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PR SHORTS.

For quick snapshots on the leading stories and superstars across the global PR industry.

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PR Shorts

Sales Accelerators

In the first month (of the lockdown), there was silence. As journalists, the hundreds of emails we received daily from PR agencies, prodding us towards launches and new collections, trickled down to nothing. Back in March, when economic activity had ground to a halt, promoting any products except health and food essentials seemed tone deaf. Moreover, be it celebrity missteps (“look, I can sweep the floor!”) or bad press faced by companies over their treatment of workers, navigating the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic was a minefield. It was no surprise that marketing and public relations budgets were pulled back.

Proact Brandcomm gets PR credit from TERA

TERA Finlabs, the Indian risk-tech firm, funded by US-based GAIN Credit has hired Proact Brandcomm for brand-positioning and public relations consulting. Bengaluru based TERA, that has raised USD 3.5 million so far, is an AI-based risk-tech SaaS platform that enables businesses to create and deploy customised credit products to make consumer loans affordable for customers and profitable for new lenders. TERA is set to disrupt the traditional consumer lending models by enabling businesses that have large customer bases to become profitable lenders themselves, and we are excited to be part of this journey. Our track-record of helping clients raise funds through right messaging has been 100% so far and we hope to continue bringing value on the table for our clients," said Ritu Kant Ojha, Founder & CEO, Proact Brandcomm. Ojha is a former journalist and has worked with CNBC TV18, Bloomberg TV, Star News and The Indian Express.

The 8 year old marketing and public relations firm has worked with 47 plus marquee brands like ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Capital and Smart Cities Council among others. Proact Brandcomm offers content, marketing and public relations under a single umbrella and has produced two short films and a web-series. It offers services across the US, UK, UAE and South-East Asia, apart from India.

One Common Crisis

IPREX, the premier global communications network, in partnership with PRHUB, today released a unique international report that examines how countries’ leaders have communicated with their publics during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact those communications have had on their popularity*. An industry first, the global communications analysis – titled What’s Working To Calm Hearts Worldwide – includes perspectives from IPREX partners across 14 countries, including India and serves as a collection of comparative, real-time case studies on communications best practices globally. Countries covered included Australia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Sweden, UK and the US.

“It’s nearly a full-time job to keep up on the COVID-19 news in your own country alone. The beauty of this report is that it makes it easy to broaden your perspective. For me, sitting in the United States, it provided hope in the form of proof that it is possible to get this virus under control,” said Julie Exner, IPREX Global President. “Perspective from around the world is part of the power of IPREX, and I hope this report can share a piece of that international camaraderie at a time when it’s so needed,” she further added.

In her comments, Sumathi M Chari, Director & Sr. Partner, PRHUB, said, ”Global perspective helps not just in providing a context to observe how each country has performed but also offers invaluable insights into what worked or not. The analysis in each country has been put together by senior professionals with in-depth knowledge and arising insights, which ensures credibility. It has been truly fascinating to read the diverse array of approaches and heartening to see old-fashioned communication practices like simple, genuine communication winning hearts and minds of citizens globally. India had natural advantages going into this unprecedented pandemic. By not investing enough in communication and best practices thereof, it seems to have squandered that great opportunity.”

For the first time in most of our lifetimes, we are watching one common crisis play out across every country in the world. Uniquely situated across 29 countries, IPREX took the opportunity to study how different cultures and different approaches fare in dealing with a common crisis, and communications’ role in that. Fifteen IPREX partners and affiliates shared their analysis as citizens and professional communicators, recounting vastly different experiences of the same global pandemic.

The analysis uncovered similarities, too, and they support what most communications professionals already know - the winning communications formula has been decisive action and clear, simple and consistent messaging. Even in the crisis of near-unprecedented magnitude, those simple tools have proven the most effective. The report also showed that results don’t always translate to favor: France stood out for its very modest approval increase and Japan for its precipitous approval ratings fall, both despite significant successes. This suggests that communications – what is said, how and when – is part of the intangible mix that does translate to favor. The report can be downloaded from www.iprex.com/covid19report/.

WHO? H&K Strategies

The United Nations’ specialised public health agency hired the WPP firm to help it develop a baseline measurement of public awareness and perceptions, and create messaging strategies to build trust in its advice and ensure its guidance is followed. The WHO reached an agreement with H+K at the start of May. Work was set to run through mid-June, though the pact could be extended, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) documents filed with the US Justice Department. The WPP agency billed the WHO US$135,000 for the six-week contract. The firm began conducting research on public awareness and perception of the WHO at the start of May. In an overview of its planned work for the WHO, H+K noted “there has been criticism and assertions leveled against the WHO and media coverage that could undermine WHO as a trusted and critical information source on global public health issues.”

PR for Advertising

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has appointed Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting as its public relations and digital counsel following a multi-agency pitch. Pitchfork Partners will ensure effective communication navigation for ASCI’s stakeholders to strengthen its position as an organization dedicated to safeguarding consumers’ interests. ASCI is a self-regulated voluntary organization that ensures responsible advertising. ASCI positively impacts society with its quick decision making and accountability is taken by brands towards the issues it raises for consumers’ benefit.

Weber Shandwick's diversity

Nearly two months after the start of widespread civil unrest — accelerating PR agencies' push to diversify — Weber Shandwick has released diversity data for its US leadership team, prompting CEO Gail Heimann to say: “It’s not a positive story, but it’s an important one.” According to 2019 agency stats, which are published online, Weber Shandwick’s US team gets incrementally less diverse the higher you go up the leadership ranks. Whites account for 88.9% of the firm’s executive VPs and above; 84.7% of the firm’s senior VPs and VPs; and 75% of workers categorized as professionals. Blacks and African Americans hold 2.5%, 4.1% and 5.6% of those roles respectively. Hispanics or Latinos account for 1.2%, 3.3% and 7%; Asians hold 6.2%, 5.5%, and 9.2% of those jobs.

Carlsberg's 'Mean Tweets' campaign 2

160over90 won the PR category at The Drum Marketing Awards Europe 2020 with its Carlsberg 'Mean Tweets' campaign. Here, the team behind the entry reveal the challenges faced and strategies used to deliver this successful project. Carlsberg had a major problem; people no longer believed it was ‘Probably the best beer in the world’. It had a reputation for striving to hit volume in the on and off-trade, and as a result, and by its own admission had sacrificed on quality. To reverse declining sales, 160over90 had to find a way to appeal to a new premium millennial audience distracted by new world beers and craft options.

Profit amid Loss

The PR agencies in Interpublic Group’s Constituency Management Group saw a revenue decrease in the high single digits on an organic basis and low double digits on an as reported basis in Q2, said the unit’s chairman and CEO, Andy Polansky. The numbers, which he attributed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, were in contrast to Q2 2019, when CMG’s PR firms saw low-single-digit revenue growth on both an as-reported and organic basis. CMG’s PR firms include Weber Shandwick, Golin, DeVries Global, Current Global, and Rogers & Cowan PMK. It also includes marketing specialist firms such as Jack Morton, FutureBrand and Octagon. Other IPG PR firms operate outside CMG. CMG’s Q2 revenue decreased by 15.6% organically to $267.7 million. The unit’s percentage revenue decline was almost twice as much as IPG’s other reportable segment, Integrated Agency Networks, which saw an 8.8% organic revenue decline to $1.6 billion.