COVID19 & PR - Today’s Situation, Challenges & Opportunities

Dear Friends, 

Thank you for reading my earlier blogs and sharing your views. I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting my 46th blog titled “COVID19 & PR - Today’s Situation, Challenges & Opportunities” to you.

As you know, that PR is all about telling compelling narrative to the target audiences through best possible and most effective mediums or channels of communication. PR is also a strategic communication process between an organization, individual and the target and or general audience.  And we, the PR professionals, work 24x7 - 365 days to establish and maintain best possible relationships with an organization’s target audience, all verticals of the media, opinion leaders and influencers.

We all know that the PR and media industries go hand in hand. PR, which was once upon a time controlled or defined only by print i.e. newspaper, magazine and or electronic media i.e. Television and Radio. But now, with the arrival of digital media or Online Media and or social media i.e. world wide web or Internet, and or Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Flicker etc. and that too with hugely improved technology has changed the functions, process and reach of any P R activity.

As I said above, previously, only two media, print and electronic media defined and governed brand awareness and promotion. Today anyone, even an individual blogger or communicator like me, or to be more specific, an influencer who has good number of followers on a social media platforms can give life-changing impact to any brand.

The social media network i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest has more than 7 billion users worldwide.  The only way to be noticed on these social media networks is to prioritize the content creation and digital marketing. The content must include blogs, articles, graphics, info-graphics, audio and videos files.

As per the report released by Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI), our P R industry grew 18 per cent in 2016-17 to Rs 1,315 crore with boutique firms performing remarkably well and is further expected to reach Rs 2,100 crore by fiscal 2020.  While most of the growth will come from public relations, the report said, digital, social media and content driven campaigns will contribute as much as 25% to the revenue of PR firms. ICT, FMCG, Retail, Automobile, and Real Estate sectors would be the main contributors to this growth. Start-ups, sports and entertainment are seen as the emerging business segment, while the industry is largely driven by the services and manufacturing segment.

With the global market observing a slowdown, most of the industries are trying to survive. The PR industry is no exception. As the economic fallout from the COVID19 pandemic comes into focus, the PR industry will not escape unscathed. As per the survey of International Communication Consultants Organisation (ICCO), 77% of PR agency heads expect a loss of earnings. Accordingly, bigger firms, supported by stronger cash balances and diversified practices, are best positioned to ride out the storm caused by COVID19 or perhaps midsize agencies, having out-performed the industry over the past decade, will emerge less shaken from this crisis. Most affected sectors are education, travel & tourism and hospitality sectors.

Since, most of the people are in a panic mode and because of that, even the sale of newspapers has declined drastically. Due to the slowdown caused by COVID19 pandemic, people are reluctant to buy newspapers even when the WHO guidelines clearly mention that there is no chance of contracting the virus from printed newspapers.

Most sections of the media, barring a few, are focusing only on the pandemic related stories which have impacted PR related coverage. The ongoing situation has also impacted new product launches and other promotional or media events where PR teams play an important role.  Most of the businesses are adopting the ‘wait and watch’ approach which seems to be the most logical at this juncture. The same is true even for a service-led industry like Public Relations.

Since March 2020 the world has completely changed in terms of the way we interact, socialize and engage with others. The COVID19 pandemic has struck nations worldwide, leading to every government announcing drastic measures of quarantining, social distancing and self-isolation to combat it. This has led to an almost overnight change in the way the world functions and businesses have had to make significant changes to adjust to it.

As the pandemic changes the world, so is the practice of Public Relations. The COVID19 pandemic requires PR professionals to bring experience, intuition and gut feel into play. In these uncertain times, any miscommunication done by a brand can result in unpleasant consequences. Therefore, all brands are now in crisis mode and planning their way forward accordingly. At this time, special focus needs to be placed on the information given out on public platforms; this is where the role of PR commences. Brands need to communicate in every situation - good or bad, so PR should play its role by focusing more on crises communications, investor relations, customer relations, employee relations, community relations, industry relations B2B, and government relations, to keep the brand’s perception & reputation intact.

The past few months have seen a drastic change in the way businesses are being operated across all the sectors. With work-from-home becoming the new style of working and seminars being replaced by webinars, initiation of FBLive series as I’m doing now,  people have resorted to multiple ways of beating all odds and keep the momentum going uninterrupted.

COVID19 is a global crisis that is impacting every person personally and economically. Of course businesses in different markets, of different sizes, and with different strengths will all be impacted in different ways. It’s the ultimate test of leadership and character, what you stand for, your business acumen and soft skills. We need leaders to lead with empathy and optimism. Every action we take during COVID19 and all the behaviour around our decisions, will define the future of each and every organisation, big or small, and its work culture. Let’s give our best today and always.

Thanks for reading. 

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