The Hindu Business Line : Unwept. Unhonoured. Unsung

At the risk of exaggeration one must say that the plight of the poor public relations agency in India is similar. The PR agency's glory, it seems, is known only to God. I always thought that advertising agencies are the ones that go unrecognised for their efforts in client service and brand building. But now that I am in the thick of things in the public relations business, I realise that, comparatively speaking, folks in advertising seem to be a blessed lot.

Why don't you just tell me?

A few years ago, I had a talented lady executive working with us who was extremely competent and committed. I remember her single-handedly organising a product launch in a city in Kerala. She spent quite a few days away from home base organising several things including a traditional welcome by elephants!

It was a very creditable achievement involving enormous pressure and working at unearthly hours in an unfamiliar place. To my mind, she (and if one may add, the agency) did a fantastic job. And yet the client didn't have a single word of praise for her or the agency.

In defence of the client it might be said that he must have had a few things on his mind, launch et al, and singing the praises of the agency was not top-of-mind at that time. All that was required was a brief note later, to the lady, complimenting her on the excellence of the project. But there was no such note forthcoming and my former colleague (as her status soon altered to) was extremely disappointed, to put it mildly.

She left not only our agency but the advertising business as well to pursue other interests where I am sure her abilities and contribution are at least acknowledged, if not appreciated.

Sadly, clients who are wonderful at motivating their own teams tend to take their advertising agencies and most certainly their public relations agencies for granted.

Recognition, the name of the game

Today, there is enough recognition for the advertising agency's contribution to brand building. Today more and more companies report their brand's value in the balance sheet. Not because they have to; but because they want to. Today it is common knowledge that a brand's value has nothing to do with the physical assets owned by the company. And if brand Coca-Cola has been valued at $67.39 billion, clearly the advertising agency's role in this is being accepted, if grudgingly.

Categories like soft drinks are dependent on and driven by advertising. Advertising agencies can and will give an arm and a leg to handle a soft drinks major. Pitches to handle accounts like these are high-profile ones with inputs and support from the agency's global network. The media keeps a close watch reporting the agencies that are in the shortlist and predicting who is in front. When the account is gained, the agency goes to town and the whole world knows.

Agencies have also used their portfolios to acquire visibility, awards and more business. The world knows that JWT has been behind Pepsi's visibility in India, O&M behind Cadbury, Lowe behind Surf Excel, Mudra behind Vimal and Rasna and so on. All these brands are dependent on advertising. Rightly so. But there are many technology, business-to-business and corporate brands which do not have the luxury of huge advertising budgets and a global agency network at their beck and call.

They depend on public relations agencies to provide them visibility and build their brands. And here lies the difference. Who really knows which is the public relations agency behind some of India's most visible brands? And how often do clients go on stage to acknowledge the role of the PR agency as contributing to their brand's success?

Creating visibility is boring

Having been involved with both advertising and public relations, I can tell you that advertising is not only a lot more glamorous, but also a lot more fun. TV commercials make it to people's drawing rooms and eventually even to cocktail parties as people discuss not only the Sensex but the latest advertising as well, provided the ad is interesting. And mind you, a lot of advertising that we see on TV today is really very, very interesting. Never a dull moment! Whereas the life of the PR executive can be reasonably dull. One more store gets opened, one more branch office is inaugurated, one more senior executive joins which must be reported and another senior executive quits and that must not be reported and so on.

It is a matter of relentless execution day after day. Yes, we do have our highs - a major announcement that breaks through the clutter or a cleverly conceived photo opportunity that comes off. And yet rarely, if ever, do we talk about it outside closed doors and never do our clients publicly acknowledge the travails of their PR agency.

If you can make your clients visible

The reality is that public relations agencies, which struggle to keep their clients in the news, and which argue with clients who are publicity-shy that they should open up, seem to be suffering from the same malaise. It is true that PR agencies have come a long way, as have the public relations function in companies. It is no longer the travel desk that they are manning. Today the PR agency is competent. It can think beyond mere media relations. It understands brands and the strategy that needs to go into it. And savvy PR agencies even understand the value of internal communications in building the employee brand. It can handle a crisis and not talk about its role in defusing it.

And yet, I believe that the time has come for the PR agency — not to rise in revolt against the hand of the client that feeds it — but to place on record what it brings to the table. PR agencies that push their clients to `inform' when they `perform' now need to push themselves into the reckoning if not into the limelight. They must share their experiences. They must document their achievements as case studies. They must speak at forums. And the time is now. Otherwise we may have to use Sir Walter Scott's words to write our own epitaph: "Dying" (we) "shall go down to the vile dust, from whence he sprung, unwept, unhonour'd and unsung."

People who have the capability to create history for their clients shouldn't end up being consigned to the forgotten realms of history.

(The writer is CEO of Brand-comm.)

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