A Global Network in PR" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t2XeZ6W5h5s/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

Building a global network in PR

<ul><li><keyword id="10618036" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Founder, PRPOI decoded <keyword id="10618039" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="owned-media">Owned Media</keyword> with Nivedeeta Moirangthem, Communication Operations Manager, IKEA India; Paul Furiga, PRBI member, President &amp; Chief Storyteller, WordWrite PR, Pittsburg USA and Mohit Balachandran, Restaurateur &amp; Food Connoisseur on the 33rd PRPOI panel discussion. </li><li>Rattan pens down the top eight things you need to know about Owned Media.</li></ul>2020 has been a good year for the <keyword id="7783041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PR-Industry">PR industry</keyword> in India. However, 2021 brings with it, its own set of challenges. While brands turn to PR for counsel strengthening their position, the PR industry seems to be losing out on its core strength: Earned conversations in <keyword id="10618038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="editorial-media">editorial media</keyword>. Editorial placements are getting tougher by the day which is pushing a good chunk of the PR industry to start reconsidering its approach towards brand building and reputation management. One of the key buzzwords that have been floated around ‘Owned Media’. It has been whispered about on the outskirts of the Indian PR realm but is slowly finding its way into the mainstream conversation. Though the question to be answered is if the Indian PR industry is ready to embrace the last pillar of the PESO (Paid Earned Social and Owned) model. We decoded Owned Media with Nivedeeta Moirangthem, Communication Operations Manager, IKEA India; Paul Furiga, PRBI member, President &amp; Chief Storyteller, WordWrite PR, Pittsburg USA and Mohit Balachandran, Restaurateur &amp; Food Connoisseur on the 33rd PRPOI panel discussion on the subject to get you started. Our industry PR Boutiques International added their global insight to the conversation. Here are the top eight things you need to know about Owned Media: What is Owned media? Any platform that is owned by a company and communicates directly with the target audience is called owned media. These can come in the form of blogs, annual reports, brand journalism, research papers, webinars, podcasts, newsletter, Youtube channel, lookbooks etc. The ‘company’ can either be a brand or an agency. Where is it globally? And where are we in India? Globally it has already caught on and a lot of brands have tasked their PR agencies and corporate communication teams with leading owned media. Infact, PR agencies like Wordwrite PR have invested in a platform like Pittsburg 100 that create engaging content for brands. Brands like IKEA, General Motors, Coca Cola have pioneered this on a global platform with different owned media that is enviable. Closer home, the hospitality and fashion industry has taken the lead on owned media. Brands like Myntra, Nykaa, EazyDiner have done a great job in creating owned properties. PR agencies like Nucleus PR has launched its own independent podcast series – All About PR, that showcases interesting conversations from the world of communication that will be a platform they own. It is still in a very nascent stage in India. So, if you get with the program now, you will have the first movers’ advantage. Does it compete with editorial media? Yes and no. Yes, it competes on engaging storytelling front. However, it does not compete in the kind of stories that a brand wants to tell as these stories are usually more customer centric and bridge the gaps between paid and earned media conversations. It helps them create locally relevant original content with a more controlled narrative. Smart PR teams leverage owned media as an opportunity to make varied subtle digital pitches. What about authentic storytelling? Between and owned media, storytelling does not lose its charm. Stories must be authentic and connect with the audience on owned media as well. The volume does not matter. The quality matters. Content must be genuine and relevant on any platforms (digital or traditional). Are we confusing the consumer? No. If you do not try and disguise it as third-party credibility or editorial media then it is fine. Mention and be clear that this is owned media upfront. Authenticity is key. The moment you try and pretend it is not owned media you will lose the trust of your customers. As PR professionals you need to advise your clients/brands to stay the course. What are the skillsets you need to get started? Be good at communication and see the big picture. Have a nose for news, be curious, be teachable, have good writing skills and a keen eye on the fast-changing mediums of communication with the core target audience. Don’t get hung up on the tools and platforms. Focus on the stories that matter to your audience. Create trust and credibility with authentic stories and empathy. If you can do that then that is the only skillset you need. Why should PR professionals handle it? PR professionals are basically trained to create engaging and captivating stories that are authentic. Adept at having a two-way conversation, persuasive (read media pitching) and keeping the audience engaged, are key PR qualities that make a strong case for PR to handle owned media. When do you start? Today. Now. ASAP. The above is by special arrangement via a collaboration with PRPOI Watch the video here: <div type="Youtube" id="3eTuXSC_ijk" title="Ep 33 : Owned Media : The New PR Buzzword" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3eTuXSC_ijk/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

Owned Media: What you need to know

<ul><li>From talking about shadowbanning to calling out Twitter for its 'manipulative' algorithm, Tesla CEO <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword> has revealed quite a few loopholes in Twitter's algorithm.</li><li>If <keyword id="364027" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="musk" source="Orion">Musk</keyword> backs out now, the social media platform Twitter will never be the same.</li><li>With Musk putting the spotlight on Twitter’s weaknesses, users are also questioning its credibility as a platform.</li><li>So, if Musk abandons, the platform will have to focus more on damage control, and improve its algorithm.</li><li>Here’s what brand and public communication experts have to say about it.</li></ul>Weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-to-buy-twitter-for-44-billion/articleshow/91083311.cms">announced </a>publicly that he is planning to buy the micro-blogging platform Twitter, there are signs that he might be hesitating now. On Tuesday, Musk tweeted that his proposed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-deal-could-crumble-tesla-stock-420-2022-5?r=US&amp;IR=T">$44 billion buyout</a> is on hold now. He is waiting for Twitter to provide more information on the number of spam accounts that exist on the platform. Should the platform fail to provide proof it has fewer than 5% fake accounts, the deal might fall through. "My offer was based on Twitter's SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings being accurate," Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1526465624326782976">tweeted</a>. He added that the number of fake/<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/more-than-70-of-elon-musks-twitter-followers-are-spam-or-fake-accounts-research-groups-say/articleshow/91633318.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">spam </a>accounts on Twitter could be more than 20%. Musk <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2022-05-16/elon-musk-hints-at-negotiating-down-price-on-twitter-purchase">hinting </a>at negotiating a lower price is another sign that he may be getting cold feet. The billionaire had offered $54.20 a share but the stock was trading at around $37 on <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/16/longtime-elon-musk-backer-says-twitter-deal-will-close-at-lower-price/">May 16, 2022</a>. Musk didn’t just call out Twitter for underreporting its spam accounts. Since he announced his intentions to buy Twitter, Musk seems to be taking an aim at the platform’s algorithm and has revealed quite a few loopholes in Twitter's overall modus operandi. Musk indicated the default Twitter feed, which shows tweets based on popularity and users’ interests, needed to be replaced and is ‘manipulative.’ "You are being manipulated by the algorithm in ways you don't realise," Musk tweeted. He later <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1525738556102164480?s=20&amp;t=SP0BSSwCfQeu4qi5dyX-Ng">clarified </a>that he wasn’t suggesting malice in the algorithm but it ‘inadvertently manipulates/amplifies your viewpoints’ without informing the user. Shortly later, he warned the users of "potential bugs" in Twitter’s code. In the past, Musk has also casually joked about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/social-media-platforms-deny-but-content-creators-and-tracking-websites-confirm-that-shadowbanning-or-silent-censorship-is-real/articleshow/91589975.cms">shadowbanning</a>, which is the secret censorship of a person, community or a topic on social media, confirming that it is real. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="If Musk abandons, here’s what it’d mean for Twitter and how it can win its credibility back" text="If Musk abandons, here’s what it’d mean for Twitter and how it can win its credibility back">If Musk abandons, here’s what it’d mean for Twitter and how it can win its credibility back</cmsannotation> If Musk backs out now, after bringing several issues at Twitter to the limelight, the micro-blogging platform will never be the same. “His pointing to fake users and bots, will force Twitter to clean up its user base, that may be a setback in the short term but will make the platform far more credible over time,” says Lloyd Mathias, business strategist and independent director. Mathias added that Twitter might benefit from his exit after all. “If he does back out, it may seem like a setback, but I think Twitter could benefit from him opening up the possibility of a series of new monetizing opportunities and enable its move from being purely advertising dependent. There is little doubt that he has changed how people and investors see Twitter, before his current engagement.” Independent communications consultant and social media expert Karthik Srinivasan says, “Twitter had its share of issues and controversies long before Musk brought them to the limelight through the proposed acquisition. Facebook has seen a lot more such controversies and yet, they are chugging along fine.” From breaching users’ privacy concerns to manipulating election results, all social media platforms have had their credibility questioned. However, after Musk and Parag Agarwal’s public feud, there has been a constant reminder of these shortcomings. “The moment any social media platform becomes all too powerful and has the ability to influence global politics, sway election outcomes, distort public opinion, misrepresent facts and tamper with news feeds, there are immediate concerns about credibility and their role in society. These concerns have always been there in the background and have once again resurfaced, only this time, they are a lot more stronger and corporates cannot suppress or subvert the narrative,” says founder and CEO of communications and PR agency Communicate India, Akshaara Lalwani. If the deal falls through, Twitter will have to pick up the pieces and change the narrative — shift the spotlight from its weaknesses to strengths. Suggesting the best way out of this potential crisis, Tarunjeet Rattan, managing partner of public relations and communications agency Nucleus PR, says, “Crisis management is often not about the crisis itself but how you react to it and the narrative you can replace it with. Every crisis is an opportunity for you to take center stage. The spotlight is on you. Now, what you say in that spotlight can change the whole narrative. Apart from all the statements and clarifications they issue which should adopt a non-emotional matter-of-fact tone, Twitter can use its own platform to repair any cracks in its reputation.” Should the billionaire back out, Twitter can use the opportunity to address and set some fundamentals right, says Mathias, and also examine some of the monetisation opportunities that Musk has hinted at. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Can Elon Musk back out now?" text="Can Elon Musk back out now?">Can Elon Musk back out now?</cmsannotation> Well, not easily, as both parties have signed an agreement that gives Twitter more power. It gives the platform the right to sue Musk to follow through with the deal, a legal clause known as “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-says-its-committed-to-enforcing-elon-musks-44-billion-buyout-deal-even-as-he-appears-to-hesitate/articleshow/91632012.cms">specific performance.</a>” If either party backs out, they would have to pay $1 billion as a termination fee. Paying $1 billion for a man who has agreed to pay $44 billion to buy Twitter and whose net worth is $230 billion, may not be a big deal. However, it won’t be as simple as paying his way out of it. Twitter is committed to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-says-its-committed-to-enforcing-elon-musks-44-billion-buyout-deal-even-as-he-appears-to-hesitate/articleshow/91632012.cms">enforcing </a>Musk’s $44 billion buyout and is seemingly willing to sue for specific performance. Through a lawsuit, Twitter can get Musk to close the deal if there's already financing in place and all conditions are met. If Musk still walks out by settling the lawsuit and paying the termination fees, the microblogging platform will have nothing to worry about -- as far as its brand image and users’ trust is concerned. Srinivasan says, “I'd think that if Musk backs off, it’d be perhaps a great moment for Twitter to start thinking afresh, in terms of reconstituting its board and look at ways to do things differently.”

What would happen to Twitter if Elon Musk backs out now?

<ul><li><keyword id="6398864" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mondelez">Mondelez</keyword> India found itself in a soup on Sunday after a few screenshots surfaced on Twitter suggesting that its Cadbury Dairy Milk may contain gelatine derived from beef.</li><li>Cadbury was quick to respond to its row over beef in chocolates clarifying that the screenshots circulated on social media were of the company’s international products and all its Indian products are vegetarian.</li><li>We speak to brand and PR experts to discuss Cadbury’s crisis management strategy and what else should the brand do to win back consumer trust.</li></ul>After screenshots suggesting that Mondelez's Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates may contain gelatine derived from beef surfaced on social media platforms in India on Sunday, Mondelez India took to Twitter to clarify that its products in India are all vegetarian. It said that the screenshots circulated were of the company’s products sold overseas. Trolls were quick to call for a boycott on all Mondelez products but some users even pointed out that the screenshot being shared is that of Cadbury Australia’s website. <div type="twitter" handle="DairyMilkIn" handlename="Cadbury Dairy Milk" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1327255370444668928/1NjkNhJE_normal.jpg" favoritecount="868" retweetcount="230" status="https://t.co/798qgPozsF" createdat="1626616484000" id="1416758336909840387"></div> After issuing a public statement to soften the uproar, Mondelez decided to respond to all tweets with its official statement mentioning that the green dot on its wrapper signifies that it is 100% vegetarian. However, instead of engaging with the internet users one-on-one and addressing their queries, Cadbury decided to use its templatized statement everywhere. Sharing the best ways to tackle such crisis, particularly when the brand may not be at fault, or ‘has a plausible and believable counter-point to quell the crux of the crisis,’ Social Media Expert and Independent Communications Consultant, Karthik Srinivasan said, “Do not use stock statements and plaster it as a reply to anyone and everyone. Prioritise a few top voices who are causing maximum damage and engage with them contextually and in the form of a conversation on the medium they are active in. This requires good social media monitoring tools (to ascertain who are the top voices causing or worthy of causing most damage) and a cross-functional team consisting of PR and communications (agency and client-side) and Legal. Most importantly, this group needs to be empowered to take decisions in real-time in terms of the brand holding a conversation with its detractors online.” Dilip Cherian, Consulting Partner, Perfect Relations advised looking through the company’s Owned Media first. He said, "Responding a little late, triggers a little panic but eventually, all seems to have been well. It could also be useful for Cadburys to recognize that going forward having more details of its India-specific process and the safety factor need to be built into it. India market product specs could be emphasized on its Owned Media. This is something that we at Perfect Relations have been advocating quite strongly in recent times. With the rise of fake news and it's tremors, the most obvious place for customers or trigger happy influencers all look through the company’s Owned Media. Cadburys need to check even now whether it's India site is strong enough to tackle it's possible problems. To my mind, that's where we should start.” Many brands have become a victim of boycott culture on social media lately and a lot of them bow down and maintain a low profile to cushion the blow. Cadbury decided to address the concerns and face the situation head-on. Gone are the days where a brand could hope for this to die a natural death and wait for consumers to move on. A small trend can snowball, and a little ignorance can lead to a huge amount of audience permanently boycotting a brand. At the same time, logic dictates that brands should not get involved in arguments or low blows since it tends to feed the trolls. Suggesting the best way out of this, Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR said, “A measured response is the best route. However, the mark of the measure can only be decided by the brand based on their consumer profile and industry segment.” She said that when a brand finds itself in a PR crisis such as Cadbury, it should go all out on social media. Sharing how Cadbury can further fix the damage caused, Rattan added, “Add Linkedin to the mix so that they can get Corporate Inc behind them. Engage with editorial media to help them share their side of the story with an interesting bite or two sprinkled with nuts and nuggets (no pun intended). Create a statement that goes up on their website and social media pages along with a newsletter sent out to all internal and external stakeholders. Reach out to fact-checking websites/handles and ask them to do their own checks and put it out. Add a dose of sweet humour (in true Cadbury style) by engaging reel influencers and use it as an opportunity to turn this into positive PR for them.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="You snooze, you lose" text="You snooze, you lose">You snooze, you lose</cmsannotation> Cherian said that a company should get back to its trolls on Twitter in less than an hour. "Companies, in today's hyper-connected world, can get trolled cancelled or boycotted swiftly, for all the right reasons. But what really constitutes a crisis, and one that strikes from the outfield is when it's totally based on wrong reasons. Cadburys has fallen victim to a classic case of this with the wildcard allegation that its chocolates manufactured in India had beef components in them. There is an element of mischief here but by those trying to create a sensation to ride out with. Speed is the most important ingredient in managing a crisis of this kind given that these issues have been dealt with multiple times before. So, there is no reason why there should be anything even close to an hour's delay in getting back on mischievous tweets that sought to cause commercial and customer confusion. The fact that the company chose to clarify directly to the person pushing the offending tweet is good. But at Perfect Relations, we'd have opted for a quicker but generic tweet. That I believe would have been even better. And the time factor needs to be taken into account. We now live in a 24x7 world and crisis can erupt anywhere at any time. There is no time to pause to ponder and prevaricate. Pushing out the right message very quickly is essential. In my view, Cadburys did manage to stem rubbish from expanding. But some hits were hurting," said Cherian. Srinivasan also said that if a crisis begins and perpetuates on social media, the conversations on Twitter need to be quick and in real-time. “Delays in reacting to specific questions could make it seem like the brand has something to hide. A brand handle on social media is just that - a brand handle, without a human voice. So when trying to add a factual counterpoint, it would be better to name a credible, verifiable (LinkedIn'able!) individual as the person behind the counter-point.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Personalisation" text="Personalisation">Personalisation</cmsannotation> When Fortune Oil got caught in a crisis earlier this year, after its brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly suffered a mild heart attack, it immediately released a statement asserting that it would continue to work with Ganguly. After a few days, it launched a personalised print ad penned by its ambassador Ganguly to clarify that there are multiple reasons that can affect one’s heart's health. In Cadbury’s case, it is just a note from brand’s official Twitter page and Srinivasan pointed out that ‘when sharing a factual response as a stock statement, who says it matters. For instance, if the response being used by Cadbury now was attributed to the India CEO, that would carry more weight.’ Due to the vastness of information available on social media, a lot of such crises come and go. Add to it people's perpetually decreasing attention spans. However, a Google search can still bring up stories around such controversies with just one search which could result in people changing their minds about a particular product. So, durable brands, FMCG or luxury brands need to be extra careful while handling a ‘small’ PR crisis. Srinivasan added, “It is important to put forward the brand's counterpoint impactfully so that future readers see both sides of the controversy and are able to make up their mind unambiguously.” He is sure that Mondelez will pull a ‘Maggi’<a href="https://twitter.com/beastoftraal/status/1416989779460190208"> and hire a big celebrity </a>to cover the damage and communicate how safe their products are. For its future communication, Rattan advised, “On a consistent basis, it should keep talking about safety and hygiene. Cadbury is not new to this and has faced a crisis before. But they stopped talking about hygiene in their overall campaigns once the immediate threat was overcome. Brand conversations that touch upon safety and hygiene must be a standard and not a crisis response, especially for a brand consumed by all ages including children. Keep hammering it and then some.”

Cadbury row over beef: Was Mondelez’s crisis management strategy convincing enough to win back its consumers' trust?

<ul><li>The year 2020 has been an unprecedented one, but it's been a great teacher. </li><li>And as we inch closer to 2021, we at Ad and Media Insider, want to enter it with a few learnings from 2020 that will help us navigate 2021 better.</li><li>In our latest series, we look at different industries to understand what was 2020 like for them and to crystal gaze into the upcoming year, and identify some of the trends that will set the tone for 2021. </li><li>In our first story, we discuss how Public Relation firms are helping Indian companies navigate the coronavirus pandemic and some of the trends that would take the centre stage in 2021. </li></ul>2020 is coming to a close and what a year it has been! It’s been a year full of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, good and bad PR stunts. As brands stepped back from overt selling and their communication focused on making consumers feel more comfortable with the changing environment due to COVID-19, they finally started understanding the importance of Public Relations. The industry has finally taken on newfound importance and is in a position to spearhead brand creativity rather than being consigned a supporting role. During the COVID-induced lockdown, CEOs of all companies were scrambling as they tried to manage internal damages and address their stakeholders’ concerns. However, 2020 has given brands an opportunity to prove that they are doing good by their employees and society. Marketing campaigns had to be done with genuine sincerity, compassion and humanity but treading that line between genuine and opportunistic has been a difficult task and many brands turned to their Public Relations firms to navigate the challenges. Throughout 2020, the headlines were dominated with COVID-19 coverage and the media industry was hungry for positive stories. Brands that managed to offer a light-hearted story that felt genuine, were recognised in the industry and won their consumer trust by being in the news, which is where public relations came into play. At a time when how companies treat their employees could affect their ability to attract and retain stakeholders and a slightest miscommunication could damage their public image for years, PR will play a key role in 2021. So, while 2020 was PR’s year to shine and 2021, as experts predict, will be when PR flourishes. We reached out to experts to understand what kind of role will PR play in 2021. Here is what they said: <keyword id="2606" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dilip-Cherian">Dilip Cherian</keyword>, Consulting Partner and Founder, Perfect Relations: <div type="image" title="Dilip-Cherian1" msid="79956585" hostid="261"></div> Among the many big changes expected in the world of Corporates in the coming year, is the new recognition of the power of dynamic messaging. This is a complex business but simply put, it's the ability to listen and respond on multiple platforms simultaneously. Static messaging will gradually wither away and more dynamic messaging will instead dominate. Voice may be the new surprise entrant. Modulated, translated and if needed enhanced, watch for how this changes, communication techniques this next year. <keyword id="644283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Archana-Jain">Archana Jain</keyword>, Managing Director, PR Pundit: <div type="image" title="Archana Jain - Horizontal" msid="79956641" hostid="261"></div> No one knows what a post-Covid-19 world might look like, but what companies, brands and institutions have done to support jobs, communities and societies in rebounding successfully, will be with us for quite some time. The time has come to make capitalism better. Companies, brands and institutions of all kinds must connect with their communities through truthful, authentic human acts. PR in 2021 will have to guide organisations to exhibit authenticity, help articulate and manifest the purpose of the organisations as an extension of their values, and then communicate this to both internal and external audiences. Purpose-driven customer playbook has to be adopted to demonstrate true purpose. Brands are going to be left behind if they don’t have purpose. Thus we have to broaden our definition of what makes the world better. We have to put a human face on campaigns that leverage cultural flashpoints to form an emotional connection with consumers. It is an opportunity for companies to take action that matters — to help solve real societal challenges." Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live, MullenLowe Lintas Group: <div type="image" title="Ameer Ismail" msid="79956668" hostid="261"></div> REIMAGINE AND COLLABORATE The PR agency ecosystem has been in need of a significant evolution for some time in order to keep up with rapidly changing realities. There has been a complete shift in the media landscape and the pandemic has further accelerated this change, especially the move to everything digital. More consumers are searching for information and sharing opinions online than ever before. Shifts we had imagined happening over a period of years have panned out over months! Even though the ecosystem has known about these big changes, this sudden shift in momentum has caught many in the PR agency off guard. All this has made the need for reimagining PR agency models even more critical. There have been so many attempts to get this right for PR firms but this year was the first time many management teams and leaders in the industry have had a chance to actually think this through and some have taken bold action. This is giving rise to innovations that weren’t even imagined before. We already are seeing such wonderful hybrid work models emerge as completely new opportunities for employees; this is just the beginning. The next big issue is the scramble of PR agencies to be everything, and to expand offering with allied competencies like creative, experiential and social media capabilities. Agencies can be good at what they do, not at everything they would like to do! Therefore, in my view, new collaborative models will emerge fueling a more consolidated agency ecosystem of partnerships that will be centered around client needs and consumer truths. <keyword id="3573569" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Akshaara-Lalwani">Akshaara Lalwani</keyword>, CEO &amp; Founder, Communicate India: <div type="image" title="Akshaara Lalwani, Founder, Communicate India pic 1" msid="79956676" hostid="261"></div> “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity,” said Albert Einstein and this year has taught us just that if nothing else. As the world went through rapid modifications, we identified the need to better understand the evolving milieu of clients and markets across sectors. Throughout history, the crisis has caused paradigm shifts and galvanized new innovations to suit the new order. In such situations, it is critical to have a young and proactive workforce that is agile, talented and willing to go the extra mile. With a strong understanding of traditional media one also needs to adapt to new age media and strategy to deal with the constantly changing competitor landscape. Market intelligence is imperative to build and sustain client relations especially in a world where one needs to navigate uncharted waters like social distancing and remote working. Tarunjeet Rattan- Managing Partner, Nucleus PR: <div type="image" title="Tarunjeet Pr" msid="79956683" hostid="261"></div> The PESO (Paid-Earned-Shared-Owned) model has been whispered about in the shadows for the last couple of years. With the current state of the media industry, this work and business model of working will come out of the fringes and take prominence. PR professionals will have to upskill and evolve with the model if they don’t want to finish familiar. Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications: <div type="image" title="Sonam Shah - horizontal" msid="79956698" hostid="261"></div> The year 2020 has surely seen an upward trend in the demand for PR services and clients too have started realizing the value of earned media and the long-term benefits of having a sustainable PR strategy in place. This demand is definitely going to continue in 2021 and one of the key trends I foresee is the importance of Focused PR. With the media landscape evolving drastically, and the consumption patterns of news changing rapidly, agencies will have to come up with a Focused PR approach to provide value of money to clients. Since ROI is not easily measured in Public Relations services, and budgets are stringent, following a Focused PR strategy will be a win-win for both sides. Having a Focused PR strategy implies two things: Concentrating on building thought-leadership and expertise in the respective field and/or concentrating on any campaign and getting media coverage around it. Transparency and clarity will be very important and PR agencies will have to come up with time-bound solutions, with a focus on long-term strategy.

Public Relation trends to look out for in 2021

<ul><li><keyword id="6359039" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sourav-ganguly">Sourav Ganguly</keyword>, BCCI President and Former India Cricket Captain, suffered a mild heart attack last month.</li><li>Netizens happened to re-discover his old ad endorsing Fortune's Cooking Oil, which then triggered a slew of tweets and jokes with people questioning the effectiveness of the oil and also wondering how the brand will tackle this crisis. </li><li>On Valentine’s day, the brand published an honest print ad clarifying that there are many factors that can affect our heart's health.</li><li>We speak to PR experts to find out if communication like this is enough to win audiences over. </li></ul>After BCCI President and Former India Cricket Captain Sourav Ganguly suffered a mild heart attack in January 2021, Adani Wilmar’s Fortune rice bran cooking oil, that is endorsed by Ganguly, got caught in the middle of the crisis. Twitterati had re-discovered Ganguly’s old ad with Fortune Oil that said it is ‘a healthy for heart oil’ and the irony was not lost on people. They were also quick to jump to the conclusion that Fortune oil is unhealthy and its old ad even started making rounds on WhatsApp. To soften the uproar coming in its way, Fortune Oil deleted the ad from its official website and social media handles. It had also immediately released a media statement asserting that it would continue to work with Ganguly. <div type="twitter" handle="arifaajakia" handlename="Arif Aajakia" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1335345211610963969/_YB6QF_R_normal.jpg" favoritecount="191" retweetcount="18" status="Dada, get well soon. We love you. You are a tiger, you will come back roaring. @SGanguly99 https://t.co/F5rkPAlmNE" createdat="1609734280000" id="1345949241093586946"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="aliusmani" handlename="AYU" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1335760850393526272/u2_LBHPy_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="0" status="@beastoftraal WhatsApp forwards are already making rounds 😀😀 https://t.co/ouMXMTxcwW" createdat="1609678780000" id="1345716459503161344"></div> Post that, netizens, including brand experts and consumers, had eyes on Fortune’s next move for it was going to take a lot of come out of this huge PR crisis and win its consumers’ trust back. As an FMCG brand that caters to a mass audience, how do you deal with this cloud of resentment coming your way on social media? Fortune Oil has given us a case study with its latest move. On Valentine’s Day, when the whole brandverse got mushy and there were hearts splashed across the newspaper ads, Adani Wilmar decided to have a heart-to-heart conversation with fans. It launched a personalised print ad penned by its ambassador Ganguly to clarify that there are multiple reasons that can affect one’s heart's health. <div type="twitter" handle="FortuneFoods" handlename="Fortune Foods" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1230878437541371904/69ad0EW2_normal.jpg" favoritecount="10" retweetcount="2" status="Dada made a healthy comeback, as he always does! Here's a 'heart' felt message from him on Valentine's Day. Let's h… https://t.co/Je2cGatoz8" createdat="1613277036000" id="1360808636755320837"></div> Titled, ‘Today seems like a good day to talk about the heart,’ the body copy read, "You don't expect a fairly young and fit person like me to have a heart-related ailment. But here's the thing, there are just too many factors that can affect our heart's health. One of them could be family history of heart ailments, as it was in my case." It further shared a few tips to keep one’s heart-healthy. In a personalised note, Ganguly openly talked about his heart condition and what consumers can learn from his episode. “Love your heart. Take good care of it,” he concluded. Fortune Oil appointed Ganguly as its brand face in 2020 to target mid-age people with its campaign ‘Welcome to the 40s,' which aimed to promote maintaining heart health and good lifestyle. The campaign backfired a year later and it was a blow hard to forget. However, when a brand faces a huge crisis related to their brand ambassadors such as this, the traditional PR advice is to maintain a low profile to cushion the blow. Adani Wilmar, on the other hand, decided to address the concerns and face the situation head-on. It also waited for the right amount of time to launch a piece of communication -- long enough to give its consumers some space to process the news and but not too long before it is a distant memory. And it seems to have won brand experts admiration. Albeit, will a brand ambassador coming to bat for a brand and talk about the health benefits it serves, be enough to regain its consumers' trust? Here is what experts had to say: Dilip Cherian, Founder and Partner, Perfect Relations: <div type="image" title="Dilip-Cherian1" msid="80928599" hostid="261"></div> There is no doubt that some response would have been expected from any consumer products company which is also substantially consumer-facing. So I guess, Fortune really didn’t have too much of a choice or perhaps was facing image pressures to explain its stance. This actually is one of the huge consequences of having an extremely popular and visible brand ambassador. The price you have to pay is often that, anything that happens to the ambassador actually happens to the company. So rather than entering a situation where a stent within the company would be necessary, I think that responding was smart. Opting for a print advertisement allowed the company to actually communicate at many levels. As we tell our clients today, owned media and paid media can be multiplied appropriately to reach the audiences you want in the ways you want. Taking a print advertisement was only one of the options. It could easily have been addressed far more cheaply and just as effectively by having this content put on the Fortune website. Would it have worked? The answer is yes, if properly promoted. Owned media can very often play the role that conventional media has played in recent times. This is one of the huge advantages that we have been able to get companies involved in understanding during the year of lockdown. Now that the advertisement is out, clever digital manipulation and propagation is the answer if that is done then the point will be well taken amongst many more stakeholders than just those who happened to read the print copy. The lessons a brand can learn from this are quite clear. There is no doubt that large consumer facing brands need to be conscious of who they choose as a brand ambassador and recognise that along with huge gains come the pains. The second lesson would be that responding is smarter than smarting in silence. Third lesson is that using your owned media would have been infinitely cheaper as a means of responding. Lesson four, clever use of social media and aggressive use of traditional media can very often multiply what you choose to put out on owned media. Archana Jain, Managing Director, PR pundit <div type="image" title="Archana Jain - Horizontal" msid="80932970" hostid="261"></div> There is no 'one size fits all' strategic response in a crisis; two identical scenarios can have different responses as they may be taking place at two different times, in two different domains, or with varied company cultures. A crisis always merits a response – as they say, 'Feed the shark before it feeds on you!" The key points to have got across swiftly would have been on how the company feels about the incident as its important to be humanly concerned, first, last and foremost. A lesson that brands can learn from this: When good health is the claim, it’s important to monitor the health of the brand ambassador just like insurance companies do each year of the insured. This was capture in the T of the HEART message in the advertisement Tarunjeet Rattan, Founder and Managing Partner, Nucleus and Co-founder of PRPOI <div type="image" title="Tarunjeet Pr" msid="80932780" hostid="261"></div> Absolutely, it was a good strategy. In fact, they should have done that when Sourav first got the attack. If I recall correctly a lot of personal branding experts at that point of time had recommended that Sourav drop the brand. On the other hand, they also urged the brand to take a stand and leverage this opportunity to educate everyone on the various causes of a heart attack. Fortune shied away from it at that point. To me, that was an opportunity lost. What if Sourav had not recovered. It would have ensured the loss of customer trust forever. Good that he did, and it gave the brand an opportunity to address it. It is great to see them take this up now and in such a sweet and toned down manner. In today's day and age, it does not work if you choose to lie low. Apart from it being a wasted opportunity to connect with your audience, the silence will backfire. Crisis needs to be addressed head-on with a smart strategy when the fires are the hottest. I do believe they've hit the sweet spot with a heartfelt message and on an appropriate day. Using a single medium is in line with their cautionary wait &amp; watch approach. Not too massive but at the same time reaching just about enough audiences. What I am sure they would have anticipated and counted on was that the same branding experts who pulled them up for not addressing the crisis earlier would be impressed enough or have an opinion either way to give them more space on their social media real estate. Lo and behold ! It worked out just as planned. Some lessons that brands can learn from this crisis and its management: Never ever waste a good crisis. Every crisis is an opportunity in disguise so use it. When you do choose to address it make sure you are aware of the circumstances around the crisis so that you can choose the right medium for the message. This awareness will help you use your budget wisely. Amplification is essential. Identify the people and channels who will be most apt for it before deciding on your response. Respond to a crisis with facts and a lot of empathy. A situation like this would have worked really well for the brand and earned it a lot of goodwill if it had stood by its brand ambassador on the day of the heart attack. Be human. Whether now or later …whether the individual is your brand ambassador or not…being human won’t hurt you. It will only earn you loyalty points and love. Don’t make outright claims that you cannot control. They will come back to haunt you. Temper all claims with a dose of reality. Akshaara Lalwani, Founder and CEO of Communicate India: <div type="image" title="Akshaara Lalwani, Founder, Communicate India pic 1" msid="80928629" hostid="261"></div> Firstly, we have to understand Mr. Sourav Ganguly’s case wasn’t an anomaly. Scores of athletes and sportspersons across the world have had heart attacks when in the prime of their careers and lives. So this really was an unexpected event in terms of public relations because Sourav Ganguly was always the right fit for the brand and he is a national treasure, but it was just unfortunate that this happened to him. Having said this, from a PR perspective, when something like this happens, conventional wisdom does suggest that a brand lie low, retract all their communication and pull out adverts, as was the case with Fortune. This is understandable because no brand would not want to alienate its customers or lose out on revenue. However, we have to understand that we’re part of a more evolved digital economy today and that a brand need not necessarily hide behind a crisis. Bringing the issue to the forefront and addressing it head-on, is the best suited strategy for a modern PR and communications landscape. Without being insensitive to a brand ambassador’s health situation, it is an opportune moment to reiterate messaging around heart health eating and the importance of eating well and living well. This is not to say that a brand should use someone's misfortune to push sales and marketing, but it is about communicating and engaging with customers in an honest manner, and telling them that the risk of heart attacks is real for everyone. In a crisis situation like this, there has to be an acute understanding of brand sentiment and a two-way-communication model has to be adopted. Customers and brands need to work together to identify messages because at the end of the day, customers understand risks of a product and it is the duty of any company to educate its customers about these risks. Making the customer your partner and working in a symbiotic relationship is the key. Therefore it isn’t advisable to have a knee-jerk reaction of retracting communication and adverts during an unprecedented situation like this. In fact, creating honest communication, addressing the situation directly, and working through issues is advisable. It’s all about responding to your customer and providing them with the most correct, accurate, and valuable information.

After Fortune Foods' recent PR crisis after Sourav Ganguly's heart attack, is the brand’s latest print campaign enough to win back its consumers' trust?

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After Fortune Foods' recent PR crisis after Sourav Ganguly's heart attack, is the brand’s latest print campaign enough to win back its consumers' trust?

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