‘PR agencies actively expanding ambit to cater to brands in new & innovative ways’

With the passage of time, the lines between PR, advertising, and marketing are fading. There are brands that are now looking for a balance between different communication channels to convey their message in the most impactful way. Although the agencies and brands have been successful in providing the same, there are some challenges that have become unavoidable.

In a conversation with e4m, Kunal Kishore, Founder-Director at Value 360 Communications, says that a tool like data mining can help a business take the right calls through projection and analysis in line with industry trends.

Excerpts:

Today, when every professional is inclined towards the virtual world, how important it is to maintain face-to-face relationship/communication with clients?

While virtual meetings are convenient and save a significant amount of time, they cannot replace in-person engagement. This is especially true for the PR business which is built on forging relationships; there has to be a face-to-face interaction for better understanding and connection between stakeholders. To be more specific, while every conversation can take place on a video call, one can only gauge a person’s body language in a face-to-face setup. For instance, an in-person interaction with a client can make all the difference since we can get a sense of their mind-space and belief in the plans and activities that we are recommending. So, while video calls are convenient, there should be a healthy frequency of meeting clients face to face.

After using the amalgamation of digital and traditional practices, what has been the success ratio for agencies?

After navigating the digital-first work landscape for a couple of years, we now sense a balance of power between traditional and new media. Certain communication still requires the traditional route while some conversations are best suited for new media. For instance, zillennials are no longer reading newspapers but are consuming news pieces through discovery on social media platforms. The success on any communication being delivered to consumers can be mapped basis the target audience. Both new and traditional media comprise channels that are playing their parts in ensuring the success of any campaign.

What are the provisions/steps/plans/initiatives that you have in place to ensure and strengthen regional reach?

Regional activation has always been a core tenet of our overall strategy. We work on a hub and spoke model wherein our bases in key metros like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore engage directly with senior media and mass media reach is carried out by multiple regional partners. We are aligned with India’s vast and fast-growing regional demand and are working towards a pan-India presence for our brands as we continue to increase our footprint across the country.

How have new tools like data mining and data management helped professionals in data mitigation?

In the current world where copious amounts of data is being generated every second, it is very important for brands to invest in data mining and analysis. This is to stay on top of multiple data points to understand how the brand is bring perceived, the ongoing brand sentiment, and the conversations around the brand building across several stakeholders. It is also important to analyse the sentiment regarding the overall industry which can have a lasting impact on the brand. Data mining helps identify possible risk to a brand’s reputation, alerting them to take necessary action.

That said, data mining is not just a tool to predict potential reputation damage, it can also help a business take the right calls through projection and analysis of factors that need to be taken into consideration in line with industry trends.

How have PR agencies been successful in expanding their territorial reach in the advertising and marketing space? 

With technology advancing and digital trends gaining traction, the lines between PR, advertising, and marketing are quickly blurring. Brands are looking for a balance between different communication channels to deliver their core message in the most impactful way. Given that PR is becoming more holistic than ever, with meaningful campaigns and conversations taking precedence over run-of-the-mill press releases, PR agencies are actively expanding their ambit to cater to brands in new and innovative ways.

At Value 360 Communications, we identified this changing industry dynamic in the early stages. At a group level, we are already building various functional capabilities under independent units. Our influencer marketing start-up ClanConnect and digital creative platform Popkorn work cohesively with our PR efforts to check every box for our clients. With such an approach, we have been able to emerge as an integrated communications technology platform that offers end-to-end services to clients, from extensive PR campaigns to digital creative campaigns and influencer activation.

A digital-first world where brands are looking to capitalize on paid, owned and earned media simultaneously underscores the importance of alignment between PR and advertising. Fortunately, this is the exact trajectory in which the industry is currently moving.