'IPRCCA Lifetime Achievement Award is not a retirement honour but a mid-life booster'

For over 15 years, Atul Ahluwalia, Founding Partner at First Partners, has steered some of the most memorable campaigns which have won both domestic and international accolades at the most prestigious platforms. And all his years of unflinching dedication and hard work paid off when he was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the recently-held IPRCCA.

Excerpts from the interview:

Campaigns conceptualised and executed by First Partners bring home multiple awards from every event. What has been the secret behind the award-winning and successful campaigns? Tell us some of your most memorable campaigns.

The secret of our successful run at awards is our campaign-based approach to storytelling. While conceptualising campaigns, we look at the big picture and then map client priorities with national and social priorities. This leads to campaigns which are in harmony with the external environment.

Also, to ensure that our campaigns are fully thought through, we go through a four-step process to ensure that our campaigns hit the bulls-eye. This requires answering four ‘whys’ perfectly -

• Is the campaign sharply targeting the primary target audience?
• Whether it is in sync with the brand identity and proposition?
• Is it delivering messages in a unique and creative manner?
• Is the campaign budget giving a good return on investment (ROI)?

All our campaigns are memorable. However, if I have to pick a few, I will highlight the following:

1. ITC Mangaldeep Temple Run – A campaign devised to enrol a large number of Indians into a behaviour change programme for waste segregation in prominent temples in line with the PM’s vision of a Swachh Bharat
2. Jhpiego #NurseMidwife4Change campaign – The pandemic reinforced the immense contribution of nurses, who have historically faced neglect. This campaign built support for nurses by bringing to focus their contribution towards healthcare delivery and elevating their profile and status
3. Hyundai India’s Silver Jubilee campaign – This campaign commemorated Hyundai’s completion of a quarter century in India as a frontrunner automobile brand through a creative campaign which juxtaposed Hyundai’s 25 years in India with the country’s remarkable socioeconomic transformation in the last 25 years. It featured 25 handpicked journalists who travelled to 25 different corners of India in Hyundai cars to explore compelling stories of Rising India.
4. ITC Well-being Out of Waste (WOW) Campaign – A campaign to make India aware of the enormity of the waste disposal problem, bring together several stakeholders and motivate them to work together to address this monumental issue.
5. Sakha Cabs – Women on Wheels – A campaign to elicit the Delhi Government’s support to address barriers to adopting women drivers in public transport, to make Delhi safer for women.

First Partners is about to complete seven successful years of operations. What have been some of the highlights of the journey?

We will be completing seven years in July 2023. The biggest highlight is that we have been able to stay true to our vision of being “the best and not necessarily the biggest”, a credo inspired by one of my early clients, Mr PRS Oberoi. This is validated by us becoming the most award-winning PR Agency in India for three years in a row.

Another highlight is that we have been able to win confidence of the some of the biggest global and Indian brands. First Partners, today, has a good mix of clients, which include MNCs, large Indian corporates, industry associations, Government institutions, start-ups and not-for-profits, amongst others.

Leading with innovation, First Partners is the only PR agency in India which has consistently organised industry events promoting innovation in communication. We have also created several innovative proprietary models for specific communication deliverables, which, we believe, are landmarks in the industry.

You have served as the founding member of Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) and the chairman of the Constitutional and Advisory Committee of PRCAI. Tell us about your experience and how you have seen PRCAI grow and evolve over the years.

Over two decades ago, seven industry leaders came together and founded PRCAI to give our PR industry a collective voice and a platform to enhance its reputation. I am proud to be one of its founding members.

It gives me immense pleasure to see that PRCAI has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, it is a robust association with its own secretariat and members representing not just PR consultancies but also corporate communication professionals.

My role as Chairman of the Constitutional & Advisory Committee was to update the constitution and bring into the association’s fold Public Affairs (PA) and Digital practices, which were not included earlier. This was done keeping in mind the growing importance and relevance of PA and Digital in today’s world of communications.

You have completed 30 years in the PR industry. What have been your key takeaways from these three decades?  

The PR industry has come a long way in the last three decades with the audience, medium and message, all having undergone a sea change. Today’s audience are younger, more socially conscious and extremely demanding. Medium is real-time, putting high demands on PR professionals. And the messages are no longer about the brands but the communities they operate in.

However, I believe that the PR industry still has a long way to go and is somewhat restricted by its own glass ceiling.

Therefore, PR professionals today need to go beyond classic PR expertise and expand their skills on Public Policy and CSR to make it a compelling combination for business leaders. I also believe that PR needs to combine the two levers of building a reputation for clients, which is a long-term exercise with supporting business outcomes which give a more immediate return.

Tell us about how you feel about your latest win at the IPRCCA 2022.

I see the IPRCCA Lifetime Achievement Award not as a retirement award but as a mid-life booster.

When I was conferred the PR Professional of the Year Award (Agency) by IPRCCA 11 years ago, it gave me immense motivation to work harder.

Now when I was thinking of what next, this Lifetime Achievement award has given me another boost to continue for many more years to come. I feel delighted and honoured for being chosen for this award.