‘Brand communication has become more about meaningful connections with consumers’

At the 12^th edition of India PR and Corporate Communications Conference (IPRCCC), a panel of industry experts held a discussion on how the ‘confluence of media is shaping and changing the narrative’. The panel comprised Bibhu Ranjan Mishra, Director of Public Relations, Inmobi; Dr. Navneet Anand Founder, Director, GreyMatters Communications; and Nimisha Iyer, Director - Marketing - Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), Frost & Sullivan. The session was moderated by Hoshie Ghaswalla, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Editor at Businessworld.

The session kicked off with a discussion on how the PR and Corp Comm sector has changed over the last two years. Iyer said given the rapidly increasing digital footprint of businesses, there has been a complete shift in the way brands are reaching out to their customers.

She explained, “Brands are trying to connect with their customers in a much more meaningful way. There are no more boundaries, and it has become more about storytelling, thoughtful positioning, solving your customers’ problems and addressing their pain points in real time. So during the last two years of Covid, there has been a lot more humanization of brands.”

She said this means that the PR industry has evolved to become far more agile and adept so as to be able to keep up with these changing industry dynamics. Citing the example of virtual agencies, which have now become a norm, she said, “the move to online was inevitable and I believe that a lot of the disruptions that have occurred over the last two years are here to stay.”

Anand agreed with this viewpoint, with the addendum that the public’s perceptions over the pandemic had become more focused. “For a long time, all information was clogged with news about corona; 90 per cent of information whether in digital or print was all about corona. The silver lining is that communications remained constant. Even as work-from-home was happening, offices were closed and businesses were suffering, those in the communications space had their hands full.”

He added the gatecrashing of digital, which saw so many new entrants learning how to access information online, also led to a change in how the medium was perceived. “Earlier most people only looked at digital media as a source of entertainment, but because of the pandemic and the mass adoption of the medium, digital has become a source of serious information, news, and accessing goods and services,” said Anand.

Mishra also addressed the fact that the pandemic had made the way in which brands approach their customers as well as engage with them a lot more empathetic. “I noticed a lot of stories and communication around self-promotion mellowed down, and instead brands and services were talking about actual user benefits of what they can provide. The sense of corporate social responsibility has greatly increased and brands are trying to connect with their customers emotionally and provide as much possible value to their customers.”

Mishra also noted that because of that widening sense of empathy, brands were getting individuals to share their personal user experiences as this resonated more with customers. He concluded, saying, “The skills of storytelling and communication have been truly honed over the pandemic with brands finding truly creative and meaningful ways to engage with customers.”