Industry leaders from the country?ÇÖs media, marketing and communications converged for the 4th edition of IMAGEXX Summit and Awards 2024, Adgully?ÇÖs premier PR industry event, which was held on July 18, 2024 at the Holiday Inn, Aerocity, Gurgaon. In a short span of time, IMAGEXX Summit and Awards has been recognized as the PR industry?ÇÖs go-to event.A key highlight of the Summit this year was a panel discussion on ?ÇÿNew Paradigms in PR Metrics?ÇÖ. The panel was chaired by Madhurima Bhatia, Head of PR, Media Engagement & Partnerships, India & APEC (Asia Pacific excluding China), Ipsos. The esteemed panellists included:Abhi Mahapatra, Director - PR, Amazon IndiaDr Rajiv Chhibber, Vice President - External Affairs (Policy, Government Relations & Outreach), Sahajanand Medical TechnologiesHimanshu Raj, Head - Reputation and Policy, Pristyn CareNatasha Wadhwa, Head - Strategic Communications and Brand, Shell IndiaRohit Dubey, Vice President, Reliance JioSunita Patnaik, Director of Corporate Affairs, Mars Wrigley IndiaUdita Dutta, Founder, Artsmith Concepts & Visions (Artsmith.in)Commencing the discussions, Madhurima Bhatia remarked, ?Ç£The importance of PR cannot be overemphasized. It builds reputations. It gives you visibility for the great work the company does. It makes you engage with your stakeholders. And these days, companies have their goals defined at the beginning of the year. And PR professionals and custodians, they are entrusted with the task to ensure that we achieve those goals.?Ç¥ She then asked the panelists how they measure the efficacy and effectiveness of the work in public relations.Abhi Mahapatra replied, " We obsess in inputs over outputs. While we track goals and metrics, including , SoV, earned exposures impressions, reach ?Çô are.some of the parameters that we use for measurement, both on social and traditional. But we are very obsessed about what our input mechanisms are because we believe that if the inputs are right, the outputs will find a way.?Ç¥He further added, ?Ç£We are moving away from SOVs (Share of voice) to SOI, which is Share of Influence, because we believe that voice share is probably important to measure competition benchmarking but not impactful for other tracks."Speaking about the regulated industry such as the implants industry, which is actually governed by the Drugs and the Cosmetics Act, Dr Rajiv Chhibber said, ?Ç£Because our kols are largely doctors, hospitals, and the Government of India as well ?Çô be it the Ayushman Bharat setup we are looking at, or the CGHS or the healthcare schemes ?Çô one thing that we define as a communications policy is an acronym ?Çô SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. Doctors can give us a maximum of 10-15 minutes?ÇÖ attention, and after that it?ÇÖs gone. So, our strategy becomes very different. And the methodologies to gauge what we?ÇÖve achieved are very different too.?Ç¥Sharing the perspective of the start-up industry, Himanshu Raj said, ?Ç£Being a start-up, there?ÇÖs no scope for qualitative analysis. ?ÇÿDhanda kitna hua?ÇÖ (How much business has been done) is everything. Vanity metrics don?ÇÖt add anything to your business. We now measure something called Share of Headline. How many times we are in the headline, because it gives you a very clear picture. We also do Google Analytics. For any time we give out a press release, we see how much brand searches have increased. Lastly, every time a patient comes to us, they fill a form. There is a segment we have added. Have you read about Pristyn Care in the media? That gives us an idea of what our patients are reading about, and I can directly correlate it to our business.?Ç¥Speaking about the challenges of upholding the brand and reputation of a company like Shell and policy and regulatory goals, Natasha Wadhwa said, ?Ç£Shell has defined a global strategy, which is called ?ÇÿPowering Progress?ÇÖ, which has four pillars. One is about shareholder value. One focuses on net zero emissions, one focuses on powering lives, the impact that we make on communities around us, and lastly, on respecting nature. We have defined a measurement which we call ?ÇÿMedia Impact Score?ÇÖ, which you can call like an index, which has multiple touch points feeding into it, like sentiment, tonality, prominence. We arrive at a media impact score and then we measure it against all these four pillars. It?ÇÖs a quarterly cadence.?Ç¥Speaking on owned media, Rohit Dubey said, ?Ç£Jio was born as a digital-first company. Whatever we did, digital was on the top of our mind. When we were starting the PR way back in 2016, the first thing we did was get an ORM tool. And that ORM tool was then acquired and internally is now being used for so many years, and it has undergone many changes with the advent of technologies all over. And that is what gives us the first set of feedback. But much earlier in our lives, we realized that you can?ÇÖt just depend on online and social media, you also have to move to the conventional of print and television. He further added, ?Ç£The challenge we initially came across was that you have to make PR relevant. It is not the conventional measurement which is going to work for us. You have to work with a set of measurement tools by which not only the impact is measured, but that impact is converted into a measurable matrix for sales, for management and for your finance, how the sales is looking at what PR is doing. And over a period of time we have been able to do it. The dependence of Jio on PR is very high compared to advertising. So, you won?ÇÖt see Jio?ÇÖs advertising except during IPL.?Ç¥Emphasizing on the importance of reputation, Sunita Patnaik said, ?Ç£Mars Wrigley India is obsessed with how we are perceived by our stakeholders, by our shareholders. We are obsessed with how we recruit our consumers. We firmly believe that reputation is not just getting a few stories in the media, but across the value chain. How are our shareholders or our stakeholders perceiving us? And it also helps us in recruiting talent. We are guided by something called the ?ÇÿCompass?ÇÖ. It gives us a good visibility of how our share and our stakeholders are thinking, feeling and what are they doing about it.?Ç¥Speaking from a sports and esports industry standpoint, Udita Dutta said, ?Ç£I belong to the sports and esports industry, which itself is a very happening industry. But when it comes to the aspect of matrix and measuring, we still are a work in progress, because for us, when it comes to live sports, it?ÇÖs all about engagement. So, sharing a voice is something we?ÇÖve been pushing all our clients to move away from. One size definitely doesn?ÇÖt fit all. For sports, I think education, credibility, engagement, and understanding are important. We prefer it if it is a live sport, including IPL. Input is very important for us.

Mars Wrigley India is known for its iconic brands like Snickers, Bounty, Twix, Mars, Galaxy, and many others. On the occasion of Women?ÇÖs Day, Adgully spoke to Sunita Patnaik, Director - Corporate Affairs, Mars Wrigley India, where she candidly shared her views about what Women?ÇÖs Day means to her as a woman leader, bringing equality and inclusivity in the work place, the challenges and biases that she has faced in her professional journey, and much more.What does Women?ÇÖs Day mean to you personally, and how do you believe it impacts the global conversation on gender equality?While there are a lot of causes that deserve equal attention, having a dedicated day to double click on matters directly relating to women enables wider global attention. Personally, it serves as a moment of reflection to check-in with where I started from and where I am, and how I can strive towards excellence on a daily basis. It also serves as a day where I, along with my female tribe, get to recognise, celebrate and commit to lift each other so that we can have more of us out there as equal stakeholders with our male counterparts.How do you view the significant role that women have played in shaping the field of public relations?Women have played a significant role in shaping the evolution of public relations over the years, as is evident from the fact that women make up 75% of the public relations industry globally. This is also reflected in the Indian PR industry, which comprises almost 70% women, as per various reports. I feel so proud of how this fraternity has transformed over time to elevate the profession, connect and engage with a changing audience, in shaping narratives and breaking many stereotypes.Please share your personal insights from your journey as a woman leader in corporate affairs.My journey as a Corporate Affairs professional over the past two decades has been empowering. I have witnessed the evolution of many things, especially the ?Ç£positioning?Ç¥ of Corporate Affairs and the thought processes. From being brand reputation drivers to being curators of narratives in service of the eco-system, from working to serve a cause for short term to a larger purpose for long term impact, to making and shaping conversations where they matter, the journey has been long and transformational. From being a journalist to a Corporate Communications professional and now heading Corporate Affairs where I contribute to policy advocacy, my professional journey has been marked by several milestones. I owe a lot of this to my mentors and exemplary CEOs of brands, that I have been part, for being allies and constantly pushing to raise the bar.Today, I have a seat at the table, and am a member of a gender balanced leadership team at Mars Wrigley India. While I feel proud of how women are leading the PR industry from the front, I would like to see more and more women breaking the traditional moulds to find their voice in public affairs and policy dialogues.How have you navigated biases and gender stereotypes?Navigating and challenging gender biases and stereotypes has been an ongoing journey filled with trials and triumphs. From the early days of my career as a journalist, facing denials of prime beats and night shifts solely based on my gender, to being pigeonholed as merely an English content writer in my role in Corporate Communications and later facing the notion that Public Affairs or Government relations belong predominantly to the male domain within Corporate Affairs ?Çô I have encountered these biases at every turn. The softer aspects of a woman?ÇÖs personality, her vulnerability, are often misconstrued as lack of strength, capability and confidence to take on higher responsibilities. Overcoming these external stereotypes and simultaneously battling my internal barriers, including the infamous imposter syndrome, have been formidable challenges. I try my best to find my voice amidst the noise, using it not only to counter prevailing perceptions but also to raise awareness levels, educating and enlightening those around me. The journey hasn?ÇÖt been easy, but every obstacle has only fueled my determination to break down barriers and pave the way for future women leaders.What role do you see men playing in advancing gender equality, and how can they be allies in this cause?A culture of equality and inclusiveness can only become a reality when everyone in a room is willing to understand, listen and be empathetic. Though there has been improvement in recent past on increasing women in the workforce, there is still a lot to be done. I think the responsibility of inclusiveness lies on both men and women with individual accountability and intent to envision and realise this. This isn?ÇÖt just a woman?ÇÖs problem, this is everyone?ÇÖs problem.Mars Wrigley has been dominating the markets all over with its many brands like M&M, Snickers, Bounty, etc. How does the success of Mars Wrigley feel, being the Director - Corporate Affairs?When I am part of an organisation that makes iconic brands Snickers, Galaxy, Boomer, that inspire moments of everyday happiness, I feel a sense of pride. We?ÇÖre not just committed to our consumers, we?ÇÖre focused on positively impacting the planet and the communities.How does Mars balance consumer demands for innovative products with sustainability goals and ethical sourcing practices?We are a global business of people and brands with a clear purpose. We believe the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. We are transforming the way we work ?Çô from how we source raw materials like cocoa, to how we fish the oceans for our pet food ingredients ?Çô to ensure every part of our operations and extended supply chains help people and the planet. From the cocoa in our chocolate treats to sourcing fish for our feline friends, we?ÇÖre ensuring we source through responsible, sustainable, and transparent programs.From the factories that make our iconic chocolate and GMFC, food and pet nutrition products, to the veterinary hospitals and clinics that care for animals, our global Net Zero Roadmap outlines how it?ÇÖs possible to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. As Poul Weihrauch, CEO, Mars, says, ?Ç£As I have said before, profit and purpose are not enemies. Investment in climate is not a trade-off between planet and productivity, or between environment and employment. Consumers and our Associates clearly want both ?Çô and so do we. Investing in emissions reductions is sound business policy, it is achievable, affordable, and it is absolutely necessary.?Ç¥