'The primary role of an agency is to advice their client on critical issues'

In the first session of the third edition of the e4m’s PR and Corp Comm 40 under 40 Summit 2021, the panellists discussed the topic ‘Should brands and agencies take a public stand on their campaigns, especially during times of crisis?’ They also shared their insights on the prerequisites that agencies should recommend their clients, in terms of communication, and how the current generation seeks information about the stand of brands. 

The panellists of the first session were Tarundeep Singh, Chief Growth Officer at The 23 Watts; Subir Moitra, Chief Communication Officer at TTC, and Bhaskar Majumdar, Head - Corporate Affairs, Communications and Digital, Egis Group. Ruhail Amin, the Senior Editor at BW BusinessWorld, moderated this session.

The discussion kickstarted with Ruhail Amin mentioning how we are currently living in a connected world where everything touches upon us more intensely than it used to do before. Talking about how agencies are dealing with the new era of communication and whether or not agencies are willing to take a stand, Moitra said, “Having been in the profession for quite some time now, what I see is a major departure from where we started about 20 years ago on the kind of mandate that we used to handle and the communication outline we used to get when compared to the current situation that we are in. Especially after this covid situation, we are hearing a lot about the purpose-driven approach to communication and that is leading the way for a lot of brands. They want to be purpose-driven and talk about why are they here in the scheme of things and what do they stand for. And that is why it has become very important for brands to take a stand,” he elaborated. “In fact, a lot of CEOs these days are taking a stand. They are the custodians of various organisations but they are becoming active because nowadays even employees want to know what their organisation stands for. They look up to CEOs as their role models,” he further added.

Majumdar agreed to Moitra and added, “Agencies have always been consultants to various brands and I think that the primary role of every consultancy or agency is to advice the client on critical issues and what stand they should take, irrespective of the brand agreeing or not. With the kind of dynamic environment we have, I think that brands are becoming more conscious about taking a stand but it has to be related to the core business, core values and core thoughts.”

Speaking of the perceptible shift in the way brands are positioning themselves, Singh shared, “We have seen a big shift in how brands worked in the last decade to how it works now. We are living in an information-driven world where we are consuming on the go. We have become polarised as a society – either you are in or you're out. I look at these issues from various perspectives. One is political. When an issue is political, a brand might or might not take a stand. Then there are issues that are politically correct such as ‘Black Lives Matter’, on which everyone took a stand. After that there are issues that are politically incorrect but then they suit the audience, for example, Nike launched a socially conscious ad campaign ‘For once, Don’t do it,' which was an urgent response to the racial turmoil gripping the USA. At the end of the day, the brand has to look at their audience and how strong they want their association to be with the audience. We, as an agency, tell our brands that if your audience is holding on to that vibe, you should be participating.”

While talking about whether or not campaigns should necessarily have a social impact in the way they take a stand and how they should respond if they happen to face a backlash, Majumdar elucidated, “The focus of a campaign varies from brand to brand and the kind of products they have and services they offer. A B2C and B2B brand may have a completely different approach. If the campaign connects with the core audience and carries your core messaging, even if there is a backlash –one has to think how positively to present it and how in a better way to manage it rather than taking it off.” He added, “At the end of the day it’s like showcasing a creative – some will like it and others may not. And you have to live with it. The risk will always be there. But withdrawing a particular campaign I don’t think is the right way to go about it because then the brand would be questioned as to why it went ahead with the campaign in the first place.”