‘We will see movement from storytelling to storyliving’

The year has ushered in 356 days to be filled with achievements, success stories, and thoughts and ideas. This is also the time to stop and reminisce about the year that was – rethink our learnings, be grateful for our triumphs, and imbibe wisdom from our mistakes, all the while preparing ourselves for the days ahead.

As we pause to reflect on 2022 and what it has left us with, we present 'Epilogue 2022', a year-ender series from e4m PR & Corp Comm that will feature stalwarts from the Indian PR fraternity. Today, we have Nitin Mantri, Group CEO of Avian WE, which includes its subsidiary Chase India,  a public policy and regulatory affairs firm that he co-founded. In December 2022, he was inducted into the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) Hall of Fame.

Excerpts:

What are the changes you have seen in the industry this year (2022)?

The industry is almost back to pre-Covid activity levels: In-person pitches, business meetings and events are in full swing. Business travel also rebounded strongly and was almost at 2019 levels. But talk of a slow economy may result in some cutting back of expenses in the first quarter of 2023.

Hybrid work has become mainstream and is here to stay: Progressive organisations have taken a hard look at their values and beliefs, discarded practices that are not aligned to the demands of a post-Covid world, and build an adaptable organisational culture that has employee engagement, growth, and welfare at its core. Mental well-being is a key metric for employee retention, with 70 per cent of companies making additional investments in mental health resources.

More empathetic leaders: The pandemic has ushered in a whole new leadership paradigm. Post-pandemic leaders are no longer superhumans that plough through problems with unflinching perfection. They are real, vulnerable and lead with the heart. They listen better and engage in two-way communications.

Heightened awareness of health and hygiene: It resulted in increased focus on healthcare communications. Our latest 'Brands in Motion' whitepaper, 'The Healthcare Mandate', demonstrated that audiences expect the health sector to have the greatest impact on positive change in the world. Yet, consumers view it with apathy. As their communications partners, we have worked on several campaigns that focussed on building a deeper connection with the people the industry serves, and shift what is currently a one-sided relationship to one of mutual respect.

Greater focus on purpose-driven campaigns: The latest 'Brands in Motion' report, 'The Bravery Mandate: Make it Real', has shown that consumers want companies to join other trusted institutions in offering solutions to the urgent challenges affecting their daily lives. At the same time, skepticism is growing about whether companies are actually delivering on their goals. Brands are aware of this and have been taking our help to document their purpose journey. The Magical Mangroves initiative by Godrej & Boyce and WWF India is a great example of community outreach, where the power of communication was deployed to roll out a campaign that included the youth as agents of impactful environmental change. The partnership has been encouraging citizens to join the conservation effort to protect the mangroves in the coastal states of India.

Increased use of data: PR has always been about keeping a finger on the pulse of consumers, events and trends to build compelling narratives for our clients. With consumers demanding that companies be more publicly-transparent about how they’re responding to current and emerging issues in society, the importance of data and analytics increased manifold this year. We are now gleaning important insights on key performance indicators like SEO, media reach, earned media and audience behaviour to help evaluate outcomes and inform our clients’ future efforts.

What are the trends that have yielded optimum results this year? Are there any global trend practices that you would like the Indian PR/ Corp Comm fraternity to adopt?

Integrated PR, data-driven storytelling, digital media and building brand purpose were some of the trends that yielded optimum results this year. I have discussed most of them in the previous question.

We are rapidly moving ahead in the area of digital communications and will do more so in the new year. Do you feel that new technology can co-exist harmoniously with the traditional ways of PR and corporate communications?

Our business has a lot to do with engagement. And that requires all sorts of tools and tactics depending on the audience. Our latest 'WE Brands in Motion' report, 'The Bravery Mandate: Make it Real', has revealed that the top ways brands are expected to communicate publicly with, especially older cohorts, are press releases and media statements, television media interviews and public Q&A sessions, while social media or two-way channels are preferred by younger people. We will also see movement from storytelling to storyliving as we use platforms like the Metaverse for customer engagement.

As we reach full-time normalcy, there has been a fresh revival in talent acquisition and salary restoration. What are the other areas that you are expecting a full revival of?

At Avian WE, there was no reduction in our staff or their compensation, during the pandemic year. In fact, bonuses were paid out as usual. In the last two years, we have added 100 more people, so talent acquisition remains a priority. Life has very much returned to normal with every aspect of work witnessing a full revival.