PR Professionals need to drop off age old practices and adapt new ones

 

Things I learnt from the PR Club Session – 10

The first thing I knew with regards to public relations was that as PR Professional, my work was calling Media and getting my organisation/client mentioned in the news article. The other idea was that all PR professionals do is wining and dining. Let me tell you from my minor experience of 6 months of full time work and an additional 8 months of internship, it isn’t the case. PR professionals are strategic advisors and reputation managers for the organisation, which is as essential as any other division’s advisor.

The role of a PR Professional is to assess its internal stakeholders, external stakeholders, authorities and media and then prepare and execute a well thought communication plan. However, over the years, as much as media has changed and the way of communication has changed, the PR industry has not let go of old habits, which aren’t much effective post pandemic. I learnt a few of them, directly from expert and veteran journalist Madhavan Narayanan and senior journalist Mukta Lad, at the PR Club S2 Session 10.

The PR Club is a community of Corporate Communications and PR Professional that facilitates learning and other host of benefits for its paid members.  In this session, I also volunteered to mediate the Q&A session and had some question of my own.

The free flowing discussion between Mukta and Madhavan went very smooth. It led to opening up their thoughts on what they feel as journalists and I as a newbie in to the profession, had dozens of learning.

First, we as PR Professionals are led to believe that multiple calls and texts to journalists will make him see our mail/pitch and then take it. Very opposite to that, something that I agree to, is once you do more than two calls or messages, you irritate the journalist. That not only damages that specific story/pitch, but also extends to an extent that she/he doesn’t even like you, your brand or the PR firm you are part of anymore and will dodge you hence forth. As a human, no one I am sure would like to be bothered so much!

Second, “Press Releases are a 1975’s thing”. It is 2021, there are so many things happening that can be news and communication is taking place through so many mediums. But we are still looking at a word document that is always written containing extra details, and expecting it be taken up by the journalist. It doesn’t make sense. Many journalist, who have so many things to do, will not be able to read through it 100%, unless it is about something happening in the industry. Most of our press releases are our brand related stories, so won’t even be read! PR professionals have to be more innovative when pitching the story, which is the third learning.

Third, “don’t pitch the story, rather story the pitch”. Most of us as PR Professionals do is call up a journalist and say our brand did/participated so and so and please cover it. We forget the fundamental question – why should one publication print it. Rather, if we go and pitch a story from an industry perspective, give the journalist data and statistics and relevant point from the industry, it would be news worthy for him/her to carry it.

Fourth, we as advisors and consultants have forgotten our primary role to advice. We are supposed to provide expert council in matters of all stakeholder communications and relations. A lot of us limit ourselves to media relations and limited digital media communications only. We have to retrieve that and most of us, until decided otherwise should be advising them on all stakeholders and not limiting ourselves to these two.

Apart from these, there were other things also that I learnt in the insightful session. The gap between what the journalists think and want, and what we as PR Professionals offer, needs to be filled. It will build even greater relations between both the wings of communications who will have a void without each other. I hope my fellow PR Professionals adapt to these and we see more evolved communications ahead.

(I do not intent to offend any person of any profession, or question the way they work. I certainly mean no disrespect when I mention things that should change. All I am saying, is things I learnt and I am going to implement. In case you find anything offensive, please let me know and we can discuss)