Adgully’s premier Marketing event, CMOs’ Charcha – Delhi Chapter 2024, took place on January 23, at Radisson Blu Plaza in Mahipalpur, New Delhi. The theme for this edition of CMOs’ Charcha was ‘Future roadmap for pursuing growth in new ways’.The event saw an engaging panel discussion on ‘Navigating Crisis Communications in the Digital Age’, which featured distinguished industry leaders, including Session Chair: Nandini Chatterjee, Former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, PWC; Aakriti Thakur, AVP - Brand & Marketing, Healthians; Jasrita Dhir, Director - Marketing and Communications, Karkinos Healthcare; Juhie Gorwara, Director - Brand, Communication, Digital, Philips Indian Subcontinent; Manu Kumar, Head-Marketing and Corporate Communications, Hero Electric Vehicles; Nishita Sharma, Lead, Communications, Marketing, and Advocacy, UNICEF.The session commenced with Nandini Chatterjee pointing out the recent challenges faced by the aviation industry. She further coined the question to the panelists. “In today’s age, everything is moving at a rapid pace. Handling these situations has become more complex. We are all navigating this new space, and it's crucial to understand how we manage to control the narrative – something we all strive for. How do we engage with people we don’t even really know in this ever-evolving landscape?”Hero Electric Vehicles’ Manu Kumar acknowledged that the role of communications professionals and companies has evolved significantly. “Communication professionals need to be agile and responsive, particularly in the age of social media,” he said, adding that he believed that time sensitivity is heightened in the current landscape. Unlike traditional media, where responses could be delayed until the next day, the immediacy of social media demands quick reactions to prevent small issues from escalating into significant problems. Speaking about the challenges he also mentioned about expansion of audience, and communication professionals now address a larger and more diverse group of stakeholders. “The repercussions of communication are more extensive, affecting the business of selling products and the overall brand image,” he noted.On the other hand, Juhie Gorwara said that one should not reply immediately. She stated, “I’m not certain about an immediate reply, which is not our usual practice in the consumer business. It is crucial to verify facts to prevent potential crises from social media outbursts. Establish a crisis team for long-term strategies, seek legal advice, and consult customer service before responding. Pre-plan three likely responses, communicate with marketing teams for potential crisis linkages, and maintain a compact and cautious approach.”Jasrita Dhir from Karkinos Healthcare shared her insights from a healthcare industry perspective and said, “We often discuss machine learning, but humans also learn over time. In businesses, the marketing, communications, and operations teams, especially in a healthcare business, anticipate and prepare for 80% of common issues. These scenarios, such as a doctor being late to an OPD, have pre-approved responses. However, for the unforeseen 20% crisis situations, it’s crucial to acknowledge, validate, and empathise with the affected parties. Getting facts right is essential before responding, and maintaining open communication, even during a crisis, fosters trust.”“I believe having your crisis communicators as part of the consumer redressal groups, listening in on your ORM, and monitoring command center FAQs provides insights into chronic issues that may escalate into controversies and acute issues that are spiking. This enables proactive measures to preempt potential problems,” she further added.Talking from a social, advocacy space, Nishita Sharma spoke about the crisis and preparations for the same. According to Sharma, “One important aspect is always remembering who is at the receiving end of your communication – a person consuming your brand, impacting their life and decisions. In humanitarian situations, even irate customers can arise. During the preparation stage, it's crucial to isolate instances, as one negative comment can snowball into a bigger issue. Social listening measures, like ORM, are critical to understanding industry and consumer conversations. Isolated examples inform social media content, helping address awareness issues. Being overprepared, informed by these insights, is better than looking back at a crisis and realising what could have been done faster.”Here, Nandini Chatterjee questioned the panelists, “Have any of you experienced a situation where you posted a seemingly innocuous content, but someone, possibly due to past issues, took the post in a different direction? Have you encountered such a scenario?”Aakriti Thakur replied, “I believe that’s the worst way to handle it – deleting the comment. I agree with my fellow panelists about interacting with individuals who escalate issues. Acknowledging and addressing concerns one-on-one, either through a direct call or DM, is crucial. Creating a separate page for escalation handling and tactfully redirecting tags to that page helps manage online searches. Deleting comments can imply a lack of responsibility, and it is important to own up to any valid concerns. Additionally, for individuals attempting to manipulate or create false issues, engaging with them directly can help prevent repeated occurrences.”These are edited excerpts. For the complete panel discussion at CMOs’ Charcha, watch below:<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tP16uSPhO2A?si=uJvIy43OEgDDm3su" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In the fast-paced world of public relations, 2023 brought unforeseen challenges and opportunities for firms across the industry. Navigating a complex landscape, PR agencies showcased resilience and adaptability in their crisis management plans. The sector as a whole witnessed a paradigm shift, with firms prioritizing proactive reputation management and digital communication strategies. As part of our rewind 2023 series, Adgully spoke to a cross-section of PR and Corporate Communications leaders to understand their perspectives, strategies and their ability to evolve that has been pivotal in shaping its trajectory for the year.Approach for Crisis Management and Reputation ProtectionArchana Jain, CEO, PR Pundit Havas Red, stressed, “The backbone of crisis management has always been and will always be preparation. We work with our clients to plan for, on how to respond to and then recover from crisis events – with a view to safeguarding the company and brand’s image to minimise long-term reputational damage. We do so by pursuing pre-emptive measures like a vulnerability analysis of the business, training key stakeholders on a coordinated and timely response, outlining a media and social media communications plan, including recommended procedures, protocols, etc. Given the diversity of possible crises and the fact that every specific event will unfold differently and have varying impacts at different times, we canvas a range of generic actions that will assist management in responding to an incident. We believe in building a forward-looking approach of being prepared, build a culture of communicating proactively and develop a mindset of dynamic decision making.”Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR, predicted, “In 2024, bot war and deep fakes will take up a fair amount of our time in the crisis management area. PR professionals will not only have to find a way to effectively deal with this new curveball that amplifies every small challenge turning it into a crisis but will also have to have a fair understanding of cyber laws to handle it.”Madhukar Kumar, Founder & Chief Strategist, Grey Cell PR, remarked, “In the world of PR, crises are like uninvited guests. We tackle them head-on with a blend of intuition and strategy. Our approach is to always be prepared, agile, and empathetic. We're enhancing our crisis toolkit with AI for faster issue detection and resolution, making sure we're always a step ahead for our clients.”Speaking about challenges faced by the PR industry, Jasrita Dhir, Director - Marketing and Communications, Karkinos Healthcare, said, “In the post-pandemic world and in certain sectors such as those dealing with communicable diseases/ public health, etc., there’s a real challenge of burnout that the crisis managers are dealing with, reeling under successive waves of Coronavirus and such.”Dhir further said, “In the age of misinformation and deepfakes, there’s an actual crisis to deal with as also the misinformed variant of the crisis to counter - a double whammy! In hyper-connected networks and matrix organisations, keeping the chain of command unilateral and ensuring a single communication centre is also a new challenge with regard to information leaks.”According to Dhir, the strategies crucial in 2024 re:Fact check before jumping into executionAmp up the social listening game including in the vernacular mediumLike charity, reputation building also starts at home. Image building starts with internal stakeholders; brand advocacy starts with intra-organisational human capital and these are the first line of resources to tap into during a crisis outbreak.Jyotsna Dash Nanda, AVP - Corporate Communications, Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group), added here, “As PR Professionals, our job is to guide, empower, and equip leadership to deal with crises of all kinds. There is no shortcut to elaborate preparation and complete collaboration with all necessary stakeholders to be able to assess necessary landmines in the crisis and provide a flexible and agile response mechanism for the organization and the senior leadership. Navigating crisis leadership presents a formidable yet indispensable facet of contemporary leadership which effective media and crisis training help hone. We proactively reach out to the senior leadership team and help them to equip themselves and prepare well. The preparation helps them to be seen as taking ownership, communicating with utmost transparency, exhibiting decisiveness, flexibly responding to evolving situations while adhering to the basic rules of communication, demonstrating empathy and support, allocating resources judiciously, and fostering collaboration. As PR professionals we derive lessons from experiences keeping a long-term outlook in mind while upholding ethical standards adeptly managing crisis communication, and prioritizing personal resilience and self-care. Crisis leadership is critical in today’s dynamic business environment and refers to the ability of leaders to effectively navigate and manage an organization or team during times of significant upheaval, uncertainty, or crisis with complete support from the communications team. Our responsibility involves making critical decisions, providing direction, and inspiring confidence in challenging situations so that communication is effective with 100% truth and giving direction on the way forward.”

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to take stock of the important trends and developments that dominated the industry, with long term ramifications. 2023 was a year when Artificial Intelligence disrupted every industry; Public Relations and Corporate Communications, too, did not remain immune to AI’s wide-ranging impact. However, AI was not the only gamechanging development. Adgully spoke to a cross-section of PR and Corporate Communications leaders to do an exhaustive recap of this industry, as well as understand some of the trends that will dominate this industry in 2024.PR & Corp Comm Industry’s performance in 2023Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR, noted, “Empirical data suggests that most firms have done 5X the business they did during the pandemic. At the start of the year, there was an attempt by the brand world to push for a pre-pandemic ‘course correction’, while the PR industry pushed back to break away and evolve from that set perception. This has led to an interesting amalgamation of services now being offered by PR agencies and probably a new definition of the profession.”The PR industry also saw an increased curiosity about the profession judging by the RFPs requested on a weekly basis. This also called for a larger mandate for the entire PR industry to educate and upskill the brands they worked with on how PR is evolving and changing this year.According to Rattan, talent in the PR industry has also gone through a change at all levels. “While the new JD for a new joinee in PR is still up for discussion, the middle management and leadership teams have had to upskill quickly to ride the tide, assimilate information on the go and churn out strategies that make sense in the new world,” she added.Growing demand for purpose-driven communicationIn 2023, the PR industry witnessed a dynamic landscape characterised by evolving media consumption patterns and an increased demand for purpose-driven communication, observed Aman Gupta, Managing Partner, SPAG FINN Partners. He added, “At SPAG FINN Partners, we navigated these shifts successfully by staying agile, embracing technology, and prioritising authentic storytelling. The industry’s resilience and adaptability were evident, and we foresee continued growth as we leverage these lessons to shape our strategies in the years to come.”Emerging trends and innovative strategiesPR industry leaders unanimously agree that technology will emerge as an important enabler for the function as they leverage technology to enhance efficiency, track real-time and understand trends. Also, social media channels of the brand and its leadership will emerge as powerful mediums to communicate the narrative.Akanksha Jain, Head - Public Relations and Corporate Communications, BharatPe, pointed out, “Focus will be a lot more on purpose-driven communication, as consumers today are more keen to be associated with brands that have a clear impact narrative. In turn, the ESG roadmap will have to be clearly carved out for organisations.”Also, the Communications role will focus a lot more on larger reputation building and safeguarding, by leveraging earned, paid, social and owned media. It is the owned media channels that will be the next game-changer for the companies, driven by a well thought-through content strategy- that caters to a diverse set of stakeholders. Additionally, Key Opinion Leaders will continue to play an important role in driving brand narratives.Jasrita Dhir, Director - Marketing and Communications, Karkinos Healthcare, highlighted some emerging trends:Integrated Communications Approach: The line between traditional PR, new-age PR, digital PR has all but blurred. 2024 will see Comms professionals demand and PR agencies present integrated communication solutions incorporating external and internal comms, social media influencers, digital creatives, et al.Rise and rise of Podcasts: The medium that is expected to leapfrog further in 2024 is podcast, in both the audio and video formats.Emerging need for climate communications.Evolving need for ESG and sustainability Comms.SPAG FINN Partners’ Aman Gupta said, “In 2024, we anticipate several key trends shaping the PR industry. The increasing prominence of immersive technologies (Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)) along with data driven audience insights, is transforming the way we engage audiences. These technologies offer new and creative avenues for storytelling and brand experiences. Additionally, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics is becoming a cornerstone of PR strategies, enabling more personalized and targeted campaigns.”AI to continue to transform PR even moreMahima Misra, Head of PR & Corp Comm, Good Glamm Group, noted that AI will continue to transform PR even more. “The potential of AI to improve content ranking through SEO optimisation and enhanced audience personalisation will boost PR efforts in 2024. It will also help in media tracking and calculating audience response more efficiently. AI can write about practically anything, including press releases. This may help reduce PR content creation costs while increasing scalability,” Misra added.Along with AI, Video and Podcast Content will also gain prominence. With the rise in demand for video and audio content, it is no surprise that this is an integral part of the future of PR and still on the list of PR trends. Podcasts (both audio and video podcasts) are in high demand. Videos are effective for telling a highly visual story, too. From regular to luxury PR campaigns, high-quality videos present the perfect medium to showcase your newest products, services, and even brand events. “Not only that, but videos will also help you relay your side of the story during a crisis. Whether short or long, the fact remains that video marketing is here for the long haul,” she added.Social Media for Online Reputation Management, Contact BuildingSocial media is the heavyweight champion in PR and will remain so in 2024. Unlike traditional PR methods, social media enables two-way communication between brands and their customers, the media, and other stakeholders. Brand image and reputation enhancement through social media are also likely to continue. Social media will continue to play a role in helping brands manage a PR crisis and neutralise negative publicity. Misra also considers LinkedIn as an important PR platform to establish brand/ company image and make impact and establish founders and professionals as thought leaders in their field. Jyotsna Dash Nanda, AVP - Corporate Communications, Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group), added here, “In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology is universally recognised as a crucial skill for success, transcending the boundaries of company size. As businesses set their sights on 2024, a pervasive commitment to leveraging AI for content creation and writing assistance takes center stage, underscoring the transformative role of technology in shaping communication strategies.”Furthermore, the strategic use of various platforms and channels emerges as a cornerstone for achieving organisational goals, reflecting a forward-looking approach to digital engagement. Anticipating the importance of staying attuned to public sentiment and changing consumer needs, businesses are planning to harness the power of media monitoring tools and content calendars in 2024, aligning their efforts with the dynamic nature of the information ecosystem.