Harjiv Singh, Co-Founder & CEO-International, Gutenberg Communications LLC

The PR industry in India is still quite nascent, as compared to its peers in the US and Europe. But with the explosion in media outlets and the rapid growth of the media industry, PR is increasingly seen by our clients as an important strategic tool. Clients in India are also increasingly expanding globally and require PR agencies to have an understanding of the global media landscape.

Harjiv Singh, Co-Founder of Gutenberg Communications, leads the international expansion for the PR firm. He has led the establishment from its offices in London, New Delhi and Bangalore, and has managed the company’s rapid international growth during the past three years. Singh works extensively with clients across a diverse range of industries like technology, real estate, investment management, academic and the non-profit sectors.

Prior to Gutenberg Communications, Singh was a consultant at Edelman where he led a new business development initiative to create a cross-functional India-focussed practice. A serial entrepreneur, he co-founded MDoffices.com, a wireless software company in the healthcare industry. He has also worked at Priceline.Com in Strategic Planning and as Financial Analyst at Adam Smith & Company, a New York City Hedge Fund, and as Director of a real estate development company in India. Singh began his career as Financial Analyst in GE Capital’s Financial Management Programme.

Singh has served as a campaign advisor to a former Member of the Indian Parliament and cabinet minister. He is a member of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) and is on the executive committee of The Indus Entrepreneurs’ (TiE) New York chapter. Singh is on the board of the United Nations Association of New York and on the advisory board for start-up media company Red Cell Media.

Singh received a Masters in International Affairs in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He also has an MBA in Marketing and Bachelor in Finance from the New York Institute of Technology.

In a conversation with exchange4media’s Pallavi Goorha, Singh talks about the PR industry in India, the emerging trends in PR, and more. Excerpts:

Q. Is this problem of retaining talent a global phenomenon? I believe it is more exacerbated in India, given its rapid economic growth and the flood of young people entering the workforce. But the problem of talent is not simply in retaining your people. It’s also about finding the right people and investing in their development.

Q. How, according to you, has the PR industry evolved over the years?

The public relations industry has come quite a long way in recent decades. The growth of the Internet as a medium of communication, coupled with 24/7 news cycles, has helped accelerate the growth of the overall PR industry. In India, similarly, the rapid expansion of the media industry coupled with Indian companies increasingly globalising, and international companies increasingly looking to enter India, has expanded the need for PR. More companies are building brands in India, and Indian companies are raising brand awareness among consumers, clients and investors around the world. This requires an understanding of how media operates in different countries; how to drive consistent messages globally; and how to tailor messages depending on the audience, and the focus of media outlets.

The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had said, ‘Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.’ Even at that time, as one of the greatest leaders of his time, he was astutely aware of the impact the media had in both his reign and the French revolution that preceded him. Today, 200 years later, his words carry more weight as today’s leaders and CEOs have not just ‘four newspapers’, rather a wide array of media outlets and channels that they need to navigate.

Q. What steps do we need to take in order to match up to our global counterparts? I think the Indian PR industry needs to invest in its talent and have a more global approach at media and messaging. The Internet has, to some extent, made media borderless. Articles written in The Economic Times can be read by potential customers, investors or journalists in the US and Europe who are researching a company for the first time. The industry also needs to develop its people so they can provide proactive and strategic communications advice about leveraging numerous outlets.

Q. What are the challenges confronting this industry? What steps are required to overcome them? The industry needs to be more dedicated to developing talent. Delivering a global perspective to media relations and client service is also becoming an imperative. The rise of India and China will have a major impact on the global economy, and communications professionals will need to understand how that, in turn, impacts global markets and global companies. Clients will need global thinkers with a global mindset. We invest in our team by ensuring they are travelling and learning about the various geographies and industries that we have a presence in.

Q. What kind of vision have you outlined for your agency? We aspire to be the McKinsey of PR, and by that I mean bringing a lot of industry knowledge and thought process to the work we do and the value we bring to our clients, the journalists who cover their industries, and those who organise conferences and industry events. I mentioned that our aim is to deliver ‘customer delight’ as opposed to simply offering customer satisfaction, and we do that by having talented senior people who bring a strong understanding of global media. We aim to be consultative partners in our clients’ branding and communications strategies, and proactive in our efforts to build their brands.

Q. How has the perception of the clients towards PR agencies changed?

I believe, in India, clients are increasingly expecting agencies to be more strategic in their thought process and delivery, not simply order-takers sending out press releases. We work with companies like Wipro Technologies, who looks at us not only to understand how best to tell their messages, but to present them in a context that is meaningful for clients, analysts, investors and the journalists who talk about their company around the world.

The PR industry in India is still quite nascent, as compared to its peers in the US and Europe. But with the explosion in media outlets and the rapid growth of the media industry, PR is increasingly seen by our clients as an important strategic tool. Clients in India, as I mentioned, are also increasingly expanding globally and require PR agencies to have an understanding of the global media landscape.

Q. How would you differentiate the PR industry in India vis-à-vis the global one?

The PR industries in the US and Europe are quite mature and have a long history, which is reflected in the size of those industries. The US accounts for nearly $4 billion and Europe about $2 billion, of the $7 billion global PR industry. In comparison, the Indian PR industry is about Rs 150-200 crore, which is $38-50 million. Also, the sheer size and segmentation of the US media market requires a deep understanding of the numerous publications that cover specific industries; whereas in India, the market is less segmented in terms of, for instance, having multiple publications focussed solely on software testing, as is found in the US.

That said, in both countries, journalists appreciate PR professionals who provide an understanding of their clients, the industries in which they operate, and how this impacts the areas the journalists cover on a daily basis.

Q. Do you think PR plays a secondary role in the communication strategy of a client? This depends on the communication objectives of specific companies and varies from company to company. A large consumer products company, for example, will most likely use a combination of advertising and PR, while a small technology start-up company may only use PR to target specific audiences. Publicly listed companies might use a combination of analyst relations and PR to spread their messages to investors either in India or around the world.

Q. How has Gutenberg Communications been performing?

Our agency was started with a core belief that we wanted to deliver ‘customer delight’ around the world. Everyone offers ‘customer satisfaction’. We strive to go beyond that, and three of the ways we add value are by our research-based approach, understanding of global media and the industries in which our clients operate.

We launched in New York City in 2003, and have opened offices in London, New Delhi and Bangalore over the past four years. In the next quarter, we will have both our Mumbai and Hyderabad offices operational. When we look at client service, we take a globally integrated approach with teams that work together daily across geographies for our clients. As far as performance, we continue to add global clients and expect to double in size from last year.

Q. What strategies do you adopt while deciding the communication strategy of a client?

We research exhaustively about our clients’ industries and the journalists around the globe that cover them. Then we map our clients’ key messages that could drive the debate or how they could act as thought leaders in the biggest issues that impact their industries.

For some clients, it’s a matter of tailoring the message geographically. We work with Trikona Capital, a real estate investment firm focussed on India. We have reached out to the Indian media to showcase specific real estate projects that Trikona has invested in, and explain what those projects mean both for investors and for the cities in India where the projects are located. We’ve also had success driving coverage from international media based in India and abroad. For international media, we position Trikona as a source that can explain the opportunities and challenges of investing in the Indian real estate sector.

Another tactic is to closely follow the news and look for opportunities where our clients can really add value to the debate. During the 2004 US Presidential election, when ‘outsourcing to India’ was a politically charged issue in the US, none of the larger Indian IT services were presenting their side of the story. When you don’t define yourself in the media, you run the risk that others will define you. We worked closely with Wipro Technologies, who also saw the value of this, to get involved and present their side of the story. I believe this also aided in raising the Wipro brand in the US. In the past year, as Indian IT firms look to move up the value chain, we’ve showcased to the media Wirpo’s strengths in innovation and its US expansion.

Q. What are the factors that will drive growth in this industry in the years to come? India’s rapid economic growth will continue to drive the Indian PR industry. As more companies enter India, they will need communications partners who understanding the media landscape and how to build brands here. This is coupled with more media outlets and an increasing sophistication of media. Already one can see tie-ups like Mint with the Wall Street Journal. And since the outsourcing boom of a few years ago, top-tier international media has had numerous reporters based in India, which is making it easier to drive international coverage from the country.

Q. What are the emerging trends that you foresee in the PR industry?

Agencies are going to need to develop a more global perspective. As I’ve said, with Indian firms increasingly becoming global players, in terms of their customer base, investors and acquisition targets, agencies are going to need to drive coverage globally.

The industry will be also driven by the fact that Asia will increasingly become more important to the global economy, in terms of increased wealth of their citizens, the size and success of their companies, and the number of people they will contribute to the workforce. Globalisation has proved that work can successfully be distributed around the world, and that I believe will continue.

Q. Where do you see this industry headed? The industry will continue to see strong growth, and become increasingly important for Indian companies and foreign companies looking to establish brands here. And just as the Internet has made media borderless, online media will increasingly become important as media continues its shift to more electronic delivery. Interestingly, this could also make PR more important, as traditional advertising -- like a spread in a major business monthly -- is reaching fewer people, and the true value and success of online advertising has yet to be calculated.

Q. How is this issue being tackled? We’ve approached this in several ways in our firm. We’ve rotated our people in our offices around the world to give them the opportunity to learn from each other and have a first-hand understanding of their co-workers’ culture and environment. We also invest in training and put a strong focus on reading, researching, and following the media and the clients’ industries. Finally, we give our people enough freedom to develop new lines of business or generate new clients. This offers our people fresh challenges and a role in which they can develop.

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