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PUBLIC RELATION |
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Business
in India has made a paradigm shift with the maturing
of the stock markets & company strategies. Efficient
services is the key word for survival of all companies,
be it a manufacturing, engineering, software or simply
a services one! Visibility, visibility, visibility
is what each company is trying to achieve. And Corporate
Communications (CC), euphemistically called Public Relations
(PR) or Image Management, is one of the hot career opportunities
resulting from the need of the body corporate to project
itself in a positive way to the public.
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Corporate Communications aims to
project the company in a favorable light to all concerned - external customers, internal
customers (employees), members of the media, Government, investors or the mass public (its
potential investors). The various work roles could range from interacting and providing
information, designing the company’s corporate identity, i.e. the corporate logo,
brochures, signboards, information dockets/videos, etc., strategizing the company’s
visibility process (through advertising, publicity and other sources), handling the media
and events associated with the company to well, mere PR. |
Generally, people from various disciplines with some domain experience of the
company can become CC Managers. But if you want to have a formal education, you would do
well to equip yourself with a Masters Diploma in Communications from renowned
institutes like Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC), New Delhi, Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi or the Mudra Institute of Mass Communications. There are, of course,
other good colleges around the country offering courses in Business or Mass
Communications.
The job (if we may call it that) involves a great deal of interaction with
people, agencies and other companies, hobnobbing with senior executives within the company
and outside, a lot of traveling, organizing events, press conferences, meets, lunches,
dinners (yum !) and hey, a lot of fun (who said there are no free lunches?). The flip side
- uncertain (read "unearthly") hours, a lot of running around, dealing with
some, well, intellectually challenged die-hards, maybe too much criticism, stringent
budgets since it is a cost center and an uncertain ladder to the top management.
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| A typical day in the life of a Corporate
Communications Manager may start with interactions with the advertising/PR agency
discussions, organizing a press meet, releasing a new ad/ad format, presenting the new
publicity strategy for the company, not to forget, meetings, meetings, and meetings, with
the top management, agencies, general public, saying NO to persistent ad agencies who
would remind you a little of the door-to-door salesmen. Now for some job secrets, for
your eyes only - |
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sometimes, one may have
to work around the clock during road shows, exhibitions or press conferences and
sometimes, there would be nothing much to do except twiddle one’s thumbs (when you
can browse the net, send pending mails, or just chat up on the local gossip with your
friends)!
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| This all, besides your normal
everyday routine of visiting your journalist "pals", lunching with them,
learn some DTP from your ad agency "friend" - come on, you’re hired to
spend a percentage of your company’s revenues after all! And all for a good cause -
to get your "pals" to get a news item about your |
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company in the financial
daily or a detailed article in a popular fortnightly - occasionally you also have to work!
But the most important work of all is to let people know you are working (especially your
CEO, so that he’ll grant you a decent budget to, well, spend!), appear busy at all
times and to let them know that you (the Corporate Communications team) is indispensable
to the organization. Prima facie, it’s a great job to have, especially, if you are
senior personnel in the company! |
Now, what you want to hear about most: the Money. Corporate Communications
is by far one of best paying jobs in terms of the cash in hand. But, the best of all - the
perks! Most of the time, the perks far exceed the salary (and a goodbye to the taxman) - a
car, a mobile phone, compliments, business travel, club memberships, invitations to
dinners/previews/launches, generous entertainment allowances, maybe a laptop are some of
the basic components in the Perquisite cornucopia. And all for a "job" you love
doing! Who says you can’t have the cake and eat it too!
So what makes it difficult for any Tom, Dick or Harry to become a Corporate
Communications professional? To get this dream job, you have to, repeat, have to be
endowed with the following: A vivacious personality, the gift of the gab, persuasive (must
talk through anything) creativity, resourcefulness, extreme diplomacy and the ability to
think on your feet. A sharp wit, an endless supply of energy, ability to learn new things
and a lot of contacts also come in handy to make you a success in this field.
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| As a concluding note, let
me reiterate: CC is fun but also involves lots of hard work and requires a great deal of
patience, diplomacy and contacts. Start building your contacts and network a bit before
you step into this field. If you are still studying, then you would do well to develop
contacts with people in ad agencies, PR agencies, Print/DTP/Design studios, bureaucrats,
and corporate hotshots. Most companies have their own CC team but there are still many
which don’t. Identify these companies and convince them why they need a CC team of
their own. This would be a unique way to get you employment. |
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The
author, Sunitha Ganeshan Ray, is a Director in CSR Infotech
Ltd, based in Chicago, USA.
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A final word of advice: CC is a
people-oriented profession - keep your cool, be genuinely interested in the people you
meet and enjoy your work, and you will be catapulted to success! |
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