Wednesday, August 27, 2008
PR agency uses Google Ad Words
This might actually make sense for the business - but it is a bit amusing to see a well established PR agency like Perfect Relations using Google Ad Words platform to do online advertising. I am not too sure if they offer any services on the Digital front to their clients but they are definitely going digital to attract new Business.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Commentary on the Indian Telecom Sector
As a PR consultant I have worked on a number of telcos and infrastructure providers and telecom as a sector holds a special interest for me. It is still the most dynamic sector and I was really fortunate to get the ring side view of the Industry which was taking off in India. I
I just thought of sharing a commentary on some of the recent action in the sector:
I just thought of sharing a commentary on some of the recent action in the sector:
After the exit of the dynamic telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, the telecom sector in India had undergone a slight lull with no new plans and policy changes being made. Roll Out of 3G services has been put on hold and everyone is just waiting for the new spectrum policy to be formalized .
But some of the recent developments partly initiated by market forces and partly by TRAI have again set the ball rolling for the telecom sector in India. New Licenses have been issued, Idea has bought spice and has launched its operations in Mumbai. Tata JV with Virgin set the ball rolling for MVNOs with Virgin Mobile and interestingly TRAI has proposed to make MVNOs legal in India.
There are various other developments which are at play:
Two telecom biggies RCOM and Bharti AIRTEL after covering some ground by offering Broadband services are now getting ready to slug it out with plans of launching their DTH operations - Reliance has already announced its foray and Bharti under its AIRTEL brand is expected to announce its DTH operations soon. Both players are looking to leverage their existing customer base to offer one stop shop to its consumers under one bill. Interestingly the two big players already in the DTH business are from the Broadcasting sector – Tata Sky (JV between Tata and STAR) and Dish TV (from ZEE Group) – it will be interesting to see how this market pans out and see how the telecom giants compete with content companies on the DTH front. Though Reliance as a group has announced several plans including plans to launch 20 new channels, IPTV, movie rentals, movie production etc…so they are definitely looking at getting a lion share of the market both as a service and content provider.
COming back to the Telcos, the battle for acquiring new customers in a highly lucrative Circle like Mumbai seems to be getting hot with Idea and Virgin Mobile getting aggressive with innovative pricing and bundled offers. It has become clear to all the players that having sound infrastructure alone will not help the business – the major focus is on creating a distinct brand identity – the winner will be the one with a very positive and strong Brand perception amongst the consumers which cuts across all SECs.
And on the brand front – Vodafone after the acquisition of Hutch has been busy establishing its brand in the Indian market - so far we have not really seen any new unique proposition being brought to the table. They did announce some plans to invest around 2 billions USD in India. But we haven’t really heard anything of great significance.
Though I personally think their efforts in creating a distinct brand Identity in India has so far got a very mixed response. But you can’t really blame them – they entered the market at a very late stage – Majority of the other Brands present in the country have evolved along with the market so they have managed to form a very clear brand Identity in the market – Vodafone on the other Hand had to first overcome the emotion based branding of Hutch which had positioned it as an ‘Innovative’ player in the market and then establish Vodafone as a new global brand whose brand essence is built around four key words – Thoughtful(caring, emotional), Integrity (truthful, trustworthy), Dependable (reliable quality of network) and Value( affordable and value for money).
Interestingly, I feel Vodafone has tried too many things in too short a time – first the launch of new brand (which got massive media attention), then they tried to highlighting the emotional connect with ‘make the most of now’ campaign, parallelly highlighting the value message with some bundled offer campaign, then came their biggest campaign on ‘Happy to Help’ to position them as customer friendly brand (though a recent report which was covered in ET voted Vodafone as not so customer friendly).
Sponsorship and brand association are big part of Vodafone’s global marketing strategy and they normally choose sports as it cuts through customers of all age groups and class. They are sponsor for the England's Cricket team and also ran a campaign with David Beckham. They seem to be doing the same in India – they were present as key sponsors for the IPL 20 20 cricket tournament and also aligned themselves with F1 and did some promotional activity with the God of Racing Hamilton. But for a consumer, Vodafone has still not managed to create a distinct Identity for themselves.
Interestingly some other Brands have also tried to change its brand positioning – BPL Mobile for instance after the buyout by Essar, is trying to up its brand image mostly through outdoor and print campaigns but that has not really helped. Tata Indicom after its initial Non-Stop campaign with Ajay Devgun and kajol has revamped their advertising.
BSNL themselves are not keeping quiet and are part of all the action and have been running some odd campaigns with Preeti Zinta which doesn't really seems to be helping in terms of imagery but it is if you go by the numbers its definitely helping.
Now with TRAI proposing to allow net telephony on local and long distance and international calls - a new price war is slated to begin - though a normal consumer in a metro like Mumbai and Delhi is not too bothered about the call charges but it will definitely impact STD and International calls being made from mobile. When this proposal becomes a reality it is also expected to give much needed boost to broadband subscriber base in India and the Instant Messenger market will really pick up again. Internet telephony on mobile can really boost the overall VAS market and also benefit the internet players – mobile advertising can also get a boost – so this decision will definitely see a lot of action.
There is also a proposal to allow users the freedom to choose their long distance caller (STD) so the operators are now asking for calling cards. Number portability will become a reality by 2009 which can put some serious pressure on the players.
There are various other developments which are at play:
Two telecom biggies RCOM and Bharti AIRTEL after covering some ground by offering Broadband services are now getting ready to slug it out with plans of launching their DTH operations - Reliance has already announced its foray and Bharti under its AIRTEL brand is expected to announce its DTH operations soon. Both players are looking to leverage their existing customer base to offer one stop shop to its consumers under one bill. Interestingly the two big players already in the DTH business are from the Broadcasting sector – Tata Sky (JV between Tata and STAR) and Dish TV (from ZEE Group) – it will be interesting to see how this market pans out and see how the telecom giants compete with content companies on the DTH front. Though Reliance as a group has announced several plans including plans to launch 20 new channels, IPTV, movie rentals, movie production etc…so they are definitely looking at getting a lion share of the market both as a service and content provider.
COming back to the Telcos, the battle for acquiring new customers in a highly lucrative Circle like Mumbai seems to be getting hot with Idea and Virgin Mobile getting aggressive with innovative pricing and bundled offers. It has become clear to all the players that having sound infrastructure alone will not help the business – the major focus is on creating a distinct brand identity – the winner will be the one with a very positive and strong Brand perception amongst the consumers which cuts across all SECs.
And on the brand front – Vodafone after the acquisition of Hutch has been busy establishing its brand in the Indian market - so far we have not really seen any new unique proposition being brought to the table. They did announce some plans to invest around 2 billions USD in India. But we haven’t really heard anything of great significance.
Though I personally think their efforts in creating a distinct brand Identity in India has so far got a very mixed response. But you can’t really blame them – they entered the market at a very late stage – Majority of the other Brands present in the country have evolved along with the market so they have managed to form a very clear brand Identity in the market – Vodafone on the other Hand had to first overcome the emotion based branding of Hutch which had positioned it as an ‘Innovative’ player in the market and then establish Vodafone as a new global brand whose brand essence is built around four key words – Thoughtful(caring, emotional), Integrity (truthful, trustworthy), Dependable (reliable quality of network) and Value( affordable and value for money).
Interestingly, I feel Vodafone has tried too many things in too short a time – first the launch of new brand (which got massive media attention), then they tried to highlighting the emotional connect with ‘make the most of now’ campaign, parallelly highlighting the value message with some bundled offer campaign, then came their biggest campaign on ‘Happy to Help’ to position them as customer friendly brand (though a recent report which was covered in ET voted Vodafone as not so customer friendly).
Sponsorship and brand association are big part of Vodafone’s global marketing strategy and they normally choose sports as it cuts through customers of all age groups and class. They are sponsor for the England's Cricket team and also ran a campaign with David Beckham. They seem to be doing the same in India – they were present as key sponsors for the IPL 20 20 cricket tournament and also aligned themselves with F1 and did some promotional activity with the God of Racing Hamilton. But for a consumer, Vodafone has still not managed to create a distinct Identity for themselves.
Interestingly some other Brands have also tried to change its brand positioning – BPL Mobile for instance after the buyout by Essar, is trying to up its brand image mostly through outdoor and print campaigns but that has not really helped. Tata Indicom after its initial Non-Stop campaign with Ajay Devgun and kajol has revamped their advertising.
BSNL themselves are not keeping quiet and are part of all the action and have been running some odd campaigns with Preeti Zinta which doesn't really seems to be helping in terms of imagery but it is if you go by the numbers its definitely helping.
Now with TRAI proposing to allow net telephony on local and long distance and international calls - a new price war is slated to begin - though a normal consumer in a metro like Mumbai and Delhi is not too bothered about the call charges but it will definitely impact STD and International calls being made from mobile. When this proposal becomes a reality it is also expected to give much needed boost to broadband subscriber base in India and the Instant Messenger market will really pick up again. Internet telephony on mobile can really boost the overall VAS market and also benefit the internet players – mobile advertising can also get a boost – so this decision will definitely see a lot of action.
There is also a proposal to allow users the freedom to choose their long distance caller (STD) so the operators are now asking for calling cards. Number portability will become a reality by 2009 which can put some serious pressure on the players.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Hancock promotes the PR Industry - Here is why you should make all your clients watch it
This is probably a little late but still if you can then you should atleast send a DVD of Hancock movie to your clients. And I am not saying this because it’s a great movie but because there are some subtle messages that I am sure everyone in PR would want to send to their clients.
For all those who have not seen Hancock yet, the movie is about a super human being who is one of his kind on the planet and though he does his bit to protect the citizens from the crime, he is actually quite messed up – he is shown as a complete loser, with no idea of his past, and he always ends up getting bad press for his actions. And that’s when he meets a public relations professional Ray whose life is saved by Hancock.
Ray decides to help Hancock out and explains him how he is super hero who should get the respect and love of the people he protects. And that’s where I thought that it was a brilliant concept which should help the PR industry on the whole – ‘Even Super Heros Needs PR’, what more can PR industry ask for.
But that’s not the only thing – the movie goes further and there are lessons to be learned – it clearly highlights that the PR person should really be able to understand the client’s problem and connect with him/them and the client also needs to believe in his PR consultant. Just like Ray and Hancock did.
Clients need to understand that doing one right thing and nine wrong things will not get them good press even if they have the best PR person managing their mandate to cover up for his/her client. If they want good press, become super brands, then they also need to do the hard time just like in the movie Ray advices Hancock to turn himself in to the police and say that he will return as a better person.
And Hancock genuinely changes himself and becomes a super hero whom everybody likes – which goes to prove that PR can only work for you if you are genuinely good and have something unique to offer – People don’t even respect a super hero if he is not genuinely good – so Brands or companies trying to get mileage for a one off good deed in press can be rest assured that they won’t go too far.
So the message to the client is:
If you want good press and want to become super brands – then have faith in your PR consultants, be genuine in your efforts, don’t take any short cuts, its hard work but it pays off in the long run – just like it did for Hancock in the movie.
And hey lastly all those PR people who have been struggling to explain to their parents and friends what is it that they really do – show them the movie Hancock and may be they might just understand.
For all those who have not seen Hancock yet, the movie is about a super human being who is one of his kind on the planet and though he does his bit to protect the citizens from the crime, he is actually quite messed up – he is shown as a complete loser, with no idea of his past, and he always ends up getting bad press for his actions. And that’s when he meets a public relations professional Ray whose life is saved by Hancock.
Ray decides to help Hancock out and explains him how he is super hero who should get the respect and love of the people he protects. And that’s where I thought that it was a brilliant concept which should help the PR industry on the whole – ‘Even Super Heros Needs PR’, what more can PR industry ask for.
But that’s not the only thing – the movie goes further and there are lessons to be learned – it clearly highlights that the PR person should really be able to understand the client’s problem and connect with him/them and the client also needs to believe in his PR consultant. Just like Ray and Hancock did.
Clients need to understand that doing one right thing and nine wrong things will not get them good press even if they have the best PR person managing their mandate to cover up for his/her client. If they want good press, become super brands, then they also need to do the hard time just like in the movie Ray advices Hancock to turn himself in to the police and say that he will return as a better person.
And Hancock genuinely changes himself and becomes a super hero whom everybody likes – which goes to prove that PR can only work for you if you are genuinely good and have something unique to offer – People don’t even respect a super hero if he is not genuinely good – so Brands or companies trying to get mileage for a one off good deed in press can be rest assured that they won’t go too far.
So the message to the client is:
If you want good press and want to become super brands – then have faith in your PR consultants, be genuine in your efforts, don’t take any short cuts, its hard work but it pays off in the long run – just like it did for Hancock in the movie.
And hey lastly all those PR people who have been struggling to explain to their parents and friends what is it that they really do – show them the movie Hancock and may be they might just understand.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Has Social Media Press Release arrived yet?
If you are a PR professional who has been hearing a lot about PR 2.0 recently, then chances are that you may have also heard about the buzz words like social media kit and social media press release (also referred to as SMPR). But if you ask around nobody seems to have an authoritative answer on what it really means and how it really helps.
The good old solution to every problem 'Google' also does not throw up any conclusive or definitive answers to SMPR and how one should go about using it. So I decided to check with the people who are at the receiving end of all this material - the journalists and the bloggers and find out if they have actually received any social media press release in India yet. The answer is big clear NO - NOT YET.
Even in evolved online markets like the US, there is no definite answer to SMPR yet. There is a community of PR professionals who are experimenting with it, while others are keeping an eye on the buzz, waiting for it to emerge as a formal media tool.
All in all the core objective of SMPR is the same as the traditional press kit - to help a journalist or a blogger to file their story. SMPR though is a lot more than just a press release.
There are early versions of SMPR available online and there are some early examples of it too - and to me they seem quiet practical. Ford for example has taken the lead in SMPR, they call it digital snippets, which is essentially an online media kit with all the possible details about the FORD cars complete with tags, photos, videos, blogs, quick links, community links, quotes, bookmark tools, sharing tools, basically the works.
Given below is the currently acceptable and popular SMPR format. While I am unsure how journalists in India will respond to it, the online journalists and bloggers that I spoke to said anything that helps them in filling a story is a welcome move. So while you don’t really have to worry about their reactions, it always helps to check if they would prefer to receive an SMPR along with the standard press release.
A typical SMPR includes the following:
If you know of any other examples, or simply have a view or comments to share, feel free to get in touch with me.
The good old solution to every problem 'Google' also does not throw up any conclusive or definitive answers to SMPR and how one should go about using it. So I decided to check with the people who are at the receiving end of all this material - the journalists and the bloggers and find out if they have actually received any social media press release in India yet. The answer is big clear NO - NOT YET.
Even in evolved online markets like the US, there is no definite answer to SMPR yet. There is a community of PR professionals who are experimenting with it, while others are keeping an eye on the buzz, waiting for it to emerge as a formal media tool.
All in all the core objective of SMPR is the same as the traditional press kit - to help a journalist or a blogger to file their story. SMPR though is a lot more than just a press release.
There are early versions of SMPR available online and there are some early examples of it too - and to me they seem quiet practical. Ford for example has taken the lead in SMPR, they call it digital snippets, which is essentially an online media kit with all the possible details about the FORD cars complete with tags, photos, videos, blogs, quick links, community links, quotes, bookmark tools, sharing tools, basically the works.
Given below is the currently acceptable and popular SMPR format. While I am unsure how journalists in India will respond to it, the online journalists and bloggers that I spoke to said anything that helps them in filling a story is a welcome move. So while you don’t really have to worry about their reactions, it always helps to check if they would prefer to receive an SMPR along with the standard press release.
A typical SMPR includes the following:
- News Summary:
- Quotes from the spokesperson:
- Pictures or links - embedded on popular photo sharing sites:
- Videos or links - embedded on popular video sharing sites:
- A good list of tags for the release - this will help in the news discovery on a particular blog or site
- Bookmarks, RSS feeds
- Links to Community pages that you may have created
If you know of any other examples, or simply have a view or comments to share, feel free to get in touch with me.
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