CASE STUDY
MANAGEMENT
group companies. For example, Vaishnavi worked in association with Adfactors, an investor relations specialist, during the TCS IPO, in 2004.
The normal relations in public relations Media relations are considered so important in India that the profession of PR is often equated with ‘press relations’. The print media has traditionally been the crucial PR tool in India, thus making press relations almost equivalent to PR, as a whole. But over the last decade, the advent of private television channels, particularly business channels, has made broadcast a growing media tool for PR. With the boom in the stock markets, investor relations became a competing element of media relations. Earlier, investor relations included only printing of annual reports and holding annual general meetings. But, now, the routine PR activities include placing annual, halfyearly and quarterly reports, investor/ analyst meets and briefings to the stock exchanges, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and other
regulatory authorities. With foreign institutional investors being the major players in the market, corporate presentations for existing and prospective investors are crucial. Banks and financial institutions, in addition, produce regular newsletter and equity research reports. PR activity, whether by the CorpComm or the PR agency, also includes getting the company featured in analyst/ fund management reviews. Government relations, though
less important than during the license raj, are still a major PR activity of Indian companies. Building relations with state and central governments are necessary for getting licenses (in some industries like, say, power plants), land, environmental clearances and other facilities, like electricity and water, at special tariffs. Companies need government relations also to influence the tax/duty regime. Although the duty structure is less elaborate than in the 1960s and 1970s, when Dhirubhai Ambani’s legendary PR skills modified the import duty structure for polyester and petrochemicals entirely to his advantage, lobbying with the government is still an important activity. This function, however, often requires involvement on part of the chief executive, or the industry associations, and chambers of commerce The website is evolving into the first stop for customer relations and so has become one of the crucial communication
media for most companies. Designing of the website as well as the content, is usually the domain of the CorpComm in association with specialised agencies. Social media, associated with Web 2.0, are becoming a potent tool, and are fostering what is known as PR 2.0 (see box).
Crisis management Crisis management is, of course, a vital PR activity. In fact, lack of communication from the company is most often the reason for PR crisis. For example, when the NGO, Centre for Science and Environment, broke the story of Coke and Pepsi drinks containing more than permissible limits of pesticides in 2006, both companies - advised by their global PR advisors - decided to limit their media exposure on the issue. Instead, they conducted their own experiments in their specified labs believing that the results will be proof of their innocence. However, this reticence turned consumers more
Organisation Structure of a PR Agency CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Media Relations
Investor Relations
Musical soirees & cultural events
Event Management
Publications – annual reports, corporate brochures, house magazines, newsletters, equity research reports
Audio Visual – corporate films, radio jingles, film sponsorships & promos, celebrity endorsements
Conferences & seminars
Sports events
Go India January 2009
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