Greetings dear readers!
I am extremely grateful to all of you for consuming my musings. A blend of real-life PR with a grand buffet of mindsets. I would like to specially thank those readers, thought leaders and mentors who felicitated me when my last article crossed the 150th milestone. You are indeed the wind beneath my wings as I leap forward to my ‘next 150’. Thank you once again!
Many mindsets I have written are about leadership and management. Of course, being basically from the 5th P of Marketing- ‘PR’, I have written the most articles on ways to enhance performance in my domain. And then when I went into deep thinking, I realised that whether you are a professional or a person, a PR mindset really helps you to get ahead. In any domain or even with friends. After all, when I commenced writing my column and naming it Destination Mindset its because of one ‘nirvana moment’ of mine where I realised that all of us in any profession but especially in the PR profession chase changing mindsets of target audiences towards our purpose. Even when boys chase girls, they look at changing the girl’s mindset favourably towards them!
Are you PR ready?
Do you really understand PR beyond the definition?
According to PR expert, Raphael Labbe “Public relations are one of the most important and effective ways to create a solid and credible reputation for a brand or business. By using successful PR, a brand can strategically build, maintain, and enhance its presence within the media. If you need to tell the story of your business, a public relations strategy is the way to do it.”
In truth PR is an enormous catalyst of positive change. It is an art and a science. In truth it is. The science lies in understanding the purpose of a campaign and creating niche channels of communications. The formal practice of PR dates back to the early 20th century. Today PR has emerged as a critical business tool across organisations. PR or Public Relations is not just about vanilla ‘Press Relations’. Public Relations shape the message but Press Relations helps the speaker spread the message to pre-determined target audiences. (Raphael Labbe)
How do you develop a PR mindset?
Some legends are born with a PR Mindset. Some of these PR Gurus include Madan Bahl & Rajesh Chaturvedi from Adfactors PR, Dilip Cherian from Perfect Relations, Prema Sagar & Deepshikha Dharmraj from Burson Group India and more. I know, because I have had the privilege to work with them in my career. They literally built the PR Industry in India. Each one of them are successful because their PR Mindset evolution never stops. They relearn and reboot constantly and stay ahead in the business.
The Indian PR industry is experiencing robust growth, projected to reach ₹4,570 crore by FY 2030 with a 12.8% CAGR, according to a report by PRCAI and will always be a lucrative industry to work in. To add to this, talent availability is limited with opportunities abound.
Here are some simple steps to develop a PR Mindset-
Boost your in-depth comprehension skills
Strategic PR trending today in India, essentially you need to plan and execute PR on your toes. Change is the only reality in today’s world and yesterday’s strategy can get outdated before you know. Just ride the wind of change and stay ahead with your PR strategy and implementation, constantly
Make impactful communications your super power
Curate your storytelling and tailor make your communications to impact your client positively. Use the magic of empathy. Speak and write with excellence. Ensure that you listen well. You do not meet your client to give a lecture on the PR profession. Understand the client’s pain points and offer innovative PR solutions. More action, less words!
To be continued in the next article in this column
“Good PR is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad.”
Richard Branson
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