@dvocable

Take PR personally. It’s not just a profession. It’s the art and science of communication. Human relations and dealing with human sensibilities is a part and parcel of the entire process of communication. It could be about communicating anything…be it financial results, corporate health, news and announcements, developments and crisis….am not even talking about the contents. What I am talking about is the readiness of the parties involved in the process of communication. Be it clients, media or PR consultants…or for that matter people in day to day life.

As students of communication we have all been exposed to the theories of Lasswell and Marshall, Shannon and Weaver amongst others…but there is a much original theory of communication that existed in India in the days of yore called ‘SADHARANIKARAN’ which was more holistic in its understanding of how communication can be fruitful.

What is the goal of all communication? The goal of communication, in all circumstances, situations and requirements is to get across with one’s point of view, encourage and create a harmonious relationship as a resultant affect of a positive communication process. That is possible in the Sadharanikaran model of communication. Most communication models would limit it to reaching out from the sender to the receiver, creating a hierarchical situation making the receiver of the message a passive element in the process. That may or may not be the most ideal of all situations to be in when the receiver of the message is only but passive; so you aren’t quite sure of whether you are able to reach out the audience, of whether or not they are welcoming of your ideas, views et al. Most western models of communication concentrated on communicating between mass media and the masses. The Indian model on the contrary focuses on all kinds of communication situations, be it interpersonal, intrapersonal or even mass communication.

Sadharanikaran talks of how it is possible to let the receiver of the message experience satisfaction and joy and participate in the process of communication. In a complex society of pluralistic languages, castes, class and dialects, Sadharanikaran has the answer for a successful communication. It is all about creating an environment conducive for the transmission and reception of messages. The Indian model is not about persuasion and convincing but is a participative model where both the parties involved are in mutual anticipation of each other thereby becoming Sahridayas or people having common sympathetic hearts.

I request not to take semantics too seriously…coming back to PR, what we are usually trying too hard to do is to persuade and convince the party on the other side of our messages and what we have to say. That makes the job more difficult and sometimes not so pleasant. We need to treat the other person an equal partner in the entire process of communication. Respect the other person’s understanding and his or her willingness to be in a favourable frame of mind to listen to everything you have to say and believe in everything you utter. Give it time, give each other the benefit of space and relevance of message so that you can benefit from each other’s acceptance of the message. There is no noise of any kind. There is only acceptance and willingness required to complete a successful communication process.

Am sure that all PR professionals worth the salt understand this. This is for all who are new to this profession. Do not try too hard to gag the audience with your words and thoughts. Convey, communicate and step back to receive a favourable response to take the process to the next level. It has worked for me and hence this article. Create Sahridayas than mere listeners or readers… treat PR as just another situation when you are trying to communicate and I am sure you would find more situations of successful communication when you are not trying too hard…

It was my first class in PR and as usual I was sitting on the first seat. The professor came in and started the first lecture of the session. I was clueless – what was going on and what they were talking about. It happened because I was not a professional person at that time but just a fresh graduate who got admission in PR (by mistake). Well, that was in the past but I learnt one thing that everybody cannot understand PR properly.

If we will try to make people in other profession understand about PR, they will probably consider us psychos. I was surprised when people started relating PR with other professions like advertisement, marketing, journalism, space buyers, and lot more. Sometime it happens that you give your best efforts to make others understand about PR and at the end they remain confused or end up with wrong conclusions.

My first instance happened during a travel from Delhi to Lucknow for a car launch event. I met with a political member from the UP government. During the chit chat he asked about my profession. After explaining to him for about 10-15 minutes, he considered me as an advertisement agent. When I told him  about the media coverage after the launch, he took me as a journalist.

I got another shock when I met with a merchandiser. Again the question came up. I tried my best to make him understand about PR. We talked about all the aspects of PR for more than an hour. Suddenly, it shocked me when he told me that PR is just an extended part of marketing. It was a killing thought when he asked me to help him in some marketing strategies.

If we think in marketing perspective, I think we are quite closer. When nothing is happening on a client, then we start initiating different ideas to pacify the client. Sometimes, the client buys the ideas and sometimes reject the same saying it is a marketing initiative. I was a little surprised to see that one particular idea is a PR initiative for one client but is a marketing initiative for the other.

But the confusion doesn’t end here. When somebody knows that media coverage is one of the output of PR agencies, people started mistaking PR professionals as journalists. This is the worst thing one can think of PR. Some of my schoolmates started calling me media because they are not clear with the concept of PR.

An engineer from Delhi Metro asked me once that they have completed an assignment one month before the specified time. It was wicked when he asked me to get it covered in few mainline publications on his behalf.

It was again scandalous when one of the professors in Delhi University asked me about my profession and she took it as space buying medium.

I wish PR could be as simple (or well known) as doctors or engineers so that others can understand it.

Some time back, we went for a pitch to a particular company and it turned out that the client knew every top people in the PR industry, including everybody at our headquarters. ‘How much budget do you have for a PR campaign?’ ‘Don’t worry about that. I will have it fixed with your headquarters.’ ‘We need at least 7-10 days for developing the plan’. ‘No. No. I need the plan day after. No delay after that at all. I will call your headquarters and I will make sure they will do the arrangements’. We went back to office, did a quick discussion, and called back, ‘We cannot handle this account. You can tell headquarters about it.’

A company wanted to sign up a particular agency. They liked the credentials, its plan, and everything was in place, except for one thing. The feedback about the company from the agency’s market survey turned out bad. No payment to vendors in time. The senior managements unimaginably treat PR as a press coverage department. The agency decided to let go of the account.

A client always wanted to talk to the top people in a PR agency, is never satisfied with any coverage, and there are faults galore with the agency. The threats kept coming – perform or perish. The top boss at the agency finally decided to meet the client. His reply to the client was – ‘Sack us if you will, but please don’t continue giving threats’. There was no sacking and the client relationship had improved drastically ever since, I heard.

These are some instances that have been happening with the PR industry I have come across recently. Should I assume that 5 years back, this couldn’t have happened? A retainer fee was everything. Now that is not enough. PR agencies are coming of age, and big ones particularly are setting the standards for the industry. Just as the clients say, there is no dearth of agencies; the agencies today say there is no dearth of clients. They want to handle only those companies that see genuine strength and believe in PR, are ethical and practice fair play with partner companies. Five years later, our clients will see what we are upto. A company refused by 3-4 agencies will have a tale to tell.

There are others. Some time back, an upcoming spa in Delhi signed up an agency, made the agency toil for 6 months – all of the pre launch, launch of its spa, and the post launch PR – and finally decided to blame the agency saying it had not been working satisfyingly. The spa company did not release the retainer fee due – all of six months. Seems like they figured out that the agency has not been performing, at the end of everything, after six months. Now they will invite for another pitch. The top agencies will drain their brains out and they will select the best. The cycle will go on, until somebody stands up, again.