PR is all about facts and not whitewashing facts.Nandita Lakshman began her PR career in 1993 with Genesis PR. She was responsible for starting and spearheading the company's technology-focused division as well as operations in the South. Nandita has been instrumental in developing strategies for leading multinationals like Intel, IBM Software Group, 3M etc during her the course of her career. In her stint at Genesis PR, she was instrumental in launching the Indian operations of Volvo, Symantec, and Varity Perkins.
Over the years, Nandita amassed invaluable experience in the areas of crisis/issues management, media relations, brand building, product/company launches and is also the Chairperson, PRCAI, Southern India. Although broadcasting is her passion, she hasn't had the opportunity to pursue it recently; Nandita was an anchor for All India Radio and a popular radio jockey for several music request shows.
In conversation with Jasmeen Dugal, Nandita Lakshman - Founder and CEO of 'The Practice', underlines the conflicting interests between a client and a PR firm, the role of PR, and the potential of the Indian PR industry.
Q. How does PR compete with other below-the-line marketing activities? PR does not compete, only complements other marketing activities and vice versa.
Q. What is the unique selling proposition of your firm? It is more a combination of strengths that made us the first PR firm in the country to win a global PR award on an organizational level. I think the fact that we won an award in the "New Consultancy of the Year" category (instituted by the PR Week) in our third year of existence speaks volumes about our focus as a business entity.
'The Practice' is not just a PR firm; we are a business entity like any of the clients that we handle. We are extremely aware that we are in a business that impacts organizations that shape the economy, policies,trends etc and therefore, play a very responsible role in the entire business ecosystem.
Q. How is handling corporate communications or PR for a small and mid-sized client different from handling a large client? The issue is not of size, but of the need and requirements of each client for PR initiatives. We can say this with conviction because at 'The Practice', we've had the experience of handling start-up ventures as well as some very high-profile clients. For any successful PR campaign, our experience tells us that there has to be as much commitment and clarity of thought from the client's end as is expected from the firm's end. There is no difference in any firm's approach to developing a PR strategy for a small or big client - we put in the same amount of research, creativity and planning into every account.
Q. How do you deal with conflicting interests between a client and a PR firm? Since both sides know their business well, how do you bridge the gap between your and their objectives? Conflict of interest could arise from a client's competition seeking to work with you. We do not work with clients in the same domain, so that addresses this issue.
Additionally, conflict of interest may arise due to a difference in opinion in the way an issue needs to be handled. In such cases, we are clear about one thing - there should be no conflicting interests when it comes to presenting or communicating facts. PR is all about facts and not whitewashing facts. We are consultants first; implementation is incidental to our profession. If at any time, we feel we are being made to compromise on ethics or beliefs based on which 'The Practice' has earned its reputation and credibility, we will not hesitate to part ways with the client. Fortunately, in our tenure we haven't encountered any such incident.
Q. Is Ethics in PR business followed in true spirit? Ethics in PR business, and for any other business for that matter, is indispensable. It is important that any deviation from ethics is addressed immediately and action taken. As custodians of the "image" of our clients and the management of companies that we may represent, there are no two ways to practicing ethics in PR.
Q. What are the ideal attributes for a good PR professional? It is important to be able to relate to the environment in which you operate and to LISTEN to theories, suggestions or contrary viewpoints. Good writing skills (and I rate that over verbal skills), the ability to grasp, multi-tasking, awareness of what's happening around are all operational skills that contribute to one's success.
What I rate the most, though, is the ability to retain one's objectivity, no matter what the pressures are and be consultative even if you are an in-house PR executive. It is important to see the right from wrong, what makes for a PR opportunity, and urge the management to see the other side of the story ... the side that may not always be the ideal picture.
Q. How do you measure the results of a PR campaign? We are making a concerted effort in making our clients value the "inputs" that we provide in the course of the planning or implementing stages. It has become a norm to evaluate only the "output" and that limits PR evaluation to quantity. As a PR firm, client acknowledgement that we are good consultants and our inputs offer an edge over the competition's communication is very critical for us. Else, we cease to be a "thinking" firm, a label we are proud of.
We are increasingly urging clients to think "quality" rather than quantity through extensive message analysis, message delivery effectiveness etc.
Q. Is there anything in the pipeline? The focus at 'The Practice' this year is on consolidation. We've launched HR and Knowledge Management Initiatives and are focusing on training extensively. We want each year to be a landmark year at 'The Practice', and if we won our first International award last year, we would like to continue our quest for International best practices in PR and also show the world that we have some great things going on here!
Q. How do you differentiate yourselves when you go out to pitch for the clients? Since all our business comes through referrals, clients are already aware of the quality and value that we bring to the table. That aside, our carefully chosen client list and our client retention record is a reflection of our knowledge in the technology space and our ability to deliver respectively.
Q. Do initiatives like the PRCAI PR summit help? If yes, how? Yes, it does ... for one, when an industry comes together under one roof and is willing to discuss issues and challenges openly, it is a good sign. So far, ironically, the public relations fraternity has been most uncommunicative amongst themselves. That has changed and personally, I have had some pleasant experiences. But the challenge is to introduce new issues and help put Public Relations into an altogether different league, where it truly belongs. Its time we as an industry did some effective PR for ourselves.
Q. In India, is the role of PR going to remain in media relations or it will go beyond that? Media is an important tool to reach out to the mass or even a niche audience. In that, the importance of media relations in a PR campaign will continue. However, the important thing to note is that we are also recognizing media as an important target audience. We must remember that the media is our consumer too, and that the brands that we represent touch these segments in more direct ways than mere press releases do!
Looking ahead, there will be more aspects of PR that will form part of a campaign. Financial PR, Internal PR and Crisis Communication will soon get their due, but there has to be concerted efforts by PR firms to push these services as well as increased awareness of what these services can deliver by organizations using PR services, to help achieve this.
Q. Tell us about any new campaigns you're handling. We've worked on campaigns ranging from impacting consumer trends to influencing public opinion on serious issues like pension reforms. Given the nature of clients that we handle, ranging from hardware (both PC and peripherals), software services and Internet services, the scope for creativity is endless. Our recent experience of handling the 'Global Investors Meet' (GIM) for the Kerala Government was a huge learning experience for us.
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Surabhi Patodia of Ola joins Practo as Head of Communications
Patodia served over three years at Ola as Senior Manager, Corporate Communications & PR
Surabhi Patodia, former Senior Manager, Corporate Communications & PR at Ola has joined healthcare platform Practo as Head of Communications.
Patodia started her career in Communications with Adfactors PR, where she helped companies going to IPO with their communication plans. She then went on to be a part of Text100, India's premier Technology PR agency, where she worked with brands like Lenovo, Tata Power Solar, to name a few. She joined Ola in 2016, and was instrumental in building a strong narrative for the brand, across India and International markets.
Patodia holds PG Diploma in Public Relations & Corporate Communications from the Xavier’s Institute of Mass Communications, Mumbai and Bachelors in Business Administration from BIT, Mesra.
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ShareIndiGo appoints Chhavi Leekha as Director, Corporate Communications & Brand Reputation
Prior to this role, Leekha worked with Nokia India as Head of Marketing and Communications
IndiGo airlines, part of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, has appointed Chhavi Leekha as Director Corporate Communications and Brand Reputation. Prior to this role, she worked with Nokia India as Head of Marketing and Communications. Her role included setting the direction and leading Nokia's marketing strategy, demand generations, brand strategy, event management, advertising, external/internal communications, corporate affairs &CSR.
Leekha has also worked with Uber India as Consulting Director of Communications and also served a stint at Spice Global as Group President, Brand and Corporate Communications.
Leekha has completed her MBA from the prestigious Narsee Monjee Institue of Management Studies and BA from Shri Ram College of Commerce.
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Aditya Birla Group appoints Sandeep Gurumurthi as Head of Corporate Comm. and Brand
Gurumurthi who was part of the core team that launched ET NOW stepped down from his role as Managing Editor in August 2018
Aditya Birla Group has appointed former ET Now Managing Editor Sandeep Gurumurthi as Head of Corporate Communications and Brand.
Gurumurthi who was part of the core team that launched ET Now stepped down from his role as Managing Editor in August 2018.
He was associated with the channel since inception and besides anchoring breaking news and other special shows, he hosted ET Now's flagship debate show India Development Debate weeknights at 9 pm.
Gurumurthi began his career with national broadcaster DD News, and prior to joining ET Now, he was associated with CNBC TV18,
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Yaap appoints Deepak Singh as Chief Creative Officer
Singh is one of the most awarded creative talents in the country and has won over 1000 national and international awards
Rainmaker Ventures-backed Yaap, the digital advertising agency has appointed Deepak Singh as their Chief Creative Officer. Deepak will be based in the Mumbai office and will oversee all creative functions across the Yaap network in Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Shillong, Dubai, Singapore & Jakarta. He will report directly to the Board of Directors at Yaap.
Singh is one of the most awarded creative talents in the country and has won over 1000 national and international awards at Cannes, One Show, LIA, New York Festival, Goafest, Adfest, Spikes Asia, Young Guns and more. He has also been on the jury of some of these prestigious festivals and led creative teams across agencies including Leo Burnett, Grey Worldwide, McCann Erickson, DDB Mudra, TBWA, Dentsu and The Social Street.
For the past 3 consecutive years, Singh has led a young team from The Social Street, which has gone on to give an exhilarating performance. He has been instrumental in securing the Creative Agency of the year title for the agency, several times during 2018.
Commenting on his new role, he added, “Saying yes to Yaap was actually not a very tough decision to make for me. Right from the time we first met, Atul had a clear picture of why he wanted to hire me. I am glad he has chalked out a much bigger role for me. Being a young and vibrant company with expertise in Digital Content, Design and Influencer Marketing, Yaap I believe will be a great learning experience for me. I’m raring to go “
Atul Hegde, co-founder Rainmaker Ventures added “Deepak is a welcome addition to the array of Partners we have at Yaap, which has a unique non CEO model, our aim as investors, is to ensure that we are able to attract the best & brightest of talent into the senior management pool at Yap. Within a short span of fewer than 3 Years, Yaap has grown into 70+ people across 7 offices in South East Asia, India & the Middle East and it was the right time for us to bring in a Senior Creative talent. I wish Deepak all the very best and I’m sure he will be a great asset to Yaap. “
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Leo Burnett India promotes Rakesh Hinduja to COO, West
He has been leading the operations of Leo Burnett’s head office in Mumbai as the Executive Director and Branch Head
Leo Burnett has announced the promotion of Rakesh Hinduja to Chief Operating Officer, West. He will continue to report to Dheeraj Sinha, Managing Director, India and Chief Strategy Officer, South Asia and Rajdeepak Das, Managing Director, India and Chief Creative Officer, South Asia.
Hinduja has been leading the operations of Leo Burnett’s head office in Mumbai as the Executive Director and Branch Head.
Speaking about the elevation, Dheeraj Sinha said, “Rakesh is the perfect role model for the new-age agency we are building. His leadership on all the three parameters of People, Product and Profit has been stellar. Under his watch, we have consistently seen spectacular work that has won our brands market-share, and glory at platforms such as Cannes Lions, Spikes and Effies. He has delivered high-quality growth for the Mumbai office, leading the teams to win a new business almost every two weeks. The momentum and buzz at Leo Burnett Mumbai are palpable. Rakesh has been an amazing team player, helping push the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One agenda. Leo Burnett Mumbai’s contribution to our services such as Prodigious has helped Prodigious to become the number one ‘agency production house’ in the country within a span of two years. More than anything else, Rakesh has a never-say-die attitude and he always plays the game with a sense of camaraderie that we really value at Leo Burnett.”
In his new role, Hinduja will drive the Power of One agenda for Leo Burnett in the West. He will help build cross-platform solutions for our clients using our services in Entertainment (Publicis Entertainment), Content (Content Factory), Experiential (Arc Worldwide), Production (Prodigious), Digital (Indigo Consulting and Digitas) and Media (Zenith Optimedia, Ecosys and Beehive). He will lead all the functions of Leo Burnett Mumbai to create world-class work, build a high growth business and create a culture where people come to do the best work of their lifetime.
Commenting on Rakesh’s promotion, Rajdeepak Das said, “Rakesh is always there, backing great creative work and making integrated thinking happen for our clients. He has been an essential part of the journey to get where we are today. This elevation is much-deserved and will take all of us to greater heights.”
Talking about his promotion, Rakesh Hinduja said, “I am happy with my journey at Leo Burnett – a new-age, solution-providing ‘Wave 3’ agency. I’m proud of the brave we have work done and I am hungry for more. Hereon, there are a lot of exciting things to do and in quick time. I want to take a critical pause here to thank all our clients and the Burnetters for their belief in me.”
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Publicis India appoints Neeraj Bassi as Managing Partner & Chief Strategy Officer
Along with Srija Chatterjee and Bobby Pawar, Bassi will help in fostering collaboration and delivering on the Power of One synergy across the Groupe
Publicis India has announced the appointment of Neeraj Bassi as Managing Partner & Chief Strategy Officer. Neeraj will work from the agency’s New Delhi office. Along with Srija Chatterjee and Bobby Pawar, Neeraj will help in fostering collaboration and delivering on the Power of One synergy across the Groupe.
With over two decades of professional experience, Neeraj has worked with some of the world’s most renowned brands including Coca-Cola, Asian Paints, Cadbury, BMW, KFC, Adidas, Samsung, British Airways, WeChat, Voltas, Audi, HSBC, Max Life and Tata Singapore Airlines – Vistara among others.
He joins Publicis after a brief stint as an independent Consultant where he provided strategic guidance and brand solutions for multiple clients across various categories. Neeraj has worked with some of the top market research networks such as TNS, IMRB, and NFO and led the Strategic Planning function in advertising agencies including Cheil, Ogilvy, JWT, McCann in India and abroad. Neeraj has also won multiple awards across reputed award festivals that recognise effectiveness such as Effies (India & APAC), AMES, WARC, etc.
Announcing the new appointment and welcoming Neeraj aboard, Saurabh Varma, CEO, Publicis Communications, South Asia said: “In Neeraj, we found a partner with a shared vision of driving a deeper level of integration within the Groupe by leveraging the Power of One model. Neeraj’s vast experience and media neutral planning approach will help clients in building a holistic brand experience which will aim to create one-to-one consumer engagement, at scale. I look forward to working with Neeraj and wish him the best of luck.”
Welcoming Neeraj to the Publicis family, Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director - Publicis Worldwide, India said: “Neeraj joins at a time when the Groupe is implementing a profound transformation which puts our clients front and centre of everything that we do. His wealth of experience of working across diverse sectors and with cross-functional teams will help build a narrative around our clients’ business and marketing transformation that connects data, content and technology in an omnichannel world. I’m excited to welcome Neeraj to the Publicis Groupe family, and we look forward to him riding the next strategic wave at the agency.”
Bobby Pawar, MD & CCO - Publicis Worldwide, India added: “I’ve always believed great work is born out of a strong partnership between strategy, creative and clients. Neeraj Bassi has a history of creating strategic platforms that killer ideas can springboard from. His cross-platform approach to planning will also be a huge asset to our march towards the future of creativity. It also helps that he is fun to be around. I can chat with him for hours; the chemistry is very important when you are going to be more or less living out of each other’s metaphorical pockets.”
Commenting on his appointment, and his plans for the agency, Neeraj Bassi said: “I am really excited to be part of Publicis India and looking forward to partnering Bobby and Srija to create stellar work that stands out in the market. Working with clients as an independent consultant has given me insight on the primary concerns of CXOs and how communication can help resolve them. Clients today need an omnichannel approach to planning that focuses on identifying and solving their business problems holistically, rather than getting trapped in a discipline-specific approach. I am fascinated by the way all Groupe companies have come together at Publicis to create Power of One, and I look forward to wielding this power to build successful campaigns for our clients.”
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Airbnb appoints Google's Aristotle Balogh as Chief Technology Officer
Balogh formerly served as Vice President of Engineering, Application Storage, Indexing and Serving at Google
Airbnb has announced the appointment of Aristotle Balogh as Chief Technology Officer, according to media reports.
Balogh is expected to begin his tenure with Airbnb in November and will head the engineering and data science teams. He will also be in charge of infrastructure, information security and IT, as well as engineering for payments and community support.
Balogh formerly served as Vice President of Engineering, Application Storage, Indexing and Serving at Google, where he was instrumental in developing the infrastructure and data platforms of Google Search. He also worked as Chief Technology Officer at Yahoo and VeriSign.
According to reports, the company is expected to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) next year and Balogh's appointment comes at a time when Airbnb is still without a Chief Financial Officer after Laurence Tosi stepped down from the role earlier this year.
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