Girish30's Blog

PR professionals wishes from Santa

girish30 — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:27:35 +0000

Its Christmas time and everyone’s planning a holiday. Ironically, like every year, my team and I are busy – working. Are we complaining? Definitely, but it’s also fun time at office where spirits are high – literally.

Like my son who makes a wish to Santa for gifts, I too want few wishes to be fulfilled by Santa in 2012 and they are listed below:

• Early closure to pitches – I wish that if a prospect (client) calls for a pitch, they take quick decisions. Teams that work on business pitches spend time and energy researching and putting together the pitch. However, it is demotivating when clients don’t revert and defer their decision inordinately, citing not-so-genuine reasons for the delay in decision making. I hope clients realise that agencies burn the midnight oil to put their best foot forward on pitches.
• Don’t squeeze retainers under the pretence of recession – We all understand that value (ROI) is what clients seek from their agencies. However, it is painful when clients do this under the pretence of recession. May I ask when was the last time a client forego their salary raise due to recession. Just like they need to maintain a certain lifestyle, so do agencies need to pay their employees and retain them.
• Don’t abuse words like creativity / innovation / out-of-the-box – Agencies have heard these words so often that now they have become the most abused words in the history of public relations. While I appreciate the need to come up with something that’s workable, but when asked specifically what they feel would be creative / innovative / out-of-the-box, pat comes the clients’ response, “I don’t know, but this is not exciting.” When did feedback become so generic, or am I to assume clients themselves don’t have clarity in their heads of what they are seeking from an agency
• Undertake closure of contracts / renewals on time: How often have agencies been able to close their contract discussions / renewals on time? I am sure that agencies don’t raise the flag much in advance, but even in genuine cases, I have seen this is the least priority area for a client. Agencies continue to work without contracts and then struggle to recover their retainers. May I ask, how often have clients been happy if there is a delay in their appraisals? Just as they are cognizant of their appraisals, agencies have to be cognizant of their employee appraisals, which is directly linked to the monies the clients pay the agencies
• Lastly don’t ask for Times of India / The Economic Times every time: Yes, these two publications are the most widely read, but what clients need to understand is their news has to be meaty enough to be published every time in these publications. I am not being diffident of agencies’ ability to get news published in these publications, but agencies can’t work on ‘wishful thinking.’
Wishing all my clients and friends in this industry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Glass is half empty or half full – A PR perspective

girish30 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:00:14 +0000

In the past couple of weeks, we all have been reading about how the global economy has been passing through testing times. The global economy, including US & Europe, grew at 3.8% in 2010, which incidentally was a significant improvement from the deceleration of (-) 2.2% in 2009. While the growth looks impressive, there have been markets like Africa and Middle-East which have been strived with internal protests.

Europe is trying to find a solution to its debt crisis and the US is still feeling the heat of S&P downgrade. There have also been reports of a rise in inflation in India and China, which will slow down growth in these two economies. This coupled with reports of slower growth in salary hikes in the current year, doesn’t present an overall impressive picture to an Indian professional class like me.

While many would forecast a grim future, I would like to see the foreseeable future with cautious optimism. Why? Because I see opportunities for us PR professionals despite the grim economic situation and my reasons are cited below

If Europe or USA are going to be hit by economic crisis, the only way their economies will survive if the production gets consumed in emerging economies like India. Thus it would be difficult for a car manufacturer to sell its luxury car in a European market, but quite easy to find buyers in India or China, considering the luxury consumer, rarely gets impacted by slowdown, given the propensity to spend. Which is why we are seeing the huge influx of luxury products in both these countries?

While many will argue that demand is plateau-ing in major metros in India, but what we are not taking into account is the ‘Bharat’ within India, which is witnessing new monies and thus demand for luxury / premium products. The only shift for manufacturers is that they need to move from a metro consumer to a rural consumer.

Similarly, a couple of sectors like education / healthcare (primary & tertiary) will continue to grow given the huge demand for these services in India.

While India’s trade focus has always been tilted towards Europe / USA, we haven’t realized the potential of investments from a G-8 country like Japan. Let’s appreciate that Japan’s financial institutions still have funds to invest, which currently they would like to park in emerging economies like India, rather than in their own country, given the natural calamity that had struck the country.

There are Fortune 500 companies, who are sitting on billions in cash, which sooner or later will be invested in economies or utilized for acquisition of cheaper assets somewhere in the globe. Prime example of that are promoters of Piramal group / ex-Ranbaxy who are still flushed with cash reserves after sell-outs and they will invest, which could very well be smaller cities in India or starting new ventures.

Lastly, because developed economies are going to face cost pressures, they will continue to see destinations which provide economies of scale and thus outsourcing / contract manufacturing will become a norm.

To stay competitive, we will have to keep costs in check, however more importantly we will have to work smartly and effectively. If three people were doing a task, we got to find innovative ways for either two people to do the same task, or three people perform four tasks. It’s about the 1 kg cake which can be either shared by 10 people for smaller pieces or by five persons with bigger slices.

What does all the above present – opportunities for us PR professionals to find newer customers or take existing customers to newer markets?

I don’t deny there will be pressure of topline growth, but what it will definitely do is keep us in business and help us grow at decent rates for the next couple of years, without fear of being wiped out.

Thus choice is ours, whether we would like to see our glass half empty or half full

Please Note: I am not an economist and don’t claim to understand economic theories as well. The above is a view of how I hope to survive and remain competitive in the business.

Client servicing lessons from Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara

girish30 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:53:37 +0000

Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara (ZNMD) – A fantastic movie celebrating friendship and overcoming fears. Every character was true to its role and with cheeky punch lines the movie made audiences feel that it was a ‘paisa vasool.’ Movies to me are stress busters and while I am a complete bollywood freak, I also like to analyse movies, especially to find out what’s the MESSAGE.
Thus post watching ZNMD, I sliced the movie frame by frame and came up with some lessons that a client servicing personnel can learn from the movie and are captured below
1. Learn to Say NO – In the movie the Abhay Deol did not say NO at the right time and decided to go with flow, realizing rather late that he did not want to marry Kalki or maybe he was not ready for a commitment. If we put ourselves in a client meeting situation, we also many times believe that there are deliverables / timelines we can’t meet, but we hardly say NO. By the time we realize that we should have pushed back the client, it is quite late and we fear losing credibility with our clients. Thus do remember that it’s OK to say NO, but we should do it in a manner and form which is a win-win for both the client and the agency, just the way it was in the movie for both Kalki and Abhay

2. Overcome FEARS – Hrithik in the movie did not want to try diving because he feared water and depth. However, once he was trained by Katrina and taken showed the wonderful world that lived in deep sea, he was completely enamored and for once did not even think of his fears. Similarly in our profession we are afraid to try new things and take risks, because we FEAR FAILURE. Till we don’t explore newer aspects we wouldn’t know whether we will like it or not. Thus it’s important to have varied experiences as it only makes you more informed

3. Face the SITUATION – Farhan desperately is trying to find his father and when he knows that he has found his father’s house, he decides to drive the car the other way. The reason could be because he would feel awkward facing his biological father and therefore wanted to avoid it as far as possible. There are times in our professional life as well, when we want to avoid facing our clients and therefore think of excuses to avoid an ugly situation. However, sooner or later that situation will come up again and we would have to face that situation, which is what happened with Farhan as well, when all three (Farhan, Hrithik and Abhay) land in jail

4. Learn from MISTAKES – In the movie Farhan had hit on Hrithik’s girlfriend, because of which Hrithik was annoyed with his friend. But it is Farhan who realizes his mistake and he could have probably repeated the same mistake by hitting on Katrina, which he didn’t, as he realized it would hurt his childhood friend. We too commit mistakes while client servicing, but if we are aware of them and make an attempt not to repeat, it is what I believe is the best LEARNING
The last lesson is one of my favourites.
5. WORK-LIFE BALANCE – Hrithik in the movie has ambitions which he wishes to fulfill, but in his quest to be the best, he losses out on love, life and friends. It takes efforts of his friends and Katrina to make him realize what he missed out all these years. Thus it is advisable for each one working, to take time off for vacations and do what you enjoy most, without worrying about work. The secret to enjoying your work is to ensure that you unwind as well

CAUTION: Go watch a movie to ENJOY IT and not ANALYZE IT.
HAPPY READING

Is it really the Death of Knowledge?

girish30 — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:26:47 +0000

In my formative years I was constantly reminded that Knowledge is Power. If I didn’t focus on acquiring knowledge, I would be punished, either by teachers or parents and the only way I would gain knowledge was by investing time in reading.

This quest continued till very recently when I bumped into a bunch of young professionals in my field (public relations) and asked them how much time they spend reading. The response I got was that they don’t get time to read and they also believe why invest time acquiring knowledge when it is readily available at a click of button. I didn’t argue much and was obviously getting into my clichéd zone of “in our time.” Thankfully, I didn’t allow myself to feel Neanderthal and started pondering the confident statement made by a 23 year old.

The statement didn’t allow me to sleep that night and I decided to wear my Sherlock Holmes hat to find out why a young professional would not invest time acquiring knowledge. After enough thought / researching, I concluded that today’s young professional is actually acquiring knowledge, albeit differently. They are surfing the internet to read history / geography / mathematics etc. They are visiting Wikipedia to know more about a subject, thus making them better informed than someone who used our primitive methods of learning. The youth is downloading porn thus making him more educated on sex, which we still refer to as birds and bees and are using smartphones to get onto google and get immediate answers, in case they are unaware of something. In the old times, if we didn’t have access to information we would generally skip that subject.

In the truest sense today’s generation is acquiring knowledge rapidly and quite in-depth. What is required from us, the species that came before is the effort to mentor or help channel this knowledge into application. We rather invest time in creating learning sessions / simulated workshops which will enable Gen-Y to understand how to better utilize their knowledge, than have disagreements on methods of acquiring knowledge.

Thus knowledge was and is always supreme. It’s only taking a different form to reach the Gen-Y.

ARE YOU READY FOR FEEDBACK?

girish30 — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:22:13 +0000

It is that time of the year when many employees in India undergo their appraisals. What everyone has on their mind is their new designation, salary increase, performance bonus etc and rightly so. After all, in a competitive environment no one is working for charity. While an employee is thinking personal benefit, organizations are focused on skill enhancement, training needs, development goals etc and thus equipping line managers with data inputs so that they can undertake FEEDBACK sessions.

Feedback as defined in the dictionary (Oxford English) is a comment about a person’s performance, used as a basis of improvement. However, not many who are getting appraised read it accordingly. There is skepticism, inertia and sense of discomfort whenever there is a feedback session and many times disillusionment post feedback. The reasons are many, but my experience has pointed out to some elementary aspects; one, organizations don’t train appraisers on how to provide feedback and leave to so-called maturity of the person to manage feedback, and, two, organizations also don’t equip appraises on how they should have prepared themselves through the year keeping in mind that there will be annual/half yearly feedback sessions. If organizations start utilizing some resources towards enhancing feedback sessions, there will be more objectivity and less employee dissonance.

Also, the onus of feedback is more in the hands of the appraiser. When he/she is providing feedback, chances are that they are forgetting that attached with the feedback is also development/mentoring goals, the onus of which is in the hands of the appraiser. This sense of ownership needs to be drilled by organizations and documented so that employees goals can be re-visited on timely basis and performance measured thereof, thus making the entire process transparent and objective.

Thus, next time when there is feedback session, as an appraiser back up your feedback with proof points to eliminate any notion of subjectivity and then follow it up with development goals so that the employee believes that the organization is genuinely interested in his/her growth.

As an employee it would be wise to document all your OOPS & WOWS (source: www.chrysalishrd.com) through the year, so that you are equipped with enough ammunition, just in case the feedback session is inching towards criticism.

Mahatma Gandhi had said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I would encourage every appraiser to be the wind of change and take ownership of their teams / employees.

Think of the less privileged on WOMEN’S DAY

girish30 — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:03:07 +0000

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day today and by all means, Indian women should do the same, one cannot help but wonder if we, as a country, are ready to observe this day with the same exuberance as seen in developed economies. My view would be NO.

We are still a country where it becomes difficult to find too many women leaders at the helm of corporate affairs. (I have always worked under women bosses and truly believe they have extra-ordinary skills and capabilities). So, if capability and talent are not a deterrent then why is it that we read of the same women leaders every year on this day?

Why is it that some women actresses still believe that it is best to hide their marital status/affairs? Do they fear that the price they will be able to commanding will fall. This is in sharp contrast to the West, where talent is the most important measure of price.

Unfortunately in our country, March 8 is still celebrated by a privileged few and media houses leverage them to create special supplements and sell advertising space for women-based products.

It would indeed be WOMEN’S DAY when women in the remotest parts of the country will have access to clean and hygiene sanitary napkins. According to a survey, 68% of women in rural areas cannot afford clean sanitary napkins.(http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4972088).

We can rejoice when NGOs stop organizing events to support the right to girl child education. A government survey has found that the ratio of school drop outs is alarmingly higher among school girls. (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-04/mumbai/28657728_1_poor-girls-adolescent-girls-ratio) And, it would indeed be women’s day when families across India will celebrate the birth of a girl child. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Gender-equality-Unfinished-agenda-for-21st-century/articleshow/7651201.cms)

So, am I propagating that till such time we should not be celebrating women’s day? Surely NOT. All I am saying is that spare a thought for the less privileged and let’s truly work towards an INDIA WOMEN’S DAY

Skilled OR Semi-skilled

girish30 — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:05:13 +0000

CEOs Don’t Run a Popularity Contest They Take Tough Calls. This was a comment made by Vikram Pandit, global chief of Citibank. While many leaders would agree with Mr. Pandit, but in the truest of Indian cultures, this seems a difficult ask, especially given all the noise about ‘Employee First’ initiatives that several corporate(s) are adopting.

Leaders today are taking tough business decisions but when it comes to employees, there are many knees that go weak and this is a phenomenon plaguing many corporates – large / medium. However, on the other end of the spectrum are business entrepreneurs, for whom this call becomes easy. The reason is simple – Corporate(s) work with skilled professionals and despite the growing apathy towards their intellectual capabilities, they are still considered a precious commodity, as there are huge costs involved in hiring / training and grooming a skilled professional. However, entrepreneurs in India, still employ a large working class and despite their high skills (e.g. textile worker / auto mechanic, carpenters etc), they are easily replaceable and more importantly costs of replacement / training etc is minimal.

Which brings me to an important question – what if the highly fragmented working class was given basic fulfillment of education i.e. reading & writing and then given in-depth training in a particular skill set e.g. accounting / mechanicals (textile / auto) etc. Then, corporate(s) wouldn’t be struggling with large ratios of inefficiencies (skilled laggards) and the supply side would continue to keep hiring/training costs at optimal levels without overruns on providing an understanding of the job.

I guess this will be a stage when CEOs (read Leaders) will be able to take tough calls and not try and be ‘Mr. Nice.’

Jagoo Re

girish30 — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:59:25 +0000

When I turned 18 and I voted for the first time, I sure was very kicked about it. I remember when I was in Mumbai, the polling station was just next to my residence and every time on election day, I would ask my father when do you think my name will be on the electoral list…when it did appear, I was excited to vote. However that was in late 90′s. I must have exercised my vote probably once more after that….I guess early 2000 and then life caught on. I lost faith in the system and resigned to the fact that does my vote really matter. After all I am a fraction of a decimal of the voter in the country. Netas in India, will continue to rule the masses and exploit the vote bank. Post 2002, I guess I moved base and never thought of voting again for obvious reasons: a) who would take the pain of re-registering into the voters list and b) does it really matter

Actually it does matter. My views chnaged due to several incidences and the one that really pained me the most was the recent Mumbai terrorist attacks, where politicians turned the entire carnage into a mockery. Being a Mumbaikar by heart and birth, I wanted to do something, but got limited as I was based in Delhi (read Gurgaon). That is when I decided that the least I can do is go out and vote and ensure that as an Indian citizen we get the right leadership to take charge of this great country

It was truly the Jaago Re moment for me.

Friends, if you haven’t registered or are not on the voters list, I would urge that you please do exercise your right to vote.

It aint that difficult to register. Get on to www.jaagore.com and follow their step by step process. I did it yesrterday and I do wish that you guys do it at the earliest.

Lets go out and vote and spread this awakening.

PS: I don’t do any PR for this movement, but I wish I would have been involved….truly a brilliant idea.