My First Encounter With Public Relations
My First Encounter
with Public Relations
‘P R is an attempt by information, persuasion, and adjustment
to engineer public support for an activity, cause, movement or institution’.
-Edward
Louis Bernays, Father of modern PR (1891-1995)
I think PR is 90 percent Press Relations or Press release
management and 10 percent Reputation or Perception management. Holding a media
event i.e. Press conference is a great thing to do if there is something
important to announce. A media event gives an opportunity to the journalists to
ask questions in a way that a press release can’t. Press conference enables the
journalists to build a story around the needs of the publication they represent
or work for. They try to investigate the areas that the organisation may or may
not want to bring to light. This case study will help the PR professionals in
organising a successful Media event.
The Encounter
May’ 1995 - During third week of May’95 I, along with my
family were at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine (Oriental Bank also has a branch near
the shrine). As it was very much in the knowledge of my colleagues at Oriental Bank
of Commerce , Head Office, New Delhi that I would be visiting the shrine on
certain dates and might also visit the branch, to my utter surprise a message
for me from one of the senior executives of the bank was with the branch
manager that if I visit the branch I should be asked to call that executive at
Head Office of the bank immediately. From the branch itself I telephoned the
senior executive who asked me to meet him in his office as soon as I return to
Delhi.
When I came back I met the senior executive. He told me that
they are looking for a person having
good contacts in the media as the bank is planning to hold its firstever press
conference in June’95 to declare its annual results for FY 1994-95. Oriental
Bank had brought its IPO in October 1994.
The senior executive was informed by some of my colleagues that I
have good contacts in the media as I am a casual drama artist of All India
Radio and Doordarshan and had been a journalist also in the past. He told me that Sh. S K soni the then Chairman and
Managing Director of the bank would like to meet me in this regard. Without any
delay I was taken to C&MD’s chamber. Mr. Soni asked me just two questions…
Do you have any contacts in the media?
Do you think that you would be able to organise press
conference of the Bank?
I told him that I am a
drama artist with AIR and DD and also actively engaged in Theatre. I also informed him about my
experience of working with the Delhi Press during my college days as University
Reporter. I assured him with confidence that I would be able to manage the
press conference and shall come upto his expectations.
Step by Step Execution
of the Task
Press conference was to be held in third week of June and venue
finalised was Club Room, Hotel Le
Meridien, Janpath, New Delhi.
First Step
I had around two weeks to execute the work. I decided to visit
INS Building to gather info about the journalists handling Banking portfolio and
business editors of various news papers, magazines and news agencies and also purchased INS
members directory. After arranging necessary information I personally visited
each news media office and created a list of Journalists and Editors handling Banking beat.
During the course of action I came to know about Press Information Bureau at
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi which houses Press Information Officers of every GOI ministry.
One day I also went there and managed to meet the Press Information Officer handling
Ministry of Finance. He was a young IIS officer who happily shared an
exhaustive list of Journalists handling Finance, Banking, Business and Economy
beats.
The list was having the following information;
1. Names of the journalists
2. Names of photo journalists
3. Names of News cameramen
4. Name of the newspapers, magazines,
television channels, newswires,
5. Office addresses
6. Phone numbers
7. Fax numbers
8. Residence addresses and phone numbers
of the journalists
On the basis of that list I prepared my own list of journalists
covering banking beat (to be more focussed) and showed it to the senior
executive and C&MD so that they can decide which all journalists are to be
invited to the event. C&MD shortlisted 25 names to be invited to the bank’s
maiden media event.
Second Step
After getting the names of 25 journalists, I started meeting each
of them personally. During one of those
meetings I was advised by one the
journalists that I should also meet the Editor In-charge of the Business desk
and Resident Editor. His advice came as a boon to me which helped me a lot in
due course of time. My first meeting with all the journalists and the
respective editors was the stepping stone in building media relations.
Third Step
Third step was…………
1.
Finalising
the matter of press invite, its printing and distribution
2.
Preparation
and approval of pre-event press release and its distribution as an annexure to
press invite.
3.
Preparation
and approval of press release for distribution during the media event.
4.
Preparation
of press kit for the journalists.
Those were the days when Google was not there to help us, still
all the above tasks were successfully completed within given time and well
before the date of the event with the guidance of friends in media. And again I
met each and every journalist and their editor In-charge to deliver the press
invite and pre event press release. The second meeting further strengthened my relations
with the journalists.
Fourth Step
Two days before the event I personally telephoned each and
every journalist invited to the event to enquire whether they require pick up
and drop facility, as the event was to be held in the evening followed by dinner,
to which most of the journalists very politely said NO.
At the Press Conference
Myself, Senior Executive, General Manager, Executive
Director, and C&MD of the bank reached the venue well before the event time.
I remember that my C&MD asked me – Suresh how many journalists you feel
would come to the event. As I was sure that all the invited one would turn up,
I answered with confidence –Sir all those whom you have invited will attend the
event. The press conference was to start at 7.30pm.
By 7.30pm most of the invited journos reached the venue and
took their seats and I started distributing press kits to them. I noticed that
there were 24 journos instead of invited 25 and the one who was not present was
from HT. I requested the GM, ED and C&MD of the bank to take their seats on
the head table and requested the senior executive, who was also the Emcee of
the event, to start the press conference and I went to the adj. room, which was
being used as camp office. I made a phone call on his direct office
number. He picked up the phone and told
me that he is in a mid of finalising the cover page story for tomorrows
newspaper and will surely come to the event, though a bit late. When the press
conference was about to end, the HT journo also walked in and asked few closing
questions. I was very happy that all the 25 journos attended the maiden press
conference organised by the bank, executed by me.
After the dinner, when all the journos left the venue, Sh. S
K Soni C&MD came to me and patted my shoulder and said ‘well done
Suresh, I am proud of you and left the venue. Also the ED and GM praised great outcome of my
hard work. This was the biggest ever prize for a naΓ―ve person like me for successfully
executing bank’s maiden press conference, that too single handedly.
Outcome of the Press
Conference
Over 200 english, hindi and vernacular newspapers published
the news about bank’s financial results with great headlines. Some of the main newspapers
and magazines also carried interviews of Sh. S K Soni, C&MD. The bank
received ample coverage and exposure in the media. The press conference helped me in becoming first ever most successful Public Relations officer of
the bank and an expert in financial PR.
Suresh Gaur
P R Guru
Founder & CEO
P R 4 You and Public Relations @ Online
Authored: Public
Relations 4 You & P R 4 Everyone
Mobile No.- +919999761727
LinkedIn handle : Suresh Gaur P R Guru
Twitter handle : @sureshgaur56
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ReplyDeleteGrast experience shared. Well done Mr Gaur.
ReplyDeleteGreat
DeleteWe all learn so much by someone's journey but this has been the most inspiring read. Nothing is impossible if you try and a willingness to do.
ReplyDelete