30 Years of Indian PR: Astrum's Ashwani Singla on why the talent problem is an easy fix — and how in-house comms can win PR its seat at the table

 In July 1995, the landscape of Indian public relations was very different from the complex world of PR today. Ashwani Singla, founder of Astrum, shares that he entered PR when the "tools of the trade" were a blackboard in a back office used to manually calculate advertising value equivalent (AVE). 

While the ghost of AVEs' past have yet not left the PR business, PR has become strategic in its pursuit of corporate reputation management.

In this third story in our editorial series- 30 Years of Indian PR, Astrum Reputation Advisory's founding managing partner, Ashwani Singla, speaks to PRmoment India about his 31 years in the PR industry in India, why the talent gap is easy to solve, why PR firm should not wait for better fees to hire robust talent  and why in-house comms professionals must do their part and not be insecure about their PR firm team.

Thirty Years of Indian PR : In conversation with Ashwani Singla, founder managing partner, Astrum

Paarul Chand:  There a shift now to strategic communication — I hear this very often from the PR industry, that we need a seat at the table. But one can argue that if you deserved that seat, you'd already be there; you wouldn't need to ask for it.  

What is it that stops business leaders from giving the PR function a seat at the table?

Ashwani Singla: Look, there are islands of excellence, and there are enough people I know who sit in the C-suite as corporate communicators. I've seen those islands of excellence only expanding over the last three decades, where the in-house corporate communications leader is actually part of the executive team, with a significant role and a direct connection to the CEO at best, and at worst to the CFO or general counsel. 

Now let's talk about the agency, or consulting, world. 

You're so right — you don't have to ask for a seat at the table; if you deserved it, you'd already get it. So what is it that prevents you from being there? I think it's a question of the intellectual talent you bring to the table — not only at the leadership level, but also at the general industry frontline level. 

If we are going to continue to be interlocutors, people who predominantly focus on getting good press or stopping bad press, then that will be relegated to the anteroom, not the C-suite table. But if you're going to be the owners of corporate reputation — the most important people in the room, who help mitigate and negotiate this landscape of what I call reputation, risk and regulation, which is increasingly interconnected and interdependent — if you're the counsel that helps the company negotiate that, then you'll certainly have an automatic seat at the table, because then you're a business-critical function.

Then it's the combination of in-house people and their acceptance of the consultants as part of their seamless team — getting over any insecurity or fear that may be the only barrier that exists.

 I think it's largely a self-inflicted goal by the consulting side. I've always maintained through my career that you need to take the first lead: you need to put the talent on the table in front of the client to be a strategic communicator, a strategic asset to the organisation. The invitation will follow.  You can't say, “First the client needs to pay us good money, and then we'll invest in talent, and then we'll get a seat at the table.” Then you're chasing your own tail. As a consultant, you have to make the first move, put good talent on the table, and be a strategic communicator.

Paarul Chand: Given all you've seen about the function — you've already mentioned one part, hire the talent and it'll get you there — lately I've seen a lot of senior people on the brand side leave their jobs and even come back to the agency side. What do you think is happening there? 

Ashwani Singla: It's a good sign that the industry is able to attract top, experienced talent in the leadership realm of the consulting world. So I don't think it's a natural thinning. I think it's a natural attractiveness of the consulting world, where we now think of it as a tool of strategic influence, not just an interlocutor. To me, it's a very positive sign, and it shows the growing maturity of the industry and the consulting environment.

Quickfire Round

Paarul Chand: Now we come to the fun part of the conversation. My first question: what is your favourite breakthrough moment in PR, where you got a story done, or a survey or an insight, that really moved the needle for you personally?

Ashwani Singla: I don't think it's any one particular instance — there are many across three decades. But the first one you do is always special. When I first came into this profession in 1995, I joined Mudra, and my first client was Walchand Industries, with my dear friend Pallavi Jha.

Pallavi had just come back from the US and taken over as executive director, and she was my client. We were trying to reinvent the image for Walchand Industries — as you know, her uncle was Ajit Gulabchand of Hindustan Construction Company , who was quite prominent, and she was the elder brother's daughter, trying to recast the company.

My first story for her in 'The Economic Times', and the first in-house magazine we created for her for internal communications, will always remain special — not because it was a breakthrough moment, but because it was the first thing I ever did in public relations. It was a very interesting story on the company; I worked very hard on the storyline and it came out really well. Then we went on to make an in-house magazine — my first production — using illustrations and cartoon characters for internal communication. Those continue to be the most special things for me.

Paarul Chand: Who would you name as a young PR founder of a firm who you think has the potential to grow big?

Ashwani Singla: Very difficult question. There are several companies I've come across doing outstanding work, and I don't really want to name one person or another, because that could be unfair to others — and it would be impossible to name them all. But having sat on some of the juries in the last several years — the SABRE Awards, PRCA and others, including the Gold Quill and IABC — there is some outstanding work coming through from companies I hadn't heard of before. When I looked at the work, I said, “Wow, that's significantly good work.” So there are very good companies out there, young and up-and-coming, who have grown reasonably well, and I wish them well.

You can look at these companies in two or three brackets. There are senior people who've finished some roles and started a consulting practice and done well — for example, Maverick is a great example of someone who pivoted out and then done well. Then there are founders who are a combination of senior people and very young talent — a firm with Kiran and her colleague Abhilasha Pardi, who worked at Genesis with me and has done fantastically good work.

And then there are the young founders I've had the opportunity to interact with.

Paarul Chand: What was your first PR salary — your monthly salary? How much was it, and what did you spend it on?

Ashwani Singla: As you know, I came from ITC, went to school, and pivoted back, so I'd already spent a lot of money educating myself. I'd used my entire provident fund from ITC and whatever little savings I had, so I really had no savings. When I first came to Mudra, Nitin Shiva, the CEO at the time, asked what I wanted to earn. I quoted my entire salary at ITC, which was a princely 15,000, and then I also looked at all the benefits I used to get — uniforms and so on. He said, “It's fine, let's make it 25,000.”

So I came to Bombay with a princely salary of 25K in July of '95. What I spent it on was two jackets, three or four ties, and a couple of trousers and shirts, so I could make about three or four sets — combinations that looked like nine or ten. 'Shoppers Stop' had just opened, so I went there and got a few ties, a couple of jackets, and some shirts and trousers to make sure I looked like a consultant.

In ITC everything was paid for — my dinner jackets, my suits, my uniforms — so all I had in my wardrobe was a few pairs of jeans and some shirts and T-shirts. So that first salary went into building a wardrobe so I could actually act and look like a consultant.

Paarul Chand: Is there a person you admire who you'd call your mentor — not necessarily from PR — your work mentor?

Ashwani Singla: I don't know that I'd point to one person, because many people contribute to your learning and your journey.

At ITC, for example, I had bosses like Deepak Habser, Manoj Vermani, Shashi Waghle, Pran Bhatia and several others — Major Rahman was also my boss for a period. The lessons I learned early in my life set a good foundation for me to make that leap. Through my journey in public relations, I learned from many people who worked with me at Genesis, because that was my longest tenure. My partnership with Prema as we were building Genesis meant a lot to me.

And significantly, over the last 15 years, my work with Mark Penn, who was my CEO at PSB, and Jay Leviton, in research-based consulting. And in the last decade or so, my partner in crime and co-founder Sharada, who has brought a tremendous amount of focus on research-based consulting for us.

But in summation, the most important person in my life and my professional journey is my best friend and my wife, Sheila. She was also my batchmate in college and at ITC, and she's part of my journey. in life in general, when I look back at what made me who I am today, the most significant contributor would continue to be Sheila. More than my wife, she's really my best friend. That's someone I will always be very grateful to.