Public Affairs Is A Strategic Imperative In Building Reputation

By most accounts, 2025 is a critical test year for India and its ability to make its mark on the global stage. Reputation with critical stakeholders, including regulators and government, has never been more important. As philosopher and reformer, Swami Vivekananda, urged, ‘Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached.’

Toward that end, I spoke with Suvir Paul, Executive Vice President at Ruder Finn, about the role of Public Affairs in shaping a company’s reputation. Suvir has deep experience in this area coming to communications after a career as a lawyer specialising in litigation and criminal law and a stint in research with Penn Schoen Berland, which trained him in insight-led communications.

“With regulators, a company’s reputation is its calling card,” he explained. “Before you even walk in the door for a meeting, you have been assessed based on what they know about the company, what it stands for, and what they think of it.” 

Being a company in ‘the good books,’ says Suvir, is an important distinction that can yield benefits like getting priority status, and in areas like healthcare, it might help accelerate scheduling with key audiences. A good reputation can also serve as a kind of “shield” against excessive regulatory scrutiny. 

As a strategic function that helps a company navigate complex political landscapes, create strong relationships with government stakeholders, and manage perception, Public Affairs practitioners need to wear many hats. Among these include being subject matter experts, connector of dots and enforcers of authenticity in the substance and matter in which companies and leaders present themselves. 

“All of us working in Communication know the significance of authenticity and transparency in nurturing and sustaining strong, positive reputations whether brand or corporate,” said Suvir. “And yes, these should guide our work as practitioners and in Public Affairs, these are non-negotiable.”

I’d add ‘integrity’ here. This can’t be overemphasised, especially in times of rapid change in the political landscape and market conditions. Public Affairs teams uphold integrity as a top priority, and the best ones take an agile and people-centered approach that engage government stakeholders. It’s not enough to keep pace with evolving regulations and societal expectations. The activities of Public Affairs contribute to how trusted a company is in word and deed.

“You only get one shot with regulators,” emphasises Suvir. “You never get a second meeting if the information presented is inaccurate or the presentation is too long and hard to follow, or there is any reason to doubt the transparency of the presenters.” 

Looking ahead, Suvir sees Public Affairs focused on strong narratives about company’s commitments to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), sustainability, and ability to meet societal needs: “Our ability to contextualise our company’s Purpose and areas of dedication and investment will always be a hallmark of our success.” In public affairs, corporate reputation bridges profit motives and social responsibility.

Set the stage for success

There are a number of areas where India has demonstrated unique and formidable strengths such as information technology and outsourcing, as a reliable producer of pharmaceuticals and vaccines and in renewable energy initiatives. I can confirm from my own experience working in healthcare with pharmaceutical, consumer and oral healthcare companies, a regulated industry, that enhancing India’s reputation as innovative, responsible stewards of public health will be underpinned by positive and ongoing relationships with Public Affairs stakeholders. 

As Public Affairs teams, Suvir elaborates that we need to 

1. Deepen stakeholder engagement by knowing the complex eco-system we work in and being more targeted in building narratives that foster trust, 
2. Leverage digital and offline storytelling to communicate impact, 
3. Build coalitions of common interest with civil society, academia, think-tanks, industry and others, 
4. Drive evidence-based advocacy and what we observe is that we are asked to find more India based examples, 
5. Embrace cultural nuances, after all we are a diverse democracy that requires the right kind of vitality,
6. Invest in capacity building, spend time and mentor talent who will further this profession in time to come.

Reputation in India’s complex socio-political fabric is both a shield and spear. As the nation navigates digital transformation and global integration, fostering trust through ethical governance, inclusive policies will remain pivotal and reputation management will not be just strategic, it will be existential.

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Sandra Stahl

Sandra Stahl is co-founder and managing director at jacobstahl, a Ruder Finn company.

Sandra Stahl has created and led communications solutions for many of the world’s leading pharma, biotech, diagnostic, device and consumer healthcare brands over a 30+ year career. Her skills as a strategist and developer of compelling narratives have enabled organizational-and market- readiness, powered investment, enhanced profiles, amplified landmark data, built reputations and influenced opinion. She is a recognized thought leader regularly published in industry, national and international media, and author of the award-winning book, The Art & Craft of PR (LID 2018). Additionally, Sandra is founding faculty in the PR track in the Branding + Integrated Communications master’s degree program at The City College of New York, now in its 10th year, has delivered lectures at university communications programs around the world including Columbia University in New York and Xavier Institute of Communications in Mumbai, India.