Alia’s genius comeback is the PR winner this week

 28th August 2014    Good and Bad PR 
 Paarul Chand

Good PR

Alia Bhatt “Genius” comeback to those who call her dumb!

That moment when you think the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is the President of India on national TV.  After months of Alia jokes, the new It girl of Bollywood has come up with a brilliant riposte.

In a video recorded with ‘All India Bakchod’, titled, “Genius of the Year”, Alia takes a dig at herself and hires a “Personal Brainer” to boost her IQ and bops details about electromagnetism to Bollywood music. The video is hilarious, irreverent and has generated plenty of good PR for the actress.

Good on you Alia! And, as they would say in Stardust Hinglish, have a dekho at the video:

Berger Paints asks you to view ‘The India I Have Seen’ to promote brand sharing of content

Using the peg of Independence Day, Berger Paints has some up with a campaign that spreads branded content.

A specially created app generates an infographic based on your date of birth that creates a timeline of important milestones during your lifetime. It makes for a fascinating read, even without the incentive of possible prizes.

Points are awarded around a quiz about India’s struggle for independence, with bonus points for sharing content about Berger Paints.

Bad PR

After The Hindu, Times of India wants control over what journalists post on social media

According to Quartz India, the BCCL group that own the Times of India and other sister publications, has asked its employees to sign a contract that prevents them from posting any news on their personal FB and Twitter accounts. Journalists are also mandated to share all details of such accounts and make them company operated accounts. BCCL will have password details of these accounts and will be free to share posts without seeking the journalist’s permission. The topic ended up trending on Twitter.

BCCL owns marquee properties such as The Times of India, India’s largest English language daily which has just tied up with Huff Post for an online edition. It also owns Economic Times, the world’s second largest financial daily, second only to The Wall Street Journal.

These steps come on the heels of other newspapers attempting to control what journalists post on their accounts. Earlier this month, “The Hindu” issued a directive asking its reporters not to post news from other sites.

Have you seen any good and bad PR?

Write to Paarul Chand at paarul@prmoment.in or tweet @PaarulC or @PRmomentIndia throughout the week and we’ll happily credit you for your trouble.