All About PR

The Eternal PR Triangle – Client, Agency and Media . This is a triangle that is often the point of almost all discussions in any PR meet up. We obsess, stress and are almost possessed with trying to bring a suitable balance to this triangle. An equilateral is preferred. Yet to manage this against a backdrop of an everchanging PR landscape is not an easy feat. Much like the elusive omega particle this is rare and requires almost near perfect conditions. And even If it is achieved, to stabilize it is another feat.

Yet, we try. Everyday. Today we have with us Praveen Singh, Founder of StrategyVerse Consulting who will speak to us about this elusive triangle and help all three parties arrive at a common consensus of working together in a more cohesive manner and achieving the equilateral status.

Praveen runs a successful communications agency that's helping clients connect with their target audience by keeping things strategic yet simple. Armed with 17-years of experience in journalism, corporate communications and public relations, he leverages his diverse experience to identify challenges in communications with a very unique lens.

Hit play and know more about how you can find a balance and start creating one for the entire industry as well.

Season 3 Episode 12

In PR we rely on effective communication at all ends of the spectrum to earn our bread and butter yet there are more than a few slips that happen along the way. Some we catch in time, others we really don’t. And it's fine because it's humanly impossible to be perfect all the time. Else we would all be robots. However, what if we had a list of communication mistakes to avoid. Would that not be a list you would want? In this episode of All About PR we speak to Neha Mishra who will talk to us about 5 Communication Mistakes to Avoid’ and help us  understand the nuances of effective communication and mistakes to avoid from a PR lens

Neha Mishra brings an experience of more than a decade in the field of Corporate Communication & Marketing within FMCG & Hospitality industry. The turning point in her life came 5 years back when an entrepreneurial bug bit her (thanks to the company of young budding entrepreneurs she is surrounded with), she ventured into the field of Competency Development by coaching, mentoring & training organizations and individuals under her brand Neha Talks & Epinomi Consulting.  Later on, she also created an open stage platform called as "The Mic Talks" where people can express themselves openly and improve their self-confidence & communication capabilities.  Neha strongly believes that only when you see value in yourself is when you can command the respect you deserve. As a woman, she is proud of the softer & emotional nuances that she brings to the table.

Hit play and know more about how the finer nuances of effective communication.

While we have all spoken endlessly about the growth of digital and new mediums, have you noticed how legacy media has innovated in this space? Some wonderful innovations that merge their decades of experience and clarity of news. In this episode of All About PR, we speak to leaders from the sector who will gaze with us into the crystal ball and share with us what the future holds for legacy media along with the innovations that have caught the audience's attention. Radhika Bhirani and Anil Thomas join us for a candid conversation on how legacy media is riding this wave. 

Radhika Bhirani is currently the Head of Content at HealthShots, a digital health and wellness platform for women, powered by Hindustan Times. With an experience of 14 years in the media world, she began her journey with news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) where she grew on to lead the Cinema and Lifestyle vertical. Her credentials also include a stint with HT City, after which she turned to freelancing for magazines and international news agencies. Her step into the world of health and digital is a new challenge up her sleeve.

Anil Thomas is currently working as a Senior Anchor cum Correspondent at DD NEWS. He has worked with a wide variety of news channels in his 21 years of TV journalism experience.  He specializes in sports, politics, and economy and has covered  5 Cricket World Cups,  5 Olympics and 5 Asian Games as he traveled across the globe to cover sports live for the national broadcaster. His experience as a core team member of two national TV channel launch teams has given him insight into the business from the inside out. 

Hit play and keep abreast with the changes in legacy media. 

Season 3 Episode 10

Communication is counted as one of the key skills across all good leaders. In this episode of All About PR we have with us Author G S Rattan who has published his first book - 10 Steps to the Boardroom after spending several decades in the corporate world who will talk to us about why PR & communication are key elements in one's rise to the top. 

An experienced leader with vast experience in steering techno-commercial functions in world-class engineering companies, G.S. Rattan continued to teach after retirement. The Punjab Engineering College (Chandigarh) graduate is now on a sabbatical as he pens down his first book and starts a new journey at the age of seventy-two with renewed enthusiasm. It is Day 1 again. With an overall experience of fifty years, he earned the moniker of 'creative strategist' from his peers. As a longstanding member of the Tata Family, he had the opportunity to work and learn from industry leaders, like Dr J.J. Irani and Mr B. Muthuraman, who inspired him to be more, achieve more and do more. During his thirty-one-year tenure with the Tata Family, the departments under his care won several awards and appreciation of all seniors. A company man through and through, he rose through the ranks to head the company with the unanimous support of his colleagues and seniors.

Hit play and know more about his journey to the top and how his communication skills and PR played a key role in it. 

Transitioning Mediums is not an easy feat. Whether it is from digital to print to digital or PR to journalism and vice versa. Each medium brings with it its own set of challenges and opportunities. In this episode of All About PR, Priyanka Nair, Assistant Editor, Storyboard, Network18 joins us to talk about these transitioning mediums and their rapid evolution along with how and when you should traverse through each.

She brings the conversation alive with her own experiences across each medium and profession. 

Priyanka has over a decade of experience in the media industry. She spent over 7 years with the Economic Times’ Brand Equity, India’s oldest publication for the adland and marketing community where she was a part of the founding editorial team that developed the digital extension for the product. Three years ago, she moved to the print side of the business and was the lead writer for the supplement.

She is currently with Network18 Group and joins them as an Assistant Editor, for Storyboard, where she will be setting up a new age news platform in the A&M space.

Hit play and know more about her journey across various media as she helps you understand the nuances of each medium from a PR lens.

T.H.E Conversation to have! This was and is always a bone of contention between clients and agencies. Several discussions, seminars, and conferences later we are yet to arrive at a common ROI evaluation method that a majority of the industry agrees upon. We all agree that AVE is not the way. But then what is? With the rapid evolution that took place since 2020, PR has taken on more job roles leading to a pressing requirement for a more comprehensive method of evaluation of work put in by PR & Corporate Communication team. In this podcast, we speak to Siddhartha Mukherjee who speaks to us about ' PR Measurement' and how you can start creating your own evaluation method that works for you. 

Siddhartha brings 23 years of holistic work experience within the Brand Communications industry. During this tenure, he wore three ‘Thinking Hats’ as the Business Head of India’s Neutral & Holistic Brand Measurement & Analytics service within a global research behemoth, a Corporate Communications Head and a Communication Consultancy Professional. All three experiences have prepared him for his current role as founder of Brand Balance - India’s first & neutral Brand Reputation ERP Management Consultancy for the C-suite where he helps clients balance their communication Efforts, Resources & Processes (ERP) to optimize brand scores.  

Hit play and know more about how you can start educating your team and clients on how to evaluate and measure PR impact.

Season 3 Episode 7

Why did your story not get picked up and how did competition win the journalist's trust? A key question every PR professional is asked almost every week. Today we delve into the nuances of how to create a compelling story and the media selection process with an industry veteran.  

In this episode, we speak to Sangeetha Chengappa, Senior Deputy Editor - Hindu BusinessLine on ‘Getting to the Story’. 

Sangeetha has worked with the Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Herald and the New Indian Express and Express Computers in Bangalore as a Business Journalist in the past. She was also worked with JWT in Advertising in client servicing, NIIT in business development and with the Taj Westend Hotel in Sales. With over 17 years of experience in Business Journalism and 10 years of industry experience in Sales & Advertising roles she brings a wealth of experience to the field.

Within 2.5 years of entering journalism, she won the Polestar Award in 2007 for her stories published in 2006. She has reported extensively on IT/BPO, E-commerce, Retail, Hospitality, among others. Her personal interests include cooking, fitness, traveling, music and spirituality. She lives in Bangalore with her husband and has two daughters.

Hit play and know more how you can create a compelling narrative for the media on your brand.

Season 3 Episode 6

The PR industry has a place for everyone with different talent sets. We do consider ourselves culturally diverse and inclusive. Yet, can there be more? The PR industry has been abuzz with chatter about diversity and inclusion. Did it already exist or was that all in our minds? If, yes then what has been the progression and how is it faring now? How will it help make the industry a better place?

In this episode, we speak to Preeti Binoy - Head Corporate Communications & Government Affairs - Kimberly-Clark India who is also an Inclusion & Diversity Executive Council Member, on the subject.

With over 21 years of experience across PR, issues/crisis management, and advertising, Preeti has worked with large corporate enterprises and consumer brands helping them devise integrated communications strategies with a special focus on senior media relations and crisis communications counsel. In her current role, she partners with the company’s senior leadership team and works towards enhancing the company’s reputation, implementing its social impact and sustainability agenda, partnering with statutory bodies, and driving employee engagement through internal and executive communications.

Passionate about creating a more balanced world, Preeti embeds diversity & inclusion in everything she does for breakthroughs that serve the healthcare needs of people around the world.

Hit play and know more how you can start making your workplace more inclusive and diverse.

Season 3 Episode 5

In Season 3 we are introducing a special segment ' Media Shots' where we will invite strong and grounded voices from the media community to join us for a frank conversation on communication. In this special episode of All About PR we have with us Harshada Sawant, Senior Editor, CNBC Awaaz who will speak to us about what makes a PR pitch ... perfect for her ! 

Harshada comes with over two decades in journalism and is the winner of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism for Business & Economics for her special series on innovators in India. A seasoned journalist, she has covered various beats that include Corporate India, Stock Markets, Startups, and Policy action. In her current position, she tracks large corporates and equity markets to Start-ups and the Indian Venture Capital Industry. The master storyteller's vast experience and in-depth research helps her give a perspective to audiences not only on the known listed conglomerates but also the next dream runners and Unicorns in the Startup Ecosystem. Today she speaks to us about the finer nuances of the media - PR association along with her experience with the field. 

Hit play and know more about how to perfect that pitch!

Season 3 - Episode 4

Even though women form the majority of the workforce in communication, why is it that we see so few of them in the leadership positions? Why do the ranks thin out? What is holding them back? In this episode, we speak to Mou Chakravorty, Communication Specialist, Deloitte, and a passionate member of WICCI Public Relations & Digital Marketing Council of India on the recent findings of their industry survey.

The council has unveiled the first edition of their I-LEAD survey in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode that threw a spotlight on the challenges women face while traversing the leadership ladder in the communication industry. It brought to the forefront some facts that were alarming, some that caught them by surprise, and still others that every woman in the industry already knew but never really had the courage or sometimes the time to confirm.  

Mou is a passionate communicator keen to device winning communication strategies that help generate measurable business outcomes for brands. With over 15 years in developing business-focused content and communications, she is an adept professional with the knack of creating compelling creative campaigns with a 360-degree business overview consisting of stakeholder engagement, Digital strategies, and thought leadership.   Currently, with Deloitte, Mou consults senior leadership on the firm’s brand strategies, brand protection, and thought leadership in the marketplace focusing on multiple sectors including Consumer led portfolios and business segments.

Hit play and know more about the challenges and what you and I can do as an individual and as an agency and as a corporate to level the playing field and bring more rich talent to the table. 

Season 3 - Episode 3