A PR AGENCY

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF A PR AGENCY

On the basis of size PR agencies can be classified into:

ð Big Agencies

ð Medium sized Agencies

ð Small Agencies

In big agencies the scope for growth is large, whereas in small agencies responsibility may be very high but there is little scope for growth.

When the number of clients of a small agency increases it needs to hire new people, and gradually becomes a medium sized organization.

Grey Worldwide (India) Pvt. Ltd., has three branch offices situated at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

An Account Director maybe heading 2-3 supervisors depending on the number of total accounts GCI is handling.

MAJOR CLIENTS OF GCI

OM KOTAK MAHINDRA

RUF AND TUF

CRY

BRITANNIA

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROCESS

Establishing an public relations program on behalf of a business or industry, or a professional group, involves a series of steps that, although subject to some variation in differing situations, generally will include

Public relations activity has seven steps

1. Analysis of the situation

2. Definition of problem areas

3. Identification of pertinent publics

4. Establishment of specific objectives

5. Planning of program

6. Implementation of program

7. Periodic evaluations of progress

• ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION:

Analysis of the situation calls for broad study of all aspects of the business that affect the publics. The starting point will be the people in the business or industry (particularly those who are active in the company, such as board members, appropriate committee chairman and members, and so on) who appear to have awareness of the public relations situation. The public relations person will begin by interviewing such people; from them he or she will go to people outside the business but in a position to observe it more closely than the average layman (these may include editors of trade publications, officials of chambers of commerce and better business bureaus, government officials concerned with the regulations of the business or profession – if there are any – and others). Finally, this basic study may approach the general public for additional views. This may be done through an opinion or attitude research study, of market research, conducted by a recognized research firm. Sometimes, this may be done on a more informal basis where the budget will not permit formal research. Such an approach to the general public will be designed to provide a profile of the business as it appears in the public mind.

• DEFINITION OF PROBLEM AREAS:

This will follow naturally from the interviews and research activities. Comparisons among the views of the public, of people in the business, and of those who are close observers of the business may reveal some interesting parallels as well as differences and may indicate some cause and effect relationships. It should be noted, also, that ignorance and misconception will not always or necessarily be found in the public mind. Industry people more often then not will be found to have some misconceptions about the public’s viewpoint, too. In such an event, correction of industry thinking will be called for. Sound public relations may require changing the attitudes of the client (diplomatically, of course) as much as it involves endeavoring to change the attitudes of certain publics. As a matter of fact, although the public relations person is usually hired to change public attitudes, he or she sometimes performs the most important task in changing the attitude of his client or employer.

In today’s climate, the role of public relations practitioner is enlarging. He or she should be capable of observing and analyzing the social, economic, and political trends and helping his or her management or clients become aware of their significance to the institution they represent. Through such expanded awareness, the manager or clients come to view their business or institution in a new and different perspective.

• IDENTIFICATION OF PUBLICS:

A public is a group of people bound together by a specialized interest with reference to a focal point.

Example: Employees in the steel mill may constitute one of the publics of a steel industry association’s public relations effort; dairy farmers may be a special public of the association representing the milk processing industry; automobile dealers a special public of the association representing automobile manufacturers, and so on.

Customers of a particular business always are a primary public; for a professional society, the individual members will also be one. Indeed, the association’s members should not be overlooked in any public relations effort; their understanding and support are necessary.

• ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES:

Once the problem areas are defined, long range objectives should be established. Usually, these will be outlines in terms of the respective publics involved. General objectives should be drawn with perspective in order to serve as guides over the long range. If they are drawn only in respect to immediate, short term problems, they will not serve to provide continuity of direction and they will need constant revision.

It would be unwise to draw an overall objective in reference to a specific piece of current legislation that is to be opposed or supported, for once the legislature has adjourned, the objective is meaningless. Instead, a long range objective might describe in general terms the nature of legislation that an industry favours, viz:

— “ To support, in the respective states, legislative efforts that will enable our business to serve the public on a competitive basis in accord with the traditions of a free market economy, and to oppose legislation that would deny this opportunity.”

Any association public relations program must be flexible; obviously it should be modified as time and circumstances require. But if it is drawn with sufficient perspective, changing day-to-day and month-to- month problems will be found to fit within the framework of its general objectives. And, of course, short-range objectives will be developed from time to time. In addition, if sound communications networks have been developed to obtain long-range objectives, these networks will facilitate the solution of passing and temporary problems. But common sense demands a long-range plan with specific objectives against which results may be measured.

• PROGRAM PLANNING:

It involves laying out in detail the various activities and communications that will be employed with reference to the key publics that have been pinpointed in the objectives.

Let us assume, for example, a situation in which an association of home appliance manufacturers finds that the industry has lost standing in the public mind because a substantial number of consumers are dissatisfied with the repair and maintenance services. The industry association identifies, as one of its publics, the retail appliance dealers who are responsible for servicing. The objective with respect to this public is to indoctrinate the dealers in the necessity for providing quality repair services and to provide information to them on the methods by which high quality servicing may be established.

The program plan will outline the activities to be directed toward gaining the support of the dealers for this mutually benefit purpose. It may, for example, call for the preparation of a “code of good service” and of a manual describing the service functions the dealer is expected to perform. Further, this part of the plan may call specifically for a series of dealer meetings in various communities; for special articles to be prepared for trade publications that are circulated among the dealers; for a special periodical to be published by the association especially for the dealer-audience; for paid advertisements in industry publications, addressed to dealers; for the conduct of special training schools for the service people employed by the dealers; or for any combination of these and other techniques, some of which may lie outside the field of public relations must, inevitably, be based on good performance, and it should be noted that all of these measures would be designed to improve performance in repair and maintenance.

• IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM:

Involves carrying out these steps. It calls primarily for hard work by the association’s public relations staff or the external counsel. In association work, however, the implementation of a public relations program frequently requires active participation of people in the profession or industry. Indeed, in respect to many objectives, the only path to success is to enroll the people in the business or profession who are located at many points across the country.

No association staff, however large, has sufficient people to perform the grass roots indoctrination task all by itself. Frequently, therefore, means will be devised for recruiting people who are working in the business, but who are not themselves public relations people, to assist in the public relations efforts of the association.

For any grass-roots efforts by a national, regional, or even a state association, reliance on local representatives of the business, industry, or profession is essential. This Carrying out the program can involve a wide range of functions, always guided by the long-range plan and association’s policies.

• PERIODIC EVALUATION:

Periodic evaluations of progress are necessary. Such evaluations should be made on a continuing basis, of course, by the professional public relations staff or public relations counsel or by the association. Progress reports should be made regularly also to the membership and to interested committees and boards of the association.

Though the contribution of the campaign would be difficult to measure we should try to evaluate it with the help of the following 3 most commonly used measures of PR effectiveness.

The return on PR investments can be calculated as follows:

Total sales increase	Rs……..
Estimated sales increase due to PR	Rs……..
Contribution margin on product sales	Rs……..
Total direct cost of PR programme	Rs……..
Contribution margin added by PR investments	Rs……..
Return on PR investments	…..%

An activity which fails to add value stands to be eliminated in today’s professional world for several decades PR practitioners did not see any need to demonstrate that the PR adds value. “Any publicity is good publicity” was the questionable catch cry of the PR model practiced. The main method of demonstrating results of PR was collecting and presenting the management with piles of press clippings. The different methods of evaluation are:

MEASUREMENT BY KILOGRAM

Commonly referred to as measurement by kilogram collecting press clippings focuses on quantitative measurement with little attention paid to the quality of media coverage. Press clippings, tapes or transcripts indicate only that reporting occurred in the media. They do not indicate whether target audiences read, saw or heard the information and if they did whether it influenced their attitudes or behavior.

• POSITIVE/ NEGATIVE ANALYSIS

In attempt to provide qualitative assessment of editorial media coverage PR practitioners accepted that negative publicity was unlikely to achieve objectives and began to categorize media coverage in terms of positive, negative or neutral. This was done based on the belief that positive coverage supported clients or employers objectives while neutral coverage at least raised awareness. However this runs into 2 major challenges:

1. It involves a high degree of subjectivity,

2. Sometimes positive articles may appear in media which do not reach the client’s target audience or which while generally positive may not contain the client’s key messages. Also the articles may be positive but not strategically important and thus do not contribute to achieving a client’s objectives.

• MEDIA CONTENT ANALYSIS

Media content analysis is a growing area of public relations research for evaluating publicity and offers a more reliable and relevant method of evaluating the effectiveness of media coverage. While systems vary, most rigorous media content analysis systems measure:

1. Total circulation or audience reached;

2. Target audience or market reach/penetration;

3. The extent to which key messages were communicated;

4. Share of voice compared with competitors or others.

In simple terms, communication is about getting your key messages to your target audiences – preferably better than competitors do. That is what PR needs to focus on and what PR research should address.

BILLING OF A PR AGENCY

It is the bread and butter of an agency. PR agencies are doctors and lawyers, professional who diagnose a problem and dispense their skills and expertise on a time cost basis. They charge by the hour or motnthly retainer ship and sall projects or events are then billed at cost or on a total turn-key basis.

Case: At Contact corporate communication they prepare a contract based on the needs of the client. Sometimes if the client is not media savvy then the public relations agency provides media counselling to the client. For this they charge an additional amount to the client.

The scope of the billing is generally decided before hand. E.g.: The PR agency may charge for the STD, ISD calls, traveling separately if the PR activities are on a broader base.

ROLE OF PR TO ESTABLISH AND DEVELOP CORPORATE IMAGE

• CORPORATE IDENTITY

Every individual, every business or nation has an identity. For most of us, as individuals, it emerges naturally. Just as the way we speak, dress, behave, just as much as what we say and do, consciously or unconsciously, expresses what we stand for and believe in as individuals, in the same manner organisations too express themselves in a variety of ways. It accumulates over a period of time and is a sum total of the company's history, philosophy, ethical values, ownership, people, technology and performance.

Ideally the corporate identity reflects the inner truth about the organisation. It is the coordinated and consistent projection of everything an organisation stands for. Corporate identity is not reflected merely by visual elements but nevertheless, it is often readily identified through visual signs and symbols. Because, the visual expression tends to encapsulate with imagery what the company holds to be its essential belief and philosophy.

As organisations grow large, complex and increasingly impersonal, most of them feel the need to develop a distinctive identity in order to provide them with a competitive edge in the market place. The desire to seek a new identity may arise out of dissatisfaction with the current identity or even an absence of any consciously created identity. Diversification, entry into a new field, mergers and acquisitions, major technological changes can all be reasons for the creation of a new identity. This desire to be different, to stand out from the crowd, is one of the many vital measure to survive and grow in this fiercely competitive world.

The need for developing a strong corporate identity has been further felt owing to the weakening of brand loyalty. A considerably shorter life-cycle of an average product in today's market has forced the companies to reposition themselves. If a company has a definite public perception, it is likely that it will also have a definite market slot.

A corporate identity is also a method of expressing a body corporate in human terms. In essence, it communicates the style of management and the spirit of the working culture within the organisation. Successful companies like ITC and Tatas have distinctive identities borne out of long and widely-held beliefs and values. But identities require to be relevant to the new business strategies. Identities, therefore, call for constant review.

CORPORATE IMAGE

Some people seem to get confused between corporate image and corporate identity. Corporate Identity is a matter of physical recognition while Corporate Image is a matter of mental perception. Corporate identity can contribute to corporate image.

A corporate image develops out of a company's corporate identity and, as a result of people's knowledge and experience of the company. The organisation can seek to influence this image, it cannot control it. Vic Markham describes corporate image in these words: "Everything we buy helps us express our personalities; helps us to say to the world around us: 'This is the kind of person I would like you to think I am.' We buy products to assist us in this projection of our personalities. In effect, we see the mirror image of ourselves in the product we buy. Image is a reflection of that personality. Corporate bodies project recognisable personalities and people choose between competing brands very largely because the brand reflects their own personalities. Corporate identity, on the other hand, is how one identifies ourself: on one's advertising, on the packaging, on the van sides so that a symbol or logo can be a part of the corporate identity." To sum up therefore, corporate image is what people think about an organisation and corporate identity is how people identify an organisation.

An organisation will have a corporate image whether or not it has made conscious efforts to manage a corporate identity. Since the image is going to be present anyway, it is now universally accepted that organisations should make an effort towards the development of a favourable image through the projection of the chosen corporate identity.

Creating the desired corporate image is not just a matter of giving a face-lift to the company's otherwise sagging identity. It is a matter of firm commitment to a corporate life-style and culture in policy and action. The organisation has to address itself to a variety of publics. Quite often, they have mutually conflicting expectations of the organisation and as a result, they may interpret the message from their particular point of interest. The corporate image, therefore, has to be consistent among all its operation and all its audiences. Hence, the management of corporate image has to be a constant and all-encompassing process.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATON

“Corporate communication is the process that makes the corporate identity visible in concrete terms.”

But corporate communication is not an option. It is happening to all companies all the time, sometimes haphazardly and often without real planning. It has also been described as a process that translates corporate identity into corporate image. The role of communication is crucial in the entire process because without communication the values and strategies of an organisation will never be understood properly. Corporate communication includes virtually the entire range of its interaction with the society; from the way telephone calls are answered to the way video films are made.

“Corporate communication cannot overnight turn a poor company into a successful one.”

It can only ensure that it conveys a consistent and credible message of what the company is, what it does and how it does it by trying to synthesize the messages it transmits.

The visual projection in corporate identity is derived from the fact that it not only helps internal cohesion but it plays a large part in showing to the outside world what the company is like and how it can be expected to behave. Indeed a distinctive visual communication programme is one of the most prominent and marketable corporate assets; without it, ready acceptance of even the most superlative product may be difficult. It can provide a focus for a consistent message to all the external publics.

Institutional Advertising or Corporate Advertising

The main aim is to build a positive image for the firm in the eyes in internal and external public in institutional advertising. It does not attempt to sell anything directly. However, it does a lot of good to the organization as a whole. It forcefully tells how the organisation is a socially responsible institution. It also tells about the nationalistic learning’s of the organization. It shows how its actions are consistent with overall national objectives like environmental protection, employment generation, literacy, loss prevention, health for all etc. It is integrated to public relations function of the organisation.

Institutional advertisements may be addressed either to consumers or other groups like government, suppliers, financial institutions etc. Effective institutional advertising evokes a positive response amongst the target group and creates goodwill. Institutional advertising may introduce products indirectly or may introduce the sales people indirectly. Glaxo’s advertising on child health may make doctors favourably inclined to meet its medical representatives.

Institutional advertising like product advertising can be in formative, persuasive or reminder-oriented.

It's objectives is of institutional/corporate advertising are:

To make the company known.

To make its products/services known.

To make its achievements known

To make its values known.

To make socio-political/economic/moral statements

Case: Philips hosts the second 'India Retail Summit'

100 retailers from the Consumer Electronics industry attend India's one and only summit on trends in the Retailing sector.

July 22 2002, Mumbai: The Consumer Electronics Division of Philips India Limited, in association with leading global retail consultants, KSA Technopark hosted the 'India Retail Summit' - 2002', for 100 top Consumer Electronics Retailers, from across the country, on 21st and 22nd July 2002, in Mumbai. The 'India Retail Summit' was organised, for the second time in successive years, after it was launched in July 2001.

The theme for the 'India Retail Summit - 2002', was "Retailing for the New Millenium". Besides high pitched discussions on "How to improve the Consumer Electronics Retailer's business" in India; sessions on 'International Retailing trends', 'Regional Trade Evolution' and the 'Human Resource aspect to Retailing' were some of the key attractions at the two days India Retail Summit 2002. 

The top 100 Retailers of Philips were enthusiastic participants, who witnessed the coming together of leading national & international experts on retailing, as Philips aimed to address issues of critical importance to the current and future business of retailers both with respect to general trends and specific operational issues.

The tone of the day was set by Mr. Alan Sparks, who was addressing such a major platform on retailing for the very first time in India after taking the reins of Philips as its new Regional General Manager, Philips Consumer Electronics (PCE), Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa. After inaugurating the Summit, in an insightful special address, he commended the major changes witnessed by our markets in the last few years and how closely these changes matched developed markets on most parameters.

Earlier, while opening the Summit, Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Philips India, said, "After being the first Consumer Electronics company to initiate an interactive session on Retailing trends for its dealers, by launching the 'India Retail Summit' for the first time in India, in July 2001, Philips has reiterated its commitment towards its valued trade partners by once again inviting them to be a part of the 'India Retail Summit' experience in 2002. We believe that exposure to current and future retailing trends in India and internationally, will help broaden our trade partners' approach of looking at his business, and in the process generate a win-win relationship for the Retailer as also Philips".

Mr. Raghu Pillai, President & CEO, Retail Sector - RPG Enterprises, focusing on The Retail evolution in India and the emergence of various formats across various categories, said, "The hypermarkets, supermarkets, mass merchants, Departmental stores, exclusive stores, specialty stores, are all emerging. Each has its own role to play and a value proposition for the consumer. This has been a good initiative by Philips to share learnings across the retail segment with it's channel partners" 

Mr. Rajan Chibba - Managing Director, KSA - Technopak provided a few valuable insights on the 'Step-by- Step' approach to 'Better Retailing'. Providing an overview of what retailing entails - an end-to-end macro view, Mr Chibba said, "Retailing is complex. Anybody who is a retailer or understands retailing will appreciate what it means to ensure that the consumer gets what he wants, when he wants in the store." On the Philips India Retail Summit 2002 he said, "This is our second year of association with Philips on this platform, and, seeing the response this year round, we feel that the India Retail Summit would be an important date on the calendars of retailers from here on"

The Importance Of Operational Excellence And Other Key Success Factors Of Retailing was an interesting talk by Mr. B. Nagesh, CEO & MD - Shoppers' Stop. He shared with the CE retailers , what it takes to achieve operational excellence in retailing and its importance. "It's pleasing to see a leading brand like Philips working hand in hand with its trade partners to imbibe best practices followed globally in the retail industry" said Nagesh.

Case: Pantene unveils 'Shine Morning to Night' campaign

Pantene, the world's largest selling shampoo from Procter & Gamble conducted a consumer research on identifying the top hair needs which revealed that Indian women rated 'Shine' as the No.1 hair attribute.

August 26, 2002, Mumbai: Research further indicated that the major cause of dull hair that lacks shine is weakness of hair, misalignment and roughness. Pantene's unique Pro-V formula has been researched and identified as one of the best solutions to achieve long-lasting hair-shine, because it penetrates dry strands better, smoothens roughness, reduces frizz and fly-aways thus making hair smooth, straight and polished. Supporting the research, Pantene unveiled the launch of "Shine Morning to Night" campaign that has two exciting components to it; The MTV "Shine Your Soul" contest which has diamonds worth Rs. 12.5 lacs to be won and the launch of 'Pantene Shine Booths' across the country that helps to achieve shine that lasts from morning to night.

Complementing the "Shine Morning to Night" campaign P&G has launched Pantene Shine-Meter, a unique device that measures the level of hair shine, followed by a recommendation from the Pantene Beauty Assistant on the right variant of Pantene shampoo. To help consumers attain long lasting hair-shine, the Pantene Shine Meters will be covering 30 cities across India through Pantene Mobile Vans and Pantene Shine Booths. The Pantene Shine Booths will be set up at more than 1100 leading retail stores across the country for the next six weeks. 

The "Shine your Soul" contest with MTV gives consumers an opportunity to win an exquisite Diamond Necklace and 19 diamond sets from Inter Gold. All Pantene users are eligible to participate in the MTV 'Shine Your Soul' contest by answering the simple question - "What gives you a Shining personality" (a) Wealthy Mind and Wealthy body, (b) Healthy mind and Healthy body and (c) Stealthy mind and Stealthy body. 

Commenting on the Pantene "Shine Morning to Night" campaign, Mr. Rahul Malhotra, Brand Manager, P&G India said: "Only hair that is healthy can have long lasting shine. Pantene's unique Pro Vitamin B formula strengthens hair, smoothens roughness and leaves hair looking shiny from morning to night. We have tied up with MTV and Intergold for the "Shine your Soul" contest to communicate Pantene's ability to deliver long-lasting shine, through the simple analogy between diamonds and shine."

Said Ms. Neha Dhupia, Miss India-Universe'02, at the launch, " With the everyday pollution hair is exposed to and the routine hustle-bustle, there is very little time to invest in your hair and possess dream hair that shines 'Morning to Night'. But truly, Pantene with its remarkable range of shampoos; Smooth & Silky, Volume & Fullness, Balanced clean, Anti-Dandruff and Lively Clean offers the right shampoo variant for every hair type and gives hair that shine all day long".

All Pantene shampoo variants are available at Rs.61 for the 100 ml pack and Rs. 117 for the 200 ml pack. Procter & Gamble Home Products, India also has in its portfolio, Head & Shoulders' Shampoo in three variants; Smooth & Silky, Refreshing Menthol and Clean & Balanced, Ariel Total Compact, Tide detergent and Gain Super Soaker.

Procter & Gamble Worldwide has in its beauty-care basket, brands like Vidal Sassoon, Pert Plus, Pantene, Head and Shoulders, Rejoice, and Physique in Hair care; Olay Skin Care and Cosmetics; Max Factor and Cover Girl cosmetics and fragrances from Hugo Boss.

Case: Amway to use corporate ad campaign in India to communicate

 25 October 2002



Mumbai: Amway India Enterprises, the multilevel direct marketing company, which has grown into a global multibillion corporation exclusively by word of mouth publicity, is now planning to use corporate advertising to communicate to its customers, though in a limited manner. And India is the first country where the company plans to use the mode of advertising. 

Amway India managing director and CEO William Pinckney says: “Amway is growing fast in India and corporate advertising at this stage will be beneficial to its distributors, prospective distributors, customers and prospective customers. It will also add to the increased awareness and appreciation of the company.”

He emphasises that it would not have a real change in Amway’s communication strategy. “The company still relies mainly on the word of mouth, and the ad campaign in India is a low-key affair.”

He says Amway’s ad campaign focuses on the business opportunities thrown up by the company, its corporate values and commitment. “More importantly, ads mention very distinctly about one of its important unique selling points, which is the 100-per cent customer satisfaction or money-refund policy commitment towards India is found necessary if only to supplement the efforts the company’s distributors continued to put in.”

The ad campaign, he feels, will enhance the receptivity of Amway products, and with it the business opportunities, and enable distributors to reach out to a much larger audience and much faster.

Amway India clocked a turnover of Rs 553 crore in the year ended 30 September 2001 and is targeting a turnover of Rs 700 crore for the coming year. From a six-product company ii 1998, the company now sells 33 products through 3 lakh distributors and is present in four categories - personal care, home care, nutrition and cosmetics.

Amway India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amway Corporation and was established in August 1995 after getting approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The company commenced commercial operations on 5 May 1998.

The company manufactures all its products in India through three third-party manufacturers. Till now, it has invested in India in excess of $35 million, of which $6 million is in the form of foreign direct investment. 

Case: Daler Mehndi to paint for quake-hit 

New Delhi, February 24

Popular crooner Daler Mehndi, who becomes a livewire performer with a microphone, will try his hands with a painting brush for the sake of earthquake victims in Gujarat. 

The Punjabi pop singer will be the chief guest at an on-the-spot painting competition for schoolchildren being organised tomorrow at Aadharshila Vidyapeeth School, Pitampura in West Delhi. 

Organisers of the programme informed that famous painter Jatin Das would grace the occasion as the guest of honour. The canvas to be painted by the two celebrities will later be auctioned and the proceeds given to the quake-hit. 

In the competition, being jointly organised by Aadharshila Vidyapeeth School and Archies, children from class II to VII have been invited to participate