Vivek Sengupta, President, IPAN

Vivek Sengupta, who is at the helm of IPAN, has a 27-year association with the communications business, including corporate communications, management consulting, public relations, public diplomacy, print journalism, electronic media and teaching communications at the university level. His skill set traverses strategic communications, crisis communications, advocacy, media relations, media analysis, information management and dissemination, news writing, news editing and political and business environment analysis.

Sengupta shifted to public relations after a 15-year stint in print and broadcast journalism. He has worked for several well-known publications including The Telegraph, where he was editor in-charge of the editorial, oped and book review pages.

Having done his Masters in Communication and International Relations from the USA, Sengupta has been associated with IPAN for the past 11 years, having held positions like Director-Media Services, General Manager and Vice-President. He has counselled well-known Indian and multinational organizations like Goldman Sachs, Cisco Systems, Hindustan Lever, NIIT, Escorts Group and ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd.).

In conversation with Sumita Patra of exchange4media, he shares his views on the PR and communications industry. Excerpts:

Q. Today, PR firms are dime a dozen. How does IPAN ensure that there is differentiation with other PR outfits?

We believe that our heritage, our expertise, our approach, the range of services we offer, our infrastructure, which means our network, reach and technological infrastructure, cumulatively give us a distinctive edge.

Q. Does it help being a part of the JWT fold?

Yes, of course, it helps being a part of JWT.

Q. How organized is the PR industry today? Where do you see this industry panning out in the years to come?

The impression that I get is that the number of players is quite large-- from single man or single woman operations to large outfits that have staff strengths in triple digits. I suppose everybody will find their place in the sun.

Q. Has the Internet changed the way PR agencies work?

Yes, it has! One, in terms of the infrastructure that the Internet provides and, two, it has become yet another means of communication. Every new means of communication gives you one more avenue to explore.

Q. IPAN is among the first public relations agencies to come up in India. What are the core values of IPAN?

Fundamentally, IPAN is an information-driven company. Our approach to public relations is information-driven rather than contact-led, which means that we leverage information to the client’s strategic advantage. This does not mean that we do not value relationships; we believe in relationships and we nurture relationships. But essentially and fundamentally, we marshal facts and information in such a manner that we are able to make a compelling case on behalf of a client. That’s our approach to public relations and public affairs.

Q. How?

Well, it is always good to be part of a larger organization. JWT is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world and, in India; it is the largest communications conglomerate, with interests in advertising, market research, public relations and so on. In business terms also, it helps in terms of referrals and so forth, although we function autonomously.

Q. Is there a concrete role that PR agencies can play in 360 degree solutions for brands?

PR can always play a concrete role in communications solutions for brands whether it is 360 degree or as a part of integrated communications. That’s a matter of description, but PR can provide a very tangible, a very credible, and a very useful input into the overall communications solution for any brand/company.

Q. What, according to you, are essential qualities of a good PR professional?

Well a PR professional certainly should be like a journalist, a renaissance person. PR is too serious a business to be left to PR professionals, just as war is too serious a business to be left to generals. As with journalism, so with PR: communications specialists with multiple dimensions can add enormous value. In journalism, you have to be interested in and knowledgeable about different areas, different industries, different disciplines. Likewise, in PR, we are constantly dealing with companies that are in different industries, or within the same industry, whose approaches are different, whose product lines are different, whose markets are different. We have to constantly apply ourselves to the requirements of our individual clients in our diverse client base.

The other requirement for a good PR professional is much like the requirement for a good lawyer. What does a good advocate do? He figures out that this is the line I have to take. In order to take this line, I have to find facts and arguments, which will help me, make a compelling case so that the judge is persuaded to decide in my client’s favour. Likewise, we have to take facts, information and arguments in order to make a compelling case on behalf of our client, so that the audience, whether it is a journalist or whether it is somebody else in the public domain who we are trying to reach out to, sees merit in that case

Q. What factors do you take into account before deciding the communication strategy for a client?

Well, the number one factor is the business objective of the client. Thereafter, the communication programme has to be designed in a way that it furthers that business objective. The other factors would depend on the circumstances of each company, brand or particular case.

Q. Who are your major clients? Do you have specialized teams to handle specific domains?

Some of our leading clients include HLL, Kingfisher Airlines, Swaatch Group, ESPN, Berger Paints, Philips, Aviva Life Insurance, Castrol, Continental Airlines, Lucent Technologies, monsterindia.com, Goldman Sachs, CRY, ITC, Oxford Bookstore, among others.

We don’t have specialized teams to handle specific domains, but yes, there are executives who may be specializing in certain kinds of clientele. There may be some executives who do better with finance industry clients. There may be others who do better with FMCG clients. There are some who specialize in say media relations; there are some who specialize in crisis communications. So, when we create servicing teams for our clients, we pick people who we believe would be more appropriate or more suited for the requirements of that particular client.

Q. How do you distinguish the role of PR and advertising? Do you think PR plays a secondary role in the entire communication process of a client or a brand?

To put it bluntly, advertising is paid communications, PR is unpaid communications. Advertising is what you claim about yourself, PR is what others see about you. The communications programme of a particular brand or company would depend on its own peculiar and distinctive needs. A company may require only advertising for its communications needs. Another may require or prefer to do only public relations to build a brand or build its own reputation. A third may want to do a combination of both. So, it is the people handling the communications with respective brands/companies who have to take the call as to what kind of mix they will have. I don’t think it is fair to say that the one is more important than the other, each has its own role to play.

Q. Tell us something about IPAN’s Resource Centre.

The Resource Centre is the back office, as it were, of IPAN. At one level, it looks after the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of information -- for ourselves as well as our clients. At another level, it adds value to that information and produces secondary material -- again for ourselves as well as our clients. Information in the public domain is the wherewithal of the Resource Centre.

Q. On a broader platform, what are the concerns facing the PR industry today?

The challenge is to get more and more corporates to see value in information driven PR. If they see value they will pay for that service.

Q. How do you see the growth of this industry in the next few years?

I think the PR industry has a very bright future, and it will grow. With the economy and consequently markets growing, there is a definite need for the kind of service that this industry provides, especially in a competitive environment where everybody is vying for the attention of audiences of different kinds.

Q. Having seen both the professions from a senior level, how do you see the two being intrinsically different?

They are akin to each other, different aspects of the same communications business. When you come down to the basics, I don’t see a lot of difference between the two. Look at it this way, you are writing a report and I am writing a news release which I will issue on behalf of my client. The only difference between the two would be that I have to think of my PR audience when I prepare my news release and you have to think of your audience, your readers, when you write your news report. As a writer of a news release and as a writer of a news report, we are really playing with information and playing with words. We are both wordsmiths and purveyors of information.

Q. On a personal front, you had a successful career in journalism before you shifted to PR. What made you switch your profession?

I have always regarded myself as someone who is in the information business. Journalism is but one aspect of that information business. PR/Public Affairs is another aspect. I have tried to explain, earlier on in the course of our chat, how much similarity there is between the two professions. They are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. I have been an editorial writer for many years for a leading newspaper. When you write an editorial, you make a compelling case in 450-600 words for a particular point of view. As a PR practitioner, what I do is not any different. I am making a compelling case for a point of view. I pick up arguments, I pick up information and then I say this is what it should be.