PR and its growing PR and its growing importance in IMCimportance in IMC

Just to reiterate Just to reiterate

The ultimate goal of an PR campaign is to create a positive reputation and image in the mind of consumers vis a vis a brand, service or product, thus influencing public opinion

PR thus helps corporations in shaping a favorable perception about their company as a whole as well as the products and services they offer.

Through PR, corporations can build and establish their brands based credibility, as well as confidence and trust

PR thus forms an important aspect in the IMC framework today

A deeper look into the strengths and A deeper look into the strengths and weaknesses of the elements in IMC weaknesses of the elements in IMC

But then…But then… In the relationship among public

relations, mass media, and the audience, it is often the mass media who are deemed the power brokers in their ability to potentially influence an audience

The agenda-setting theoretical framework operates from the perspective of the mass media having the power to transfer the salience of an issue to the public

But then perhaps, too much power is granted to the mass media without the consideration of the processes by which mass media content is selected and framed

This raises the question: who sets the public agenda?This raises the question: who sets the public agenda? Public relations practitioners have the ability to assist the Public relations practitioners have the ability to assist the production of mass media content through various proactive production of mass media content through various proactive public relations strategies that are designed to promote and public relations strategies that are designed to promote and present the organization they represent in the most positive present the organization they represent in the most positive manner manner

The Power of PRThe Power of PR A case study of the National Basketball

Association's (NBA) public relations strategies was used to reveal that the mass media are not the sole power broker in selecting and framing messages

The NBA itself has implemented several public relations strategies designed to shape mass media content and subsequently public opinion and behavior

The public relations strategies of the NBA are extensive in attempting to continuously promote the league, its teams, and players and to frame the coverage the league receives in the most favorable fashion

The NBA was chosen because of the nature of the organization, with several NBA games being played simultaneously throughout the nation, the mass media become necessary for a fan to follow the league.

The NBA’s Public Relations strategy played a prominent role in selecting and framing mass media content that could influence public opinion and behavior

Public relations and publicity are not synonymous, but many PR campaigns include

provisions for publicity

The full cycleThe full cycle

Public Relations is a 20Public Relations is a 20thth-century -century phenomenon phenomenon

Major 20th century trends: Growth of big institutions Heightened public

awareness and media sophistication

Societal change, conflict, and confrontation

Growth of global media, public opinion, and democracy

Dominance of the Internet

PR is now expanding communication tools to account for the fact that no single mass media, or combination of them, will be a good vehicle for

reaching key publics

Early 20th Century—PR began to reinvent itself along journalistic lines, Early 20th Century—PR began to reinvent itself along journalistic lines, mainly because former newspaper reporters such as Ivy Lee started to do mainly because former newspaper reporters such as Ivy Lee started to do

PR work and counseling—extension of the journalistic function focusing on PR work and counseling—extension of the journalistic function focusing on the “dissemination of information or one-way communication models in the “dissemination of information or one-way communication models in

which the quality of information was important but audience feedback had which the quality of information was important but audience feedback had yet to be fully considered.”yet to be fully considered.”

The PR evolutionThe PR evolution

1800

Press Press AgentryAgentry – –1800s 1800s

were were the the

“Golden “Golden Age” of Age” of

the the press press

agentagent

1920

AdvanceAdvancein social in social Science &Science &research, research,

the the focus of focus of

PR PR shifted to shifted to

the the psychologpsycholog

ical ical and and sociologicsociologic

al al effects of effects of persuasivpersuasiv

e e Comm.Comm.

1960

Issues Issues managemmanagem

ent ent was added was added to the job to the job descriptiodescriptio

n n of PR with of PR with War, Civil War, Civil Rights, Rights, EnvironmEnvironm

entent-al -al concern concern growthgrowth

1990

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or or perceptiperception on

managemmanagement ent

were the were the

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in large in large

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2000

the the concept concept

grows of grows of PR PR

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of of ““RelationsRelations

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1980

The The concept concept

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managemmanagement ent

function is function is in in

full full bloom. bloom.

““StrategicStrategic” ”

became a became a PR PR

buzzwordbuzzword

1970

Era of Era of reforms reforms

in in the stock the stock market market

and and investor investor relationsrelations

Pseudo-eventPseudo-eventCounselingCounselingPublicityPublicity

Current trends in PRCurrent trends in PR

The advent of “Transparency”—companies committed to being more open—the public is demanding more accountability from all of society’s institutions

The Internet/Websites allow companies to share more “insider”- type information they may not have shared in the past

Rise of Social Media — a new category of “mass” communications that PR must tap into with RSS feeds, podcasts, blogs, vlogs, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, webcasts, etc. New opp. to communicate!

Increased Emphasis on Evaluation — PR pros will continue to improve measurement techniques for showing management how their activities actually contribute to the bottom line.

Managing the 24/7 News Cycle — the need for PR people to constantly update information, answer journalists’ inquiries at all hours of the days, and be aware that any and all information is readily available to a worldwide audience

New Direction in Mass Media — Traditional media aren’t what they used to be.

The Growth and Demand of Public The Growth and Demand of Public Relation in IndiaRelation in India

The economic bloom that India experienced last decade saw the birth of numerous business which were introduced for the first time in the Indian Sub-continent

Many companies which were highly successful in the west opened up their markets in India, but needed to spread their name to the common folks

But they all needed one thing, consumers. How were they going to spread awareness of their businesses ? How would they reach out to the mass and class alike? It was here that PUBLIC RELATIONS played an important role

PR has been growing in PR has been growing in importanceimportance

Changing face of the PR industry Changing face of the PR industry in Indiain India

India also has a legacy of varied public relations approach evident in the many phases of building an all India empire in the passage of history From the precision of Chanakya’s social

messaging to consolidate the vast realms of emperor Ashoka to the subtle public campaigns of the formidable foreign rulers, the Mughals and Akbar’s visionary attempts to reconcile the majority

Post independence public relations in India essentially became an appendage to the humungous government run PSUs

The professional and strong face of Public Relations started emerging post economic liberalization of the nineties It was not just about ‘spin’ but started to

become a part of an integrated marketing campaign geared towards persuasion and influence

The last decade saw the global corporate world trying to find a place in the Indian market

Burson-Marsteller, Porter Novelli, Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum, Apco, MS&L and Weber Shandwick, set up shop in India

Defining social interaction in civilized societies begins with public relations; a natural, recurrent theme running through timeless human engagements in the context of social groups

Emergence of New Media The growth of Cable and

Satellite television “redefined” the horizons of PR professionals

The emergence of the internet on your TV, PC and mobile phone is “re-inventing” the public relations landscape. The internet has created

an ‘inflection point’ for the industry.

Rise of next generation communicators Public relations is also seeing the emergence of the next generation of

corporate communicators and agency leaders Keen to be seen as playing a critical role in the fast changing Indian socio- economic

firmament to raise awareness, provide credibility, reach far flung influencers and engage stakeholders in an open and honest manner; and maintain transparency and truth at all times

Convergence & emergence of new media Convergence & emergence of new media in PR in Indiain PR in India

The Power of Digital Media The Power of Digital Media

Obama beat two established political brands, Clinton & McCain.

He also beat global brands like Nike and Apple to be chosen

Ad Age Marketer of the Year.

The results: A game changer $ 640 million in funds, 3.1 million contributors Over 100 million page views of official and unofficial YouTube videos 5 million volunteers 2.2 million `fans’ on his Facebook page Over 1 million on his MySpacepage and 3 million profiles on myBarackObama.org

Coming closer to the audienceComing closer to the audience

VS

Integrated Hub & Spokes ModelIntegrated Hub & Spokes Model

Online Search & Display Ads

New Media & Widgets

Social Media

E-mail Marketing

Email : The glue of Obama’s Digital Email : The glue of Obama’s Digital MarketingMarketing

1 billion emails 13 million email ids Granular

segmentation One-to-One Personalized Incentive Relevance

Bringing the best minds togetherBringing the best minds together

Leveraging Customer PassionLeveraging Customer Passion

Obama Girl series of Obama Girl series of videos got over videos got over 60million views60million views

Obama supporters put Obama supporters put up a site during up a site during Halloween just a few Halloween just a few week before the week before the election. Here visitors election. Here visitors were asked to express were asked to express their support through their support through photos of Obama theme photos of Obama theme pumpkinspumpkins

Yes We Can by WillYes We Can by Will

A 2008 video featuring 60 A 2008 video featuring 60 celebrities had 11 million views celebrities had 11 million views

Customer Centric – Walking the Customer Centric – Walking the talktalk

Chris Hughes, 24-year old co-founder of Facebookwas the “online organizing guru” managing MyBO.com

Segment and connect Segment and connect

Run many small campaigns Run many small campaigns Tactics matter as much as strategyTactics matter as much as strategy

““Kennedy was the first telegenic Kennedy was the first telegenic brand. brand.

Obama is the first cybergenic Obama is the first cybergenic brand”brand”

The Objective was to “To project India as an unique opportunity for physical

invigoration, mental rejuvenation, cultural enrichment and spiritual elevation along with other developments that

make India a modern state with state of the art infrastructure”

The Internet strategy and The Internet strategy and approachapproach

Revamped the then existing website (www.tourismofindia.com) in March 2002 to make it attractive, functional and resourceful to help a user plan his/her trip to India

Launched First Online campaign during March 2002 – April 2002 to reach out to discerning travelers by focusing on specific destinations and themes

Adopted eCRM initiatives to reinforce the brand image by sending Newsletters and mailers to the subscriber database

International Travel Market Focus on popular and country specific online properties - travel sites, portals and search

engines• Horizontal properties important for reach, whereas travel properties form the most

relevant genre Synchronize the media spends and creative routes as per the seasonality of arrival from

these countries Domestic Market

Media spends segregated based on• Relevant innovations • A mix of high performing ad units and reach maximizing ad units

Focus on Innovations Interactive units, concepts, content plugins, emailers and contests to form an integral

part of the promotion scheme for Domestic and International

Online campaign and impact Online campaign and impact

First ever Online campaign for Ministry of tourism during the period of March 2002 – April 2002 Online campaign resulted in a Click through rate of 1.2% on Indian

sites and 0.45% on International sites. More than 75 banners used for campaign.

Tactical creative were used to attract maximum click-thru to the relaunched website Approx. 55% Bonus impressions delivered.

Total impressions delivered were 31Million as against a committed figure of 20million.

Cost per unique visitor Rs9 (average of International + Indian) The campaign resulted in more than 13 million hits to the

website per month. Page views increased from 1,409 to 2,286,805 in less than

2 months. Visits increased from 245 to 10,131

Over 100 different creative created for campaign across 12 themes. Innovations were planned in terms of Contests on portals to

increased user interaction. Resulted in more 13 Million hits, close to 2 lac user sessions and 2.70

page views per month.

1,409

2,286,805

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Wed Mar 20th, 2002 Wed Apr 3rd, 2002 Wed Apr 17th, 2002 Wed May 1st, 2002

245

10,131

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Wed Mar 20th, 2002 Wed Apr 3rd, 2002 Wed Apr 17th, 2002 Wed May 1st, 2002

User User sessionssessions

Page viewsPage views

Website Website hitshits

Some CreativesSome Creatives

Impact of the campaign on the Impact of the campaign on the websitewebsite

Average Forecasted Total Visits Percent

Visits Visits During this period of

Historically this Period Visits

Asia 79,449 62,306.48 188,116 49.96%

North America 107,239 84,069.25 125,573 33.35%

Oceania 11,928 9,380.45 37,760 10.03%

Europe 21,480 16,649.81 22,853 6.07%

South America 837 655.82 1,192 0.32%

Africa 1,011 791.6 1,055 0.28%

Continent

Website Relaunched - Website Relaunched - www.incredibleindia.orgwww.incredibleindia.org

The “New and Fresh” Incredible India website was designed to be a showcase of all good things in India- Colours, technology, vastness, diversity and depth.

The site is a representative of modern India- The India with its roots firmly in place, yet forward looking and contemporary.

Navigation & Design The Masthead changes with every section and actually turns out to be a

particularly interactive facet, because it scrolls on mouse over! This makes every section have a fresh appeal, with perhaps the first 3-D

masthead on an Indian travel site The site has the most varied content on India with respect to

travel Content has been segregated according to Themes, Facts and Interactivity. Neatly arranged themes cover such diverse aspects about a region as

History, Geography, Religion, Best Places to visit, People and Lifestyle, among other aspects.

The site retains links to vernacular content for Spanish, French and German language versions.

A few extremely valuable features have been added on the site A virtual helpdesk with information on Embassies, Baggage, currencies

and Customs rules, Visa and Permit info for all States along. Tool Kit section with currency, Festival calendar, maps, phone codes- make

the site both interactive and informative. Section on Travel agents and tour operators Multimedia showcase

Online campaign launched from Online campaign launched from (18th August 2004 – 15th March 2005)(18th August 2004 – 15th March 2005)

A complete 360-degree approach. Innovative site captures, Road blocks and bigger size creatives. Mobile marketing DVD ad insert and digital brochure insert in ZDNet India’s

Technology magazine. Direct marketing

Incredible India post cards inserts along with tickets to all those who purchased railways ticket from Indian railways website.

e-CRM Sending newsletters and specific direct mailers to the database

and registered database of esteemed travel portals. Contests and polls have been an indispensable part of the

campaign. Goa contest was a big success with approx. 15,000 entries across Internet and sms.

In addition to this, Content integration, Image/photo gallery and Destination specials were taken across portals to enhance the “Colours of India”!

Pop-Under on Pop-Under on HomeHome

Destination of the Destination of the monthmonth

Interactive UnitInteractive UnitRoadblock on Roadblock on

MSNMSN

Impressions

Clicks CTR

5,564,31489,47

9 1.61%

Impressions Clicks CTR

4,390,043 31,5300.72

%

Impressions Clicks CTR

6,415,402225,03

0 3.51%

Innovative DHTML creativeInnovative DHTML creative

Bigger size unitsBigger size units

North-east North-east photogaleryphotogalery CricinfoCricinfo

Digit DVD content Digit DVD content insertioninsertion

Yahoo Floating Yahoo Floating EastEast

Google Prime Google Prime VisibilityVisibility

Search Engine Search Engine AdvertisingAdvertising

The contest micrositeThe contest microsite

Live Chats with Live Chats with incredible Indianincredible Indian

Impact on the website & Impact on the website & StickinessStickiness

Impact on the website Page views increased to more than 25

million page views per month in April 05

Page views have increased by almost 4.5 times in past 5 months (Dec 04 to April 05). A 429% increase in page views

-

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

Feb

-04

Mar

-04

Apr

-04

May

-04

Jun-

04

Jul-0

4

Aug

-04

Sep

-04

Oct

-04

Nov

-04

Dec

-04

Jan-

05

Feb

-05

Mar

-05

Apr

-05

Increase in stickiness of the site could be seen Number of page views generated per

visit. An increase in this signifies a positive image and stickiness.

Time spent per page view

Months Page views per visit

November 04 28.69

December 04 33.03

Jan-05 20.20

Feb-05 30.56

Mar-05 34.00

April 05 38.00

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

Sudden increase in Sept-Oct 04 was due to Online campaign and “Trip Planner” on the website to support the leads.Feb-March05 also saw the increase due to campaign. However, due to constant updating, there has been an increase in traffic on website even in April 05, despite no active online campaign

Percentof

VisitsNorth America 36.71%Asia 32.09%Europe 24.32%Oceania 4.76%South America 1.18%Africa 0.95%

Continent

Geographic locationsGeographic locations

Thus….Thus….

Ensuring 24 X 7 X 365 availability. National access to pool of service providers in

remote locations and International Accommodation booking.

Access to a wide pool of resources for varied options, not just limited to 10, 20, 50 / 100 service providers.

One stop shop for all travel requirements Reliable and Secured transactions over a reliable payment

gateway. Easy Search and booking just at the click of a button

Defining Buzz Marketing Defining Buzz Marketing

Although buzz marketing is not new, Internet technology has changed the way it's being used Buzz campaigns are now being initiated in chat rooms, where marketing

representatives assume an identity appropriate to their target audience and pitch their product

Personal Web logs blogs are another popular media for electronic buzz marketing campaigns

Instant messaging (IM) applications are also being looked at as a vehicle for carrying out buzz marketing campaigns with either humans or IM Bots doing

the pitching

Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique that attempts to make each encounter with a consumer appear to be a unique, spontaneous personal exchange of information

instead of a calculated marketing pitch choreographed by a professional advertiser

As technology continues to facilitate the delivery of a electronic buzz marketing message easier, and software applications make message

deliveries easier to quantify, some advertising experts predict that electronic buzz marketing techniques will become a standard component in all cross-

media advertising campaigns.

Components of a successful Buzz Marketing Components of a successful Buzz Marketing CampaignCampaign

UBISOFT – Red Steel Dojo of PainUBISOFT – Red Steel Dojo of Pain

WINNER - Summit International Awards "Emerging Media" Award!

The Challenge and its SolutionThe Challenge and its Solution

Challenge Red Steel received tremendous buzz and excitement

from its initial industry coverage and Ubisoft aimed to rekindle and leverage that enthusiasm by developing an online program that would serve as a creative outlet for the game's enthusiasts

Solution The Dojo of Pain program served to promote Ubisoft's

Red Steel, a launch title for the new Nintendo Wii video game platform, to a range of consumers including casual gamers, Nintendo "fanboys," and more traditional First-Person Shooter (FPS) gamers. The program strategy involved three core elements

The strategy The strategy

An offline component was the New York City launch party for the Nintendo Wii platform at the Toys "R" Us in Times Square Affinitive gave the Dojo of Pain program a presence at the event, with games,

interviews, and prizes, which provided a high level of excitement for consumers Exclusive video footage created by Affinitive increased brand awareness

and word of mouth for Red Steel and was picked up and shown by the popular website 1up.com The engaging consumer experience of the program was driven primarily by the 30

"lessons" (activities) that were created These activities were similar to mini-contests in that consumers were

prompted to create and submit user-generated content over a two-week period with the best entry earning a prize and all other entries earning points for completion (redeemable for prizes)

The Dojo of Pain program leveraged elements that were employed for Red Steel's other marketing channels (program URL included print ads, television, and a mobile marketing campaign), leading to an integrated marketing effort that magnified brand messages both online and offline.

The program finale was the "Tournament of Doom", in which members competed in a single elimination video creation contest. Each round, members would vote on which members would pass to the next round with the ultimate winner taking home a brand new Nintendo Wii console

The ResultThe Result

3,000 viral links shared by members generating 41,000 views of Ubisoft content

150+ user-generated videos were created, with over 500,000 YouTube views

30 "lessons" generated 4,100 submissions, including photos, videos, graphic designs, flyers, movie posters, and costumes

42% of registrations via consumer-to-consumer referrals 3,000+ Google results for "Dojo of Pain"