Yangpoo’s Media Masters Interview Series is an initiative to help young graduating students understand new trends in the media & entertainment industry & how to best plan their careers in New-Age Media.

This interview was taken by our intern, Ms. Aadisha Pai, BMM Student at Patkar Varde College, Mumbai.

About Mr. Paresh Chaudhry:

A global leader in the field of public relations, corporate communications, CSR.
An expert problem-solver & excellent brand opportunist
Have worked as a CEO of Madison PR & have acted as a Group president – Corporate Communications at Reliance Industries Ltd.

Aadisha:
First of all, I would like to thank you for agreeing to speak with us and guide the young students through Yangpoo’s platform.

Mr. Paresh:

It’s my pleasure, always happy to connect with young students!

Aadisha:
Sir, your current designation is that of Brand Custodian. Personally, I have not heard of this term earlier. Can you please walk us through what exactly is brand custodianship?

Mr. Paresh:

I think my job as a brand custodian is not just communicating the company’s activities but is also uplifting the brand name and image because the brand will always have to be a hero. We are basically Communication Business Partners.

So while brand custodianship is, is an extensive term, there are three or four facets to it.

Job weightage of brand custodian goes like this,
30-35% is internal communication, to create strong brand ambassadors for the external world.

30% is about external communication – Manging media, NGOs, communities, etc.

20-25% is about building a good socially responsible organization. This is about the genuine social, economic & environmental impact of organizational activities and telling people about them. Showing compassion and empathy is important to make consumers more loyal to you. Research shows consumers will be 18% more loyal to you if you are a socially responsible company.

There is also brand communication is also part of brand custodianship. How to communicate through marketing who you really are, and how you manage what consumers think about you.

Aadisha:

Wow! This is really interesting. I would also like to know from you about what PR is all about. Although its a very well-known term, we are not sure what exactly falls under this umbrella term.

Mr. Paresh:

I think public relations is just a small facet of the overall overarching facet of management, which is called corporate communications. And I always tell people that if there is any facet, which makes people happy about the organization they are working in, or people aspire to join a company that work is done by corporate communications, PR, and brand custodian people because you share the good news, you create a house, which is the company and the house has to look so nice and clean with manicured gardens, clean windows, nice roof, not dilapidated place. So that is the public image or the image of the house or the company or the people that you work for for the CEO, for the chairman, for the CMO, who should always look good in the eyes of people who are in front of the house and they call stakeholders.

Aadisha:

What is crisis management in PR? And why is it considered so important?

Mr. Paresh:

You know, in 2008 and also recently, how many of these companies have gone down? Because they’ve missed out is communication in a crisis. Being transparent, being honest as to where you are, people are very forgiving. You made a mistake, you have to come out and say that I’ve made a mistake, but this is my real intent. People will forgive you. But if you try to be smart, if you try to, you know, mess around with the system, if you, if you’re trying to take shortcuts, if you’re not looking at your stakeholders or employee’s interests, that is when the companies fall.

Aadisha:

How the future looks for PR, post covid-19 pandemic?

Mr. Paresh:

Markets always rebound back. India will become far stronger than it was earlier. India will be next to china in the next 15-20 years. People are getting smarter. The print will go down and digital will go up. The engagement patterns will shift from print and other traditional mediums to digital & social. Influencers, OTT platforms, digital PR will grow immensely.

Aadisha:

You mentioned Digital PR, can you help us understand the PR/communication role in new-age companies like OTT platforms?

 

The consumption of digital content has gone up by 50-52%. It will significantly rise in the future. The content is getting global. So there will be more of combined marketing + communication jobs, you will have to be an integrated marketing manager to handle these new kinds of roles.

Aadisha:

What is the role of storytelling in PR?

Mr. Paresh:

There are three types of media; owned media earned media, and paid media. Owned media is the company’s blog, website, annual reports. Earned media is when other media channels, outsiders cover stories about you. The third type is paid media which includes advertising and all other paid versions of communication where you pay them to talk about your brand.
Storytelling is fundamental in all the 3 formats. The story has to have an honest source, if you are promising something, stay true to it. Storytelling is about how factual, honest and transparent you are.

Aadisha:

So to summarize everything you just said, PR & Communication is an integrated kind of activity, so then what are the kinds of skills young professional would need to be in this field?

Mr. Paresh:

As far as jobs are concerned, some degree of post-graduation on communication, it will ensure a better entry, be it an agency or client-side. You need to be tech-savvy & updated constantly.

To be a good PR manager has to be a brand manager. You will have to speak the language of marketers. If you are passionate about PR, all you need to remember is to be a brand custodian. You need some management perspective to build a broad worldview. A PG education in media that covers all aspects of media, from advertising to branding, digital & social media, corporate communication, and PR is the best way to go about it. I have said it earlier & I will say it again, you must know it all from financials & budgeting to Marketing to be a better corporate communication professional in this age of digital and social media.

Aadisha:

I cannot thank you enough sir! This was really insightful.

Mr. Paresh:

My pleasure! All the very best for your future.  Have a passionate & satisfying career. God bless!

 

How to become an Integrated Media Manager? 

You must’ve experienced how pandemic changed our lives, binge-watching of OTT content, e-gaming waves, attending virtual events & so on. This trend’s here to stay, creating a high demand for an Integrated Media Manager who has complete knowledge of; Digital Marketing, Advertising, Branding, Social Media, Corp Comm & PR, Sports Marketing, Film Marketing, Celebrity & Event Management. This calls for a holistic PG Program.

There are many mass media courses available. To understand which course suits you best, you can get in touch with our seasoned counselors at Yangpoo, Call us at – 1800-123-500041.