“Investment” in Communication

Why to hire PR Agencies?

The buzzword in today’s corporate world is cost control. All the companies rush to the fact of reducing the cost by cutting the operational costs. They cut on employees, they cut on promotional expenses. Amount earmarked for Communication functions is considered to be an "Expenditure" rather than "Investment", even in today’s mature corporate world. The communication budget is the first victim to the 'cost control axe'.

Investment in Communication:

The fact is rather diagonally opposite to this myth.

The moment one understands that the business is sluggish and profits are not coming in, quarterly reports showing the decline graph and the enthusiasm level of employees, business partners is touching sea-bottom. The need of the hour is to “Invest” in Communication.

Because, it is the Communication and only the Communication, which can hold an organisation in high esteem, as it spells out the ideas, values and vision of the management to the inside and outside world of an organisation.

The aggressive communication helps an organisation to counter myths of the world. The Public Relations consultancy is the arm which extends support to an organisation in designing Communication strategies.


Concept of Public Relations:

We now understand the concept of Public Relations: is more of a Corporate function than a Marketing one.

A PR consultancy supports its clients in projecting a corporate identity and helps in overall positioning. The process of positioning, supports the efforts of marketing functions, while building the brand awareness and image of its products.


Role of PR Consultancy:

PR nurtures the plant of mutual understanding, belief and faith between an organisation and its public. PR consultancies performs host of important functions including developing corporate identity and image building, issue management, counseling on the effective use of the media, building strong relationships with key media constituencies.


Need of PR Consultancy:

‘Companies may survive even without outsourcing to a PR consultancy’.

But the corporate world is becoming increasingly competitive and a PR Consultancy in place extending full support to develop brand image, provides the organisation a competitive edge is critical!

Are PR Consultancy firms are performing their roles to the core are they just actng as PR 'Agencies' ?

There is a worldwide business trend to turn towards specialization as companies tend to focus on outsourcing for specialized services.

PR consultancy firm should offer expertise and competency in its field while providing synergistic approach towards solving the communication-related problems of the company and offers an unbiased and objective perspective.


The PR Perspective:

‘How many press clips in a month can you deliver?’

The Corporate world expects PR consultancies to facilitate big news items published on prominently in the media in favour of their Organisations. This is the only deliverable any organisation expects out of a PR Consultancy. The Corporate world doesn’t seem to understand, the way to make best use of a PR Consultancy.

The Indian PR industry is in its infancy stage and is still learning the key basics of this art.

The senior professionals working with leading PR Consultancies are busy enough to justify their jobs to their bosses, their bosses are busy enough to justify huge fee amount being charged from clients.

PR Agencies, who at the top of their voice, shout for Transparency in their Client’s business, better (two-way) communication, better HR practices and so forth, don’t practice best of internal communication, within their own organisation. PR Agencies are afraid of loosing Clients as Chickens fear of loosing their lives. One branch office may not even be aware of their colleagues working in other branches.

Yes, they are Agencies and not Consultancies. They don’t practice what they preach!!

Public Relations! …I know the job…!!

Reason for this is, mushrooming of anybody and everybody as PR agent. They try to beg, borrow or steal business from other agencies, while charging relatively less amount as retainer fee.

The client/s also, being smart enough to save some money, doesn’t spend time to even think twice before appointing their communication partners.

Public Relations industry in the country has many freelancers, small indigenous units with loose international affiliations and advertising agencies masquerading as PR agencies.

Now, the PR ‘Agencies’ have also joined hands with Event management firms and other promotional activity related firms to collectively offer the ‘Integrated Communication Solutions’… aha…sounds greeaaaat!!

But the reality is far away from the fantasy, it is yet to be realized,
What is a PR Consultancy?
Why a Corporate needs to hire them?
Why it is required to have clarity on their deliverables?
Which PR Consultancy to be hired?
What is an ideal size of the Consultancy?
Why a Corporate needs to pay them and what is the right amount to be paid?

These are the questions anybody and everybody would like to answer, and yes, there are no set rules or formulas, which may be applied while implementing Public relations activities.

There is a need for well defined PR concept which can be well understood by the business communities across borders. PR is a science and application of the same is an Art and you need professionals to understand it and experts to practice the same.