text100india

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

Posted on by Text100 India

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”

Posted on by Text100 India

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

Posted on by Ashish Arora (@ASShishism)

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 !

Posted on by Ashish Arora (@ASShishism)

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 7th 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

Text100 India celebrates 16 glorious years of Textuality!

Posted on by Ashish Arora (@ASShishism)

Texties celebrate 16th with Teenager enthusiasm – mad videos, cake smashing, creative contests et al

Happy 16th Birthday to us!

Turning 16 is always a special feeling- for the adventurous it is about liberation, for the restless it calls for a creative expression, for the emotional it spells nostalgia,  for the intellectual it is time to recalibrate goals, while for the mavericks the milestone is the perfect reason to have unlimited fun. Well, for us it was all of the above and much much more. And why not, it is only once in a lifetime that you turn 16, so why not mark the occasion in our trademark “Textuality”. In 2007, when Text100 India was ranked among the 25 best employers in the country by Hewitt, across industries, the world sat up and took notice of our inexplicable ability to create a mad, fun, committed, learning, exciting, intrapreneurial and invigorating work culture.

Pooja Parikh, a fitting ambassador of Text100’s “responsible craziness”, and HR Director by designation, captures it beautifully in her quote – “I think Text has some craziest bunch of people. They are diligent, hard-working, creative, love to party, play pranks, carry a chip-on-their-shoulder and are great professional. When it comes to delivering on clients – they are the best. I remember in 1996, there was an article in Business World where the erstwhile  HR head of lever had said that ‘We have given 500 CEOs to India – he meant that senior marketing level people when they leave Lever they join as CEOs of medium to big size companies’. Today I can proudly say that Text has given the best professionals to the PR profession in India.” 

It’s always been about the people at Text100. For a boutique consulting firm with a rich legacy in technology communications, it’s the people who have expanded the focus and made successful forays into non-technology sectors and industries. Entertainment, Pharma, Healthcare, Finance, Consulting, Aviation, Travel & Tourism – we have left an indelible mark. As Disha Hoskote, Account Director, cheekily remarks, “At 16, hope we lose virginity to the new sectors we are pursuing”.

Disha Hoskote with her gang of girls!

Enough of subtle self PR. So how did we celebrate our 16th year of Textuality?

Suchita Ullal, Managing Consultant (South) provides a delightful summary of the Bangalore party.

“Text100 Bangalore’s 16th birthday celebrations rocked with a style and pageantry that was great to witness and be a part of. Abhilash, Nadisha and Pallavi, the gang of three behind the event, toiled together for a week before the event to plan the minutest detail and ensure that everything went like clockwork. Influenced by our new colors, the theme was “Painting the Town Orange (and Grey)”; popular themes such as Manmohan Singh’s turban, Marilyn Monroe’s billowing dress and Bugs Bunny were given the orange treatment, reception and office areas were festooned with orange and grey balloons and streamers and EVERYONE wore the new colors. There were costumes galore: Pallavi came dressed as a pirate, Nadisha was a gypsy and Abhilash was T-Man to the T! Nadisha in her flaming orange outfit and perfectly accessorised beads and headbands made for a perfect Med gypsy and Abhilash was Text Man in keeping with the Dark Knight theme. He was fitted out in an orange cape and removable orange chaddi. Needless to say, they waltzed away with the Best Dressed Awards. In keeping with the digital journey, the message board was plastered with little Twitter birds on which everyone penned their birthday messages for Text100 in the form of tweets. The Bangalore message board was voted the best (see pic). The camaraderie and bonding continued well into lunch which was accompanied by orange Tang and a cake with orange icing.”         

Suchita Ullal & Bangalore gang goes Orange with enthusiasm!

 

Shashank, BigRock

But this is all incomplete without acknowledging the rock solid support provided by our client partners over the years.  Read on for some congratulatory wishes graciously shared by our partners.

“Text100 has been a wonderful partner to us at Directi and at BigRock. Through our association with them they have worked closely and proactively with us to help create our PR stance and then work aggressively with top tier media  towards building this. Congratulations team on reaching this milestone!” – Shashank Mehrotra, General Manager & Business Head, BigRock.

Minakshi, IDA Ireland

Minakshi Batra, Director-India, IDA Ireland – Text100 is one of the most professionally managed PR firms we have seen. I had been warned, when we were on the verge of selecting one, that PR agencies make the clients do most of the work. While Text100 really made me work in the first year by getting a lot of media interactions, I and my organization are deeply appreciative of their efforts. I would like to mention, that though I don’t know the rest of the organization, I feel I have one of the best teams allotted to us! May you grow from strength to strength!!

Lubna, McAfee

“Here is wishing a very amazing team a very happy anniversary and a fantabulous sweet 16…. Your energy and enthusiasm is infectiousJ “ – Lubna Markar, Sr. Marketing Manager India & South Asia

McAfee, India.

We are humbled, touched and proud to work with such considerate, loving and supportive clients. Big big thanks to everyone for making our 16th a truly memorable and momentous occasion.

For a sneak preview of the “Textuality” that we pride ourselves on, check out these indigenously produced, scripted & directed masterpieces. A unique take by Texties on our 6 corporate Principles. What a mad mad family we are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5r04EmWSF8&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mUbp22rh94&feature=youtu.be

http://youtu.be/3U09n8WZZEM

http://youtu.be/e028lRkUz6s

http://www.sendspace.com/file/r5wh96

http://ge.tt/4ZVKhKL/v/0

Sixteen till I die!!

India Shines at @Text100’s own “Olympics”

Posted on by Ashish Arora (@ASShishism)

At the time of writing this, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, boxers Jai Bhagwan and Vijender Singh, archer Laishram Bombayla Devi had kept India’s medal hopes alive at the London Olympics 2012. But the anticipation was over at Text100’s regional FY12 EXC1TE Awards – our own communications Olympics of sorts, held on 26th July. Out of the 8 categories awarded to Texties for their exceptional performance and dedication, India had bagged 3 coveted titles. And the awards went to….

  

Hardik Sanghani for “Excellence in Digital Consultancy”.

  

Rafi Qadar Khan for “Excellence in Cultivating Client Relationships”.

  

Raj Rathi for “Excellence in Improving Business Efficiencies”.

 Delighted at the impressive tally, Sunayna Malik, Text100 India’s Managing Director, Exc1tedly remarked – “The Exc1te awards are a wonderful way of recognizing stellar performances across the Text world and also serve to rally teams and individuals around new initiatives and focus areas. Peer acknowledgement is always the best form of recognition and the “feel good factor” of these awards is palpable! Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners for a fantastic performance. Raj, Rafi and Hardik you do India proud. Looking forward to many more nominations and winners from India in the forthcoming rounds as well.”

 And here’s what our medalists had to say…

Raj Rathi, Finance Director – “ First and Foremost,  my thanks to colleagues in India Finance and Operations team who are the bunch of committed, hard working and loyal individuals. Without their dedication it is not possible to meet expectations of senior Leadership team. We deserve this award collectively.  Secondly, I would like to thanks India Leadership team (ILT) who is always very supportive and understanding. ILT is a mix of interesting individuals and I get lot of positive energy from this group .I also would like to thank all my wonderful and outstanding coworkers in Text and Vox I consider myself privileged to be working with them. Last but not the  least thanks to the regional leadership team for considering the India Finance team for this award.”

Hardik Sanghani, Account Manager – “It’s an honour, really. To be pitted against such strong competitors across APAC and emerge a winner is a shock, without doubt, but a delightful one. The best part of this experience is the recognition that Text100 has given to its people and understood that digital is indeed that way forward. Now to gear up for the global awards! 🙂 ”

Rafi Qadar Khan, Principal Consultant – “A relationship is built on a strong foundation of quality work that is delivered by my teams, I am proud to lead a bunch of the brightest people at Text 100 and it is their work, day in and day out, that has helped me to get this award. I am grateful to whoever nominated and voted for me.”

 Big congratulations to all our nominees and winners. May the magic rub off @ #London2012 too.

@Text100India pledges to make a difference

Posted on by Text100 India

Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.

                                                                                                                        – Mother Teresa

Powerful words by one of the world’s greatest and loved humanitarians. Humanity – a virtue in today’s stressful times. Often forgotten… at times helplessly overlooked. With 340 million people in India living in severe poverty, the opportunity to make a real difference stares us in the face – every single day.  Every time I see a poor person begging or underprivileged children scrambling at a dustbin outside a restaurant in hope of some leftover food, I realize how lucky I am and feel grateful to God for giving me such a blessed life.  At the risk of sounding philosophical, and even idealistic, life shouldn’t merely be about survival, but about upliftment of less fortunate souls.

At an individual level, one can make a difference with simple measures like

  1. Ensuring there is no child labor in your neighborhood.
  2. Volunteering for a nearby NGO.
  3. Spreading some cheer by visiting an orphanage or an old age home

However, we must practice what we PReach (pun intended). Life of a public relations / communications consultant can be a tad busy (euphemism personified). Therefore, as part of Text100 India’s HR team, we took on the onus to give ourselves (120 odd Texties across offices) an opportunity to spread some goodness and cheer.  We’ve tied up GOONJ, a respected NGO committed to making a difference to lives of the ignored and lesser fortunate.

Text100 India CSR teaser

At Goonj, they try to map the needs of different villages in India and according to the respective need, they prepare the required material at their processing units. Most of them are clothes, fabrics, books etc but you would be surprised to know that they also recycle stapled pins, reels/tapes of cassettes etc.!

In line with GOONJ’s efforts, Text100 India will undertake a national “Donation Drive” from July 17 – August 17, 2012 across our offices in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. We’ve been conscious of getting the context right. It’s not about donating anything that’s useless, but something that would be useful for our brothers and sisters.

We are all committed towards making a difference to the society we live in, and have given ourselves this wonderful opportunity to do something in that direction – Come Let’s Make a Difference and make this drive a huge success!

Authored by Ritika Naithani – a people specialist, a human resource engineer and a key influence in ensuring that Text100 India continues to shine as one of India’s coolest places to work at.

Musings of a ‘PRed’ animal

Posted on by Text100 India

After seeing a lot of earth-shattering, tiding through the lurking apocalypse, floods of ‘anti-corruption’ sentiments, going crazy over the ‘rise of human being into a god’ (Yeah, I have been reading a lot about the Melhuan dude!), I finally decided to get back to business- I decided to come back to the real ‘digital’ ocean, thanks to the ‘blogathon’ initiated for Texties in India.

With 2 eventful years under my PR belt, I thought the timing was just right – to spill some PR ‘gyan’. 🙂

While I was at it, I decided not to do that! As a PR consultant, you tend to hear a lot of “HOW” to do things, (Amazingly, I work with a client, whose entire organizational philosophy is based on doing things- ‘HOW’!), therefore I wasn’t sure writing a blog, giving “tips” to my peers, seniors and the “experienced lot” on “how to execute a campaign”, “how to create media databases”, “how to write a ‘win-win’ press release”, “how to pitch a story to the media”, et al??- Nah! How boring!

To cut the long story short, instead I decided to share my personal experiences that have moulded me from an amateur college going kid to a smart professional who understands the “tricks” of the trade (feels good ! J). While, I have on purpose “refrained” from citing any particular experiences, I will try and share my understandings from it.

 

  1. 1.       The realization- “PR NEEDS PR”: From Day 1 of your job, the irony would be evident. The awesome intellectual debate – are we the sexy “communications consultants”, or should we persist with the plain jane “public relations executive” tag. Then comes the immortal debate of defining the PR profession. Apart from industry peers, no one will know what you are doing in your cubicle all day around. Believe me- Not even client, media or your own family!

Moral of the story: Most of the times, reaching a consensus with your peers and seniors on the definition of your own work could be a challenging  ask.

 

  1. 2.       In PR, just like Life- There are NO rules: The most important learning that I have derived out of my varied interactions with industry experts, clients, peers, superiors is that in PR- there are NO rules!  Yes, there is no one way in which you interact with people, no specific way to deal with  snobbish media (Not all of them are! J), and demanding clients. Slowly, I also realized that there was no particular way in which you “pitch” a story to the journalist.

Moral of the story: There are guidelines & precedents, but no specific rules ! Key to flourish in PR is to ‘try’, ‘learn’, sometimes push our way, and sometimes backtrack from our natural course. Eventually, we all end up getting it “right”. And if we don’t?? Then we try again, till we get it right! J

  1. 3.       Media knowledge is not everything: It’s a common belief harbored by newbies and beginners in the profession that having sound media intelligence is enough to survive the rainy season of PR. Having “media champs” or getting coverage in the “coveted business publications”, at the most may earn you the “love of your client” and “envious glares” by peers. But if you want to earn “respect for yourself” and want to be looked upon as an “asset to your organization, client as well as the media”, then it is necessary to treat them as your “personal relationships”.  Dealing with people with care and nurturing them with respect is the trick!

Moral of the story:  Relationships- be it media, client or internal within the organizations are made over a period of time. Therefore don’t worry if in case you are ever pressed by a question- “How good are you at communicating with media or client?”

 

  1. 4.       You can’t control outcomes: In PR, there is nothing right or wrong.  Sometimes, the media will want to get in touch with your client. Sometime, the client will want to touch base with the media directly, without keeping you in loop.  There will be at least one such time, when you will be faced with such instances. So what do you do?? Chill! Do not fret! It’s just a normal process of moving up the professional ladder. At times, you might realize that even after planning and executing a great “event” or achieving publicity for your clients in the premier media houses, or ensuring that the media gets the “required” information on time, people still turn out to be upset. Eventually, the learning dawns- one-off incidents like this will not really matter; will definitely not impact your “presence” in the long run. In fact, there is a complete universe of clients and media and peers, who will recognize you for your patience, hard work and sincerity. 

Moral of the story: The ultimate goal is to get the client the “deserving visibility, due credit for its performance and recognition of “delivering value” by core stakeholders- instead of worrying- what if the media calls my client directly and leaves me redundant.

Most important of all- As a PR consultant, you eventually come to realize that there are no two ways! You either love your job- or you don’t! People who don’t quit eventually! But people who navigate the early days of this struggle, blossom into ‘brand custodians’ -who advise and act as “consultants” to their clients. They are the ones whom the media turns out to respect and admire! At times, “such brand custodians” leave a deep imprint on people’s hearts creating life-lasting friendships and passionate bonds.

 

Drop a line to me, if you can relate, agree, disagree to the post or have experiences to share ….J

 

Authored by Deepika Gumaste  –  a communications firebrand @ Text100 Global Communications (Mumbai), who has  not spared anyone from her persistent awesomeness & melodramatic articulations. Follow her @Dips_88

 

 

Image source: recruiterpoet.com