One of the main things was that I did not have such a strong understanding of how influential TV was, for example. This is different from the European and US perspective, where print and online medium are more influential. All these here are still developing. We are also starting to see more specialist interest magazines develop here and that is why our focus is different here.
Andrew Goldman is responsible for the global development and implementation of external and internal communications strategy for Philips Consumer Electronics. Working with both local and regional Philips teams as well as with an international PR agency network, Goldman is responsible for the overall positioning of Philips Consumer Electronics among influential external stakeholders such as the international media, industry and financial analysts. Internal positioning regarding Philips Consumer Electronics mission and vision among Philips’ 165,000 employees is also a fundamental part of Goldman’s role. In conversation with exchange4media’s Pritie S Jadhav on his first visit to India, the Vice-President Communications of Philips Consumer Electronics speaks about Philips’ emphasis on public relations and the way forward. Excerpts: Q. What are the varied experiences that you can share given your vast experience with different organisations?
It’s been a very exciting company to work with because I think it is changing so quickly. A company that has been established for many, many years there is always that re-inventive cycle and it goes through changes and I think we have seen a lot of that. I have been here for three years and that time we had a new brand campaign and some consolidation within the organisation as well, every organisation you work is different. But then, there are some similarities as well. So, you are always learning and applying some of the things you have learnt in the past.
My time at Philips has been very exciting and I have worked in two different divisions.
Q. What is the purpose of your visit to India?
There are interesting opportunities every time. In India, consumers have started to buy different types consumer electronics products more and more, so coming here and understanding the consumer behaviour is a very important part of my focus. It is to really understand how the market place works and to meet some of my colleagues and to understand some of the challenges they have to face. Because working in a central function in the global head office is a different thing and discussing the strategic focus is very different than to actually seeing how you implement it. It has been a learning experience.
Q. What is the insight that you have taken from India?
One of the main things was that I did not have such a strong understanding of how influential TV was, for example. This is different from the European and US perspective, where print and online medium are more influential. All these here are still developing.
We are also starting to see more specialist interest magazines develop here and that is why our focus is different here.
Q. What, according to you, is the outlook of PR in India and globally?
From what I have heard, it sounds like there is a lot of opportunity. It looks like the public relations industry has grown here tremendously. I mean, it clearly started with multinational organisations coming in, but now the media landscape is changing very quickly and it represents a lot of opportunity. It is a good channel of communication.
Q. For a corporate like Philips how important is public relations?
We put a lot of emphasis and importance on the public relations domain and the main reason for that is that Philips as a company has been around for well over 100 years, has established various brands, but most importantly, has a strong reputation. Also, much depends on the business you are in, which means that if people buy products from a company then they want to understand that the company has a good reputation, got a good standing in terms of quality and sustainability, so I think those issues are best communicated through public relations. It is often difficult to communicate these through other forms of marketing, advertising, for example. I think particularly because Philips is growing in the healthcare area and customers like doctors, hospitals and medical establishments want to be assured of a product from a reputed company.
Also we are a public listed company and we have to communicate around our best practices, corporate governance. A lot of this communication goes to the media, particularly, the financial media, and hence the PR exercise is very important to Philips.
Q. How has the public relations domain changed for Philips after the new identity of ‘Sense and Simplicity’ had been put in place?
We have always worked very closely with the marketing communications functions, the brand management functions, and I think perhaps if anything, then there is more emphasis on our communications in our PR and the message that we want the consumers to understand about ‘Sense and Simplicity’.
Also, that was one of the reasons why we launched the campaign and communicated to the consumers of how simple things are with Philips.
Q. Are there any processes and strategies in place, which form as a mandate for PR globally for Philips?
Yes, we have a corporate communications function, I mean, the way we work is that we have many different divisions, and consumer electronics is one of them. So, the one important process that we have in place is to make sure that there is effective coordination of messaging. It will not be useful to Philips if parts of the different divisions were putting out different press relations on the same day. We work closely with the central communications function to make sure we have effective coordination and have a more compelling Philips message.
Q. Would you agree that PR is, on a majority basis, considered only media relations? How can the industry move away from this common belief?
There is a lot of strategic value to the public relations function and it is not just about press releases. There are a lot of other activities revolving around PR. I don’t know much about India, but studies done recently in Europe and the US is that consumers tend to rely on things like word of mouth and recommendations from colleagues, and a lot of this can be achieved through PR.
Q. What is Philips doing to change this?
PR cannot be used in isolation, but it has to be integrated with marketing and other functions. The way we work within Philips is that marketing colleagues, market intelligence colleagues and brand management colleagues as well as the guys who do the e-business activities and the PR community work very closely together.