A conversation with PR guru Deirdre Breakenridge on all things PR

In a way, 2012 has been a watershed year for Public Relations and Social Media in India. With 2 major conferences held in the same year, the profession couldn’t have asked for a better PR boost for itself. The world danced to the tunes of Psy in true Gangnam style, including India’s biggest superstar from Bollywood. The country engaged in heated debates on article 66A of the Indian IT Act. Even for the naysayers, Social Media emerged as a stark reality, that promised to redefine the paradigms of human interaction and brand engagement. The opening up of FDI in Retail revived the Lobbying vs PR debate. The profession hit front pages of business newspapers in the backdrop of one of India’s most high-profile state elections. It all happened in 2012. But that’s just the tip of a massive PR iceberg.

 We, at Text100 India, caught up with (virtually, ofcourse) PR guru Deirdre Breakenridge to provide an international perspective on the year gone by and crystal gaze into the communications trends to watch out for in 2013. Deirdre is a veteran with over 20+ years in the communications industry and is the author of four acclaimed Financial Times books – “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations,” “PR 2.0, New Media, New Tools, New Audiences,” “The New PR Toolkit” and “Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy.” She recently made her maiden visit to India as the Key Note Speaker at #PRAXIS2012 in Pondicherry.

 You may be a Marketer, a Corp Comm officer, a PR consultant in an agency, a Social media enthusiast, a businessman or a PR/Mass communications student… Read on to get a perspective on the future of the Public Relations and its marriage with Digital and Social Media.

Deirdre Breakenridge

How was your experience at PRAXIS 2012? Did you find any commonalities with similar events abroad in terms of themes, content, participation, etc.?

PRAXIS 2012 was an amazing experience for me, as it was my first trip to India. I met so many incredible professionals and found myself definitely wanting to spend more time seeing and experiencing India, during my very short visit.  With respect to PR and commonalities with similar events abroad, the same types of vocal concerns about measurement are expressed worldwide. Whether it’s in India or in the U.S., PR professionals know that they are accountable and, although the Barcelona Principles are in place, there are still so many questions about the value of PR, business outcomes and how to show that ROI to executives.  I also find that regardless of the country, PR professionals are eager to participate in events to learn about the integration of social media into their communications programs. However, they find out quickly that the degree of challenges vary across the globe, both in the internal and external environments.

What are your views on the state of Public Relations in India and its growth?  

India will experience a great deal of growth in the area of PR and social media, as the Internet and technology continue to become more essential to businesses.  We have already seen heavy usage of social media participation on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. PR professionals in India will be required to expand their knowledge, skills and communications practices as consumers and business come to rely more on social media communities to deliver communications and to engage with the public. Although PR doesn’t own social media, because it is proliferating worldwide, we need to be able to breakdown the communication opportunities for our brands, and also be able to counsel and measure results.  During the keynote Q&A, the moderator, Anant Rangaswami stated that, similar to what happened in India with TV (going from a few channels to many), the same will happen with social media.  India must be ready.

What according to you were some of the defining trends in PR and Digital / Social media in 2012? What trends do you foresee in 2013 and beyond?

In 2012, we got a taste of new practices, learning more about social media and how to engage on collaborative platforms, developing content for social media channels and learning the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We also grew our knowledge in areas including video, multimedia and web analytics.  This year also proved important for PR and mobile communications as well.  At times, we saw ownership issues over social media; who owns social media? Is it marketing or PR. We learned that it’s a shared responsibility that doesn’t solely live in the communications department anymore.  In 2013 and beyond, we will see the silos between marketing and PR breakdown even more. In addition, PR professionals will be working more closely with other departments including customer service, IT, Legal, HR, etc., as a result of social media. Moving forward, content marketing will become increasingly important, as we embrace how PR content is no longer restricted to news releases, white papers and customer testimonials.  As a result, PR professionals will learn to write for different channels including Twitter and Facebook and our content will be more interactive by nature.

Many PR agencies continue to focus on media relations as their primary deliverable. At the conference you spoke about a “Hybrid Professional”; what according to you are essential qualities for being a communication professional of the future? Or simply put, Professional2.0 !

PR people are learning that media relations is one part of our role.  We will continue to rely on credible third party endorsements whether it’s through the media, bloggers or our customers.  However, the Hybrid PR 2.0 professional understands this new approach; there is no more mass or broadcast messaging in web communities. Our approach has changed from top down messaging to a bottom up approach that includes listening closely to conversations and involving your audience much more in the brand communication. Through direct social media engagement (a peer-to-peer approach), brands are becoming meaningful resources by answering questions, solving problems, helping in purchase decisions and providing valuable information and resources to stay “top of mind” with their stakeholders.

‘Putting public back into public relations’ – that’s the title of one of your books. Is this relevant only to Western economies or do the principles apply to countries like India too?

The thought process behind Putting the Public Back in Public Relations is to involve any public in brand communication, and is meant for every economy. Today, consumers are driving and controlling their own communications. They rely much more closely on their peers (who are trusted influencers) so much more than media, government or corporations.  Consumers are also deciding where, when and how they want to consume their news and information. With so much power in the age of public conversations, it’s best for a brand to become a part of these conversations; to breakdown the corporate walls and show the human side of the company. People want to talk to people and as this type of communication is proliferating through social media, brands that don’t put the people first will not capture the trust, loyalty and advocacy from today’s media savvy consumers.

Any final words to PR consultants / Corp comm. professionals /Marketers reading this interview?

My advice for 2013 is to take the best of traditional communications forward; our ethics, critical thinking and great communications skills serve as a guide to best practices. However, be open to new types of engagement with people through social media, by embracing and experimenting with what is new and often unfamiliar. You will always need to be 10 steps ahead of your companies, yet on the same page with consumers, to understand their preferences and to better serve their needs. Media models are shifting and changing. Regardless, we have to learn to work closely with journalists, whether they are more “traditional” or these journalists are also bloggers. We also have to help our brands learn to build closer and more human relationships with new influencers as well as their customers. Technology will continue to change and so will the media.  As a result, our roles and responsibilities will expand too. This is our greatest opportunity to be strategic in all types of communication and raise the profile of PR in the eyes of our executives and in the eyes of the public.

You can follow Deirdre on Twitter @dbreakenridge

Papa Don’t PReach it right?

An interesting PR battle is being baked in the US with Papa John’s Pizza. Though the crisis is not of a monumental scale a la BP after the oil rig disaster, this one has the potential, if not addressed, to do real damage to the brand and company in the long run. Why? Because public opinion is rife against Papa John’s and it has even caused the stock to take a downward slide in the market.

This post will look at Papa John’s positioning/messaging before, during and after the recently concluded, US Presidential elections, a bitterly fought ballot with accusations, innuendos and low brow tactics employed by both the campaigns to malign each other. Lot of PR lessons to be learnt, if one is so inclined.

Before I delve into the PR bit, here is a short brief on the topic: One of the most polarizing issues during the elections was the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more popularly referred to as Obamacare, a sort of universal health coverage which Obama was successful in getting passed during his first term. Mitt Romney and the Republicans were dead set against the ACA as it makes it mandatory for a) Every organization to provide health coverage to all full time employees and b) Individuals have to purchase coverage from the market.

Healthcare costs are sky rocketing in the US and it is believed that it will get even more expensive in the days to come. Many Presidents tried to bring about legislation to rein in costs (Clinton did too) but never succeeded. Anyway, moving on.

As you can imagine, multiple organizations opposed the legislation and aligned themselves with Mitt Romney who promised to scrap or at the very least, overhaul the ACA.

PR part of it: For those who are not familiar, Papa John’s is a pizza delivery chain, built on a franchise model, as Pizza Hut and Domino’s. It is a well known and loved brand in the US, and has a global presence. PR before the elections centered on how “Papa John’s has the best pizzas because they only use the best ingredients.” John Schnatter is the CEO.

During the elections, John, and by extension Papa John’s, were vociferous in their opposition to the ACA, noting that forcing employers to provide health care coverage for all FULL TIME employees (i.e., those who work 35 hours or more per week) will:

• Put the squeeze on small to medium enterprises (a typical Papa John franchisee) – therefore there were implied threats that the pizza chain would either reduce the hours of employees to make them part time workers or lay off hundreds of them
• Increase the final cost to consumers (12-15 cents per pizza!). Otherwise, Papa John would incur a loss to the business to the tune of $8 million per year

Stories were a plenty in the blogosphere, SM platforms and in mainline press debating Papa John’s position. A Forbes reporter investigated the price increase claims and published that as opposed to 12-14 cents, providing health care would only increase pizza cost by up to 5 cents.  Even Jon Stewart of Comedy Central got in the act. That kind of gives you a flavor of the craziness around the topic. Here is a sample if you want to read more about it. Be sure to check out the video:

• CBS, Aug 8, 2012 – Papa John’s Founder To Raise Price Of Pizza Due To ‘Obamacare’
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Aug 14, 2012 – It’s Not Delivery, It’s D’Economies of Scale
• Forbes, Nov 2012 – Breaking Down Centi-Millionaire ‘Papa’ John Schnatter’s Obamacare Math

Now that the election is over, and there is no hope of repealing ACA, Papa John’s finds itself in a tough spot. All those election time messages of “giving healthcare to all will lead to business closures” have ensured a lifetime of negative publicity for organizations loudest (more examples – Applebee’s, Denny’s) in their protest against ACA. There have been calls to boycott Papa John’s pizza, and a number of franchisees have seen sales decline as a result.

What does one do in such an instance?

Schnatter decided to write an article clarifying his position on Obamacare. The article went up on Huffington Post, one of the most widely read news blog sites in the US. In the article (The Real Scoop on Papa John’s and Obamacare, Nov 20, 2012), John argues that he was misunderstood and all that hullabaloo was a result of words taken out of context from a speech he was giving at a Florida school. The article is earnest, and clearly lays out his position:

• He is not against Obamacare
• Papa John’s will not lay off employees or reduce work hours to circumvent the employee policy
  • Cleverly noted is that it was the position that he thought would be taken by Papa John franchisees over which he has no control

Reading the article, it is clear that a PR mastermind is at work, clarifying and subtly deflecting all criticism directed at the company and the CEO. Taken at face value, the letter is a good move and I believe people will react to it positively. It is always a good idea, in my opinion, to address concerns directly and transparently when crises strikes. It cuts down on rumors and helps the organization take back control of the message. A status update on Facebook read “Nice to see a primary source going on the record. : )”

More discerning readers however will have a lot of questions to do with timing (why did Schnatter take 2 months to correct the negative stories) and his disingenuous response to the comments attributed to him.

It is too early to tell what the fallout will be. Early reactions to the article are not positive. Comments on Huffington Post are overwhelmingly against Schnatter and call his integrity into question with a random one thrown here and there acknowledging his stand. Reaction on Twitter too seems modest, nothing much to write about. A comment on Facebook said the article seemed “backpedally” which is to be expected.

What we can expect to see more from Papa John’s is how they are all about valuing and taking care of employees. Interesting times ahead.

What do you think? Will Papa John’s succeed, or do you think they will come out stronger than ever before?

Authored by Zibi Jamal from @Text100India (Bangalore) – a communications consultant par excellence that enviously embodies all positives of her sun sign – magnetism, wit, intelligence and compassion. 

…and the “Digital Student of the Year” goes to – #TEXTRAVAGANZA !

Text100 can you fix our SM?
Text100: YES WE CAN
Twitter, Wikipedia and Facebook too
Pinterest and Quora join the crew
Youtube and Blogs are so much fun
Working together, Text100 gets the job done…

Yes, with some poetic license I rejigged the “Bob The Builder” title song, but I don’t think there is any other song which can summarise The Textravaganza any better.

Since Karan Johar’s Student of the Year is releasing today, let me take this opportunity to narrate it in the same KJo style.

Text100 India introducing in its own grand style ‘Textravaganza: The Competition of Life’ for the Digital Student of the Year (DSOTY)
Directed by: Award winning duo Sunayna Malik / Pooja Parikh
Produced by: Raj Rathi Dollars & Rupees Inc.
Lead Actors:       DashingDavid Lian
Smashing Anne Costello
Crashing Ashish Arora (in some alphabetical order)

Day 1, Scene 1:
41 sleepy Texties from Mumbai arrive at Mumbai airport. In the flight, the ever so charming Mr. Ashish Arora tried to keep the spirits of mumbaiites high but alas, waking up at 2:30 am had made some grumpy and others exhilarated (the goody-two-shoes ones)! Finally they arrive at The Clarks Amer, Jaipur wherein true Karan Johar isshtyle, they are greeted with Aarti thali and teeka! Enter – the pretty – Anne Costello and and the heart-throb – David Lian. Ashish weighs his opponent – David, afterall Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge! Lo behold – horror of horrors – when roomkeys are given out – Ashish and David are assigned the same room…. (Voice over of some people over emoting horrific expressions)

Day 1, Scene 2:
Meet and Greet with the rest of Texties – Lunch Time Filler – Some laughter and lame introduction jokes!

Day 1, Scene 3:
Presenting the best SM presentations. Six presentations to be filmed, to show that the movie isn’t all fluff and phaff but incredible depth. Also fit in a flash mob on ‘Oppan Gangnam Style’. After a lot of blah, bluh, bleh the winners are announced. While all the girls are hoping the ever so charming Abhilash wins the ‘competition of skills’ but the combined super prayers of boys make the gorgeous Delhi team of Sonali Bagchi, Hot Bhawna Sharma Ningthoujam Swati and Abhilasha winners, and the first runners up being danseuse par excellence Sharmita Mandal and team of Sharmita, Pallavi and  Sanjeevitha.

Day 1, Scene 4:
Text100 Spoof Awards. These awards were bestowed on the most ‘hardworking and spirited’ Texties – Spammie of the year, Foodie OTY, Chamki Chameli OTY, among others. Each nominee had struggled a lot through the year to be mentioned in the coveted list. And this wasn’t all, everyone has to dance and drink and just be their own selves – Drunk! Ashish was a compere par excellence but stealing his focus was: David’s charming ‘plug the bulb’ moves AND Ketan and Aleem’s Nagin dance and who can forget the HERO of this event – Alcohol!!! Alcohol helped all the tired and the thirsty travellers in focusing on their future!

Day 2, Scene 1:
Cut to Breakfast scene- Camera pans towards a lot of dispirin infused glasses of water and red eyed crowd. Anne and David enter breezily and greet everyone with morning salutations. Ashish on the other hand is croaking and tries to play a puppeteer with Geetaj as his aide.. Don’t even think that Geetaj does what Ashish commands him to… Geetaj has a mind of his own and is very well able to convey his dialogues without any help!

Day 2, Scene 2:
Smaller groups of people are taken to different conference rooms / living rooms (they are all grand, keeping up with KJo tradition). Sessions on Social Media and how practitioners can replicate the best practices with their clients are discussed. Interesting discussions to help the enterprise client, the end consumer client, making events eventful and a session on SM press releases are filmed. It is also ensured the camera focuses on people yawning and catching a wink during sessions immediately preceding lunch are also filmed!

Day 2, scene 3:
The global Exc1te awards India portion is relayed. These awards are given to students who have actually passed their exams with flying colours and win a whopping 1500$ prize. The rest of the students are left gaping and salivating at the amount post INR conversion! Also enter Ramu the Elephant who was invited just for a photo-opp (subtitles – No animals were hurt during the shooting of this film. Who knows if they were hurt but out motto is just to keep PETA , Ketaki, Disha, Anne, Avantika and Hardik happy)

Day 2, scene 4:
People immediately exit to practice for the song and dance show scheduled to happen later at night!
Day 2, Scene 5:
Finally some Skin Show. Girls in their skimpiest formal best and guys in their boring colourless suits! And like a KJo blockbuster needs serious drama, this scene is all about serious excellence awards for those students who’ve delivered their best performances. And post that the real show – skits and dance. The greatest battle of BIG B (Batman) vs KaJo (Joshy from Karnataka) vs God (Rajinikanth) ensues. No prizes for guessing who wins!

Day 2, Scene 6:
Cut to room 701- all rogue students of the year playing LOUD music, screaming, xxxing, xxxing, … (sorry , yet to receive Censor Board Certificate).  No item songs now! Just numbers such as Koi Kahe from DCH!

Day 2, Scene 7:

Enter the drunk bawa when people are ready to hit the bed.. Ensuring no one goes to sleep and get more drunk from his very own stock of Grey Goose and the best of the shots! Finally people retire to bed at 9am! (In the loo next morning all held their stomachs singing “Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai God)

Day 3, Scene 1:
2% people arrive for breakfast.. 5% go out to shop at the picturesque Jaipur bazaar (close shots of the lehriya sarees and bandhani dupattas with silver jewellery). Pan shot to the rest of 93% red eyed drunkards who are scurrying here and there to throw-up their early morning drinks!!

And the end!

 

Credit Roll…
Everyone must be thinking what the end of the love triangle be.. Not that anyone saw any sparks.. This is a U/A movie dude… But since this is a KJo movie, Anne goes to her real hero – Wilson!

Yes, yes you are bored of this long blog… But what the heck his movies last for almost four hours and you sit through them and rarely complain!

Also I have used KJo and Student of the Year keywords many times so this blog also throws up on google search ! See the trainings were extremely useful! Muahaha!

(Authored by Ketaki Manikeri from @Text100India (Mumbai )- the coolest Konkani media queen to have walked the PR universe, and a self-confessed massive-foot-in-the-mouth victim.

Empathy is an essential ingredient of the “Art of Client Management”

Dictionary.com defines “empathy” as “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.” As prolific as its usage may be in sociological & philosophical discourses, my personal experience suggests that it merits more rampant application in corporate circles. And it’s relevance in the “volatile” field of public relations & communications cannot be overstated. This post is dedicated to all those PR pros who can’t seem to decode their clients’ “recalcitrant” behaviour.

The answer lies in… Empathy!

If you thought being a client was about throwing orders at your agency and enjoying a ‘comfortable life’ yourself, think again.  Curious about what ‘life as a client’ could entail, I decided to venture out to the other side of the fence and consciously decided to get back to the agency fold.

So, here’s my two cents worth of suggestion on how perceiving your client contact in a different light can make you build a solid relationship with them. At the risk of sounding like a “thought leader”,  here are some “Tips to strengthen the Art of Client Management” in PR & Communications.

Never drop the ball - You could pride yourself on great relationship skills with your client, you may accompany her shopping once a month (an ex-colleague actually did that), send them a great bunch of flowers with a warm hand-written note, but that can never be more important to you than the delivery on his/her account. In fact, consistent delivery is the only foundation of a relationship. Like we propagate to our clients that a story sells on merit and not on a relationship with a journalist, the same principle applies to a successful engagement with a client. SMART ALEC says: Like in cricket, it’s all about that perfectly pitched “delivery”.

I’m smarter and I know it- Sitting in the ivory tower of arrogance, PR professionals tend to underestimate their client’s knowledge levels. So you may be more “intelligent” (the two are different and we must learn to differentiate), but the fact remains that your client always has better exposure to the business than you do. The very fact that they manage a larger portfolio, deal with the top management, sit in on sales meetings, interact with business partners etc. makes them better exposed to their business than we are and can ever be, ‘googling’ about their business.  So the next time, you deliver a verdict “He has no clue about what he’s talking about”, credit him/her with some sense. SMART ALEC says: There are no free lunches, all are doing their job.

It’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog – It’s about the choices you make. We made a choice to be cooped up in an agency that has great working vibe, chatty people and a casual work atmosphere. The client decided to work in an office where he sits next to the MD’s cabin, where he’d get reprimanded first thing in the morning, for not being part of a competition story and consequently not being able to manage the agency well! Get the drift? All said and done, a client’s life is as challenging and differently so, than ours. Be sensitive towards that and you’ll be able to handle the ‘10:05 am-why-are- we-not-a-part-of –this- story-type-of-client-calls’ with a lot more empathy and maturity. SMART ALEC says: Grass is not greener on your client’s side.

Never falter on your deadline commitment- The harsh reality about being part of a corporate communications set-up is that you’re’ always “dependent” on your agency for getting the job done. While this may seem like an obvious statement, you realise how much you take it for granted when your agency doesn’t give you a desired document by the stated deadline and your boss has called you umpteen times to follow-up for it. The worst part- you can’t even step in and help them out because you already have 20 other tasks at hand. SMART ALEC says: Watch Salman Khan’s “Wanted” 

Lastly, the big impact is in the little detailing. Some questions you should ask yourself to check your score on the client servicing quotient-

• Do you change the subject line of a continuous exchange of mails?
• Do you send a media opportunity in a mail that is so comprehensive and well positioned that the corp comm. person wouldn’t have to additionally convince any of its spokespeople to participate in the story, apart from just sending that mail?
• Instead of disturbing the client 10 times a day, do you make a note of all pending items and do a quick run-through with him/her first thing in the morning?
• Do you send documents an hour before the stated deadline and consistently surprise your clients with your promptness

These things seem trivial and commonsensical, but it’s all about applying it on a daily basis that can bring about a dramatic turnaround in agency-client relationship. Public Relations is really about commonsense elevated to a status of a profession. And the art of client management is one of them.

Authored by Disha Hoskote – an award winning communications athlete @Text100India (Mumbai), who has mastered the art of running complex client engagements and running diverse teams. 

Dear World, digital media and social genes are in PR pros’ blood

Circa 2000: Those famous words of industry veterans, in the air conditioned auditorium of Xavier Institute of Communications, are still fresh in my mind… just like the Subway sandwiches. “Public Relations is strategic management function, though many still treat it like mass communication’s step child. Future PRactitioners like you’ll have to raise the bar”.

Circa 2004: And then the PR pros were confronted with the greatest ego-boosting bible ever written – The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR, that famously hailed public relations as the marketing tool of the future.

Circa 2012: Second edition of TFM&A in Mumbai and as I walked out of the venue at the end of day 2, I couldn’t help but ponder over the 3-day agenda of the conference. It’s an amazing platform to discuss, debate and share new technology trends & predictions in marketing and advertising. But with most speakers decoding digital marketing and demystifying social media, just one question in my mind stuck with Fevicol – why no PR representation?

(Incidentally, I was given a providential opportunity to speak at TFM&A in 2011 on “Social Media in a PR-ed World”. Admittedly, it took me a while to set the context about what “PR guys” do for 8-10 hours in a day. )

It was just a random thought. I am well aware of several new platforms that have emerged to discuss social media / digital implications to businesses, where “PR guys” are represented too. But the larger question remains… “Do brands / companies / marketers still wonder how a “PR guy” can understand, consult and implement social media campaigns?’

Some Social / Digital buzzwords, phrases & application	So why is social in PR pros’ blood?
Social / digital is all about engaging audiences and achieving business goals	Check out this age old definition of PR by Ivy Lee and Edward Louis Bernays in 1900s – “a management function, which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures, and interests of an organization… followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”
Digital / social truly helps in shaping opinions and building positive goodwill	PR = perception and reputation management. From Insights to Assessment, we manage it all.
Digital / social is all about integrated approach.	Media, events, internal, external, electronic, online –a PR guy has been there, integrated that. (Text100 India’s recent Jaipur off site – Textravaganza was dedicated to digital and integrated approach to communication campaigns).
Social / digital is not about technology, but about sociology and engagement.	As we proudly state at Text100, we are not geeks but communicators. We understand all nuances communication – third party endorsements, influencer mapping, media, etc.  A PR guy is a trained communication sociologist!
Digital / social involves specialized functions like blogger relations	PR guys have been managing blogger relations since eons. Text100 India has itself implemented several blogger campaigns for global brands as way back since 1996.
SEO is dead, Social is all about third party.	PR guys have mastered the art of third party endorsements. In fact, PR by definition differentiates itself from advertising on this parameter (paid vs earned).
In social / digital, content is KING!	If content is King, PR guys are king makers by default. Be it press releases, technical papers, employee communication, CEO speeches – we’ve written it all
Digital is about measurement	A “PR guy” understands measurement better than most. Traditionally, every campaign is assessed on quantitative and qualitative parameters in great detail
Digital / social helps gauge audience reactions that feeds into product innovation and marketing strategies	In 1978 Public Relations Associations defined the field as “the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest.” PR thrives on research and intelligence.
Digital / social is an excellent tool to manage a crisis	Historically, PR has been leveraged effectively as the primary vehicle to pre-empt, mitigate and prevent crisis situations. PR guys are the true crisis communication experts.

This is just the tip of the PR guy’s social skill iceberg. Just speak to any Textie and you will be surprised with the social / digital orientation, knowledge and experience. it’s not a coincidence that Text100’s articulated vision proclaims “shaping conversations in the digital age and beyond”. A PR guy understands conversations, that is at the core of a digital / social media campaign.

Circa 2013: I sincerely hope the next edition of the fabulous event will be rechristened “TFMA&P”, were P will proudly stand for PR.

As a near-worshipper of the world’s most popular Indian actor, I end my post with a humble tribute to the great Amitabh Bachchan who turned 70 today. An inspired quote from his blockbuster classic “Namak Halaal”. “You see digital sir… PR people can talk social, walk social, laugh social, run social and think social. Coz social is a very funny language that we speak day in and day out.  Enough spoken… now it’s time for digital Textravaganza!

Jaipur hit by hurricane #Textravaganza.. measuring 100 on the Rockstar scale !

What’s in a name? That which we call #Textravaganza by any other name would still connote madness, learning, bonding and awesomeness. We may have completely ruined the great writer’s quote, but the heck! We’ve already violated several rules of sanity and awesomeness to such an extent, that the law enforcers had to come knocking on our digital doors.

So why this brouhaha over a hashtag(#) branded “Textravaganza”? For the uninitiated check out the backstory on this link (Digital #Textravaganza – @Text100India’s most awaited event…. Is finally here!). There was a tremendous build up to the most awaited extravaganza of the year, and boy did it live up to the expectations.

With Mumbai and Delhi teams landing early, the excitement kicked off with room allotments at the Clarks Amer Hotel in Jaipur. “Oh, you are staying with her from Bangalore? I’ve heard she is cool company”. “Hey, who is your roomie? Awesome man, he is a great guy.. just watch out for his snores”. “You’re with me on the 7^th floor! All of us can have some kickass fun at night”. Mission Accomplished – the  seeds of what-would-eventually-be a case study in camaraderie were sown well. Familiarity breeds contempt and Distance does make the heart grow stronger. So cheers to the new “unfamiliar” roomies for 2 nights.

Nobody knows what hit Jaipur from then on. With every new introduction and handshake and hug, the decibel levels grew louder than the XF-84H Thunderscreech. And the excitement is not without reason. After all, nothing works better than physical contact at times, even as digital slowly but surely pervades our lives.

The 3-day agenda was smartly designed with a perfect balance of serious knowledge exchange to understand brand Text100 better, hands on workshops to strengthen our digital capabilities, Textravaganza Awards to recognize the “stars”, Spoofies to felicitate the “infamous”, dance nights that would become Jaipur’s loudest-longest-craziest… and ofcourse, some personal time to explore the beauty of India’s first planned city (Jaipur!).

If every picture is worth a 1000 words, the networth of #Textravaganza / #Voxelerate (digital off site at the same location by our sister firm) amounts to 4000000 words. So it’s best not to recount the 3-day spectacle in words, but let the pictures do all the talking. Checkout these links on FB (http://on.fb.me/VtLm1A, http://on.fb.me/UfvqT3) and relive the memorable awesomeness.

The true success of an event is best gauged by the impression it leaves on the minds of the attendees. Here’s what #Textravaganza meant / did to Texties around the country…. It brought us together as a single unit, it made us relive our unified vision to shape conversations in a digital world…. And it made us unleash our Textuality.

I leave you with these digital footprints to assess the true impact of #Textravaganza. We sincerely hope Jaipur recovers soon from the after effects of hurricane #Textravaganza that rocked the city… measuring 100 for sure… or shall we say “T100”.

 

And no activity is complete without reactions from the participants. So here goes…

“After Ganesha immersion, it was truly a ‘digital’ immersion for me at the Textravaganza. Special thanks to Anne, David, Ashish and Joshy for those fantastic workshops. My head is buzzing with a million ideas now.”

~ Bhavana R

“One of the most exciting times on the digital front for @Text100India, it was definitely much awaited. The format of the sessions made us feel like we’re back to college – changing rooms every hour while the trainers run sessions across B2B, B2C, Events and Social Media Releases – was a refreshing experience in itself. Combine this with the interactive workshops, and the knowledge brought in by @DavidLian and @ACostie and it was a perfect globally integrated digital #Textravaganza. The learnings were invaluable – something that we’re going to be implementing across campaigns and new business pitches. In short – YES, WE CAN! J”

~ Hardik Sanghani

“The well structured training modules with an unhurried pace really helped to take the digital quotient across teams, irrespective of what stage each was. There was something for everyone to take back. Regarding the evening activities, it can be summed in just one word … MADNESS! Thoroughly enjoyed!”

~ Manjunath Padiki

“The digital sessions were far more helpful than I was expecting them to be. Really glad to know that our SM practice is not being limited to Facebook or blogs, and teams are being encouraged to outsource tasks such as SEO or designing – with our consulting expertise, this can potentially help us create a competitive service offering in digital. Overall, the sessions really provided us with the digital ammo we need to take our clients digital…”

~ Omar Farooq

Textravaganza was about spending two great days in an informative, friendly, relaxed learning environment. I have struggled with the digital program in Bangalore, but deconstructed as it was in Jaipur, it seemed simple, easy and very can do. Thank you David, Anne, Ashish and Geetaj for making it look so easy and motivating us to begin the journey!

~ Suchita Ullal

Digital #Textravaganza – @Text100India’s most awaited event…. Is finally here!

Imagine this – a homogeneously motley (yup! we are full of incredible Paradoxes) bunch of hundred and thirty odd communication consultants & operations personnel congregate in one of India’s most beautiful, majestic and historic cities, for Digital Immersion, Infectious Craziness and Memorable Camaraderie…. (out of breath already!). So what do you get?

Digital Textravaganza – Text100 Group’s most dramatically anticipated spectacle of the year in India (Sep 29 to Oct 1). The last time this world witnessed pulsating energy of this nature, was probably 5 years ago when Text100 India held its off site in the beach capital of India – GOA.

Much has changed since then. Text100 India has embarked on one its most ambitious and exciting digital journeys, with an articulated vision to Shape the most Influential Conversations in the digital age and beyond. What does this translate into? Creation of arguably the largest group of “digital communicators” in the industry with a shared goal to stay ahead of the new-age communication paradigm curve and lead the adoption and implementation of truly integrated approach to communications.

The above requires some ongoing practice, honing of skills, discussions on new theoretical frontiers of traditional and digital confluence…. And of course, some crazy fun. After all, we have been consistently rated “one of the coolest communication consultancies to work at” for nothing. And this is precisely what we plan to indulge in during the 3 days in Jaipur. Relive the “Text Factor”!

Are we excited?? Just get on to Text100 India’s Facebook page to witness the “competitive spirit” reach feverish pitch. Among all the camaraderie and brouhaha, Jaipur’s first Clarks Amer Hotel (trivia – it was Rajasthan’s  first 5-star hotel) will also play host to several competitions of unprecedented scale – #TIDE100 (the largest digital competition), Spoof Awards and some Serious Awards too. You can also follow the excitement on Text100 India’s twitter handle.

We leave you with some reactions from Texties who are all geared up to take off for the Pink City. Watch this space for some cool updates.

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There is so much excitement and enthusiasm across offices, with mails going across every day. It’s so overwhelming that I really don’t know what to expect… but without a doubt I’m placing all my money on Bangalore and “Mind It” we are going to take Textravanganza by storm. This being my first offsite at Text100 is personally an exciting one and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new, exciting and interesting people. ~ Rishika D’anto

Can’t wait for the offsite to kick off! (though technically in terms of preparations it has!) The ‘dance’, the ‘drama’ and all the surprises in store, Textravaganza is sure to be a blast with Texties from all over India coming together to learn and share ideas. The prospect of meeting our colleagues with whom  we’ve only been talking to over phone or chat makes it something to look forward to! ~ Abhilash Kumar

Super Excited about #Textravaganza. Really looking forward to meeting Texties from other offices and catching up with friends and colleagues. This is a special meet, exactly 5 years after I had gone for my first Text offsite. Have fond memories from that Goa offsite and looking forward to more wonderful memories from this one. Digital Textravanganza with friends, fun, music and training will be an absolutely hit combination. ~ Liza Saha

My mind is already switched off….in the excitement of offsite.. ~ Sunit

Seems like Textgravaganza is on fire just like the Mantralaya in Delhi.. Jaipur here we come!!! ~ Hiti

I am excited about the whole thing…lotsaa packing to do and so little time…runnnn!! ~ Abhilasha

Never knew what excitement is till I got to know that we are going to Jaipur…yayyy!! ~ Bhawna

Its gonna be a rocker this time… Gallons of daroo to be consumed and beware girls – hum yahaan ke robinhood hain— robinhood pandey-:) ~ Amit

Hearing the words ‘Text100 offsite’ painted a picture of all things fun, stimulating and adventurous to me even before I joined the Text Family! Many of us consider ourselves really lucky to be given this chance at an early stage of becoming a Textie. The upcoming Digital Extravaganza promises to be an enriching, exciting, fun filled and a real learning experience! Personally, I’m really looking forward to meeting all my colleagues from all the different offices, learning all the Digital Gyaan that is sure to be an eye-opener for us; and most of all I’m eagerly waiting to be a part of the warm, fuzzy feeling that we call – the Text Factor! ~ Sanskruti Gada

My 4th offsite in 10 years at Text100… and it's likely to be different in many ways. The focus on digital is one but more important for me is to finally have the chance after many years to see our crop of youngsters truly take in the Text100 experience. It has meant a lot of things to me over the years and I would love to see what it means to them now. I want them to see, feel and experience everything I have had the good fortune to. ~ Shahnaz K. Jain

It is all about togetherness, lots of fun and learning of course. Can’t wait for Textravaganza. I’m totally Texcited……… ~ Nadisha Roche

All set for the Textravanganza and can’t wait for the super kewl stuff planned for us!! Two more days to go for the kickass offsite of the year 2012. ~ Priya Stephen