Is it time for PR start-ups to shake up the public relations business in India?

 10th December 2014    PR Insight 
 Paarul Chand

The start-up culture is now firmly established in India and has also begun to invade the PR business. Though PR in India has always been full of mom and pop stores, PR start-ups are now gearing up to cater to the growing demand for PR, from not only mid-sized firms, but also to cater the ever growing start-up action in India.

PRmoment India takes a look at some of the youngest firms in the country. We chose firms that are doing interesting work and whose founders are all under 30 or have set up shop in the last year.

FoxyMoron

Self–funded, digital hot shop, FoxyMoron, was set up by 4 teenagers over 6 years ago and today handles some of the biggest brands in India across Ed-Tech, education, consumer and hospitality. In August 2013, the company also kicked off its PR wing.

26 year old Suveer Bajaj, director - media operations and co-founder, FoxyMoron, gives this piece of sharp advice to other people with a start-up dream. Suveer says, “Always be relentless. Keep evolving. Keep on your toes. If not, the industry will eat you alive. The fast pace the industry works at doesn’t help either; one can become redundant within the blink of an eye.”

Suveer’s Gyan: “Listen more and speak less. Absorb everything you possibly can from the Ecosystem. Network, network and network some more!”

“Set unachievable tasks. Commit. Dream. Do it. And don’t look back ever.”

Standout mantra for FoxyMoron: “As storytellers, we believe that new-age digital tools can give life to a brand’s story! With a constant need for engagement for greater brand recall, our integrated approach to Public Relations is a powerful combination of traditional and digital PR. “

WhiteCrow PR

The imaginatively named WhiteCrow PR was set up by 25 year old, Pradnya Ghadge, 28 year old, Triveni Bhatkal and Sonali Ramaiya, in February this year. The firm, which started with two clients, an artist and a consultant, chose a crow for its quality of being an intelligent and witty communicator as their mascot.

WhiteCrow has since grown to handle clients across art and culture, banking and finance, commodities, HR, F&B and IT.

Pradnya Ghadge, whose father is well known artist, Prakash H Ghadge, says this about their first big breakthrough, “The first project that we started for jazz did not fetch large financial gains, however, it created a big footprint in the jazz fraternity and we bagged a series of jazz event projects for a renowned theatre in South Mumbai.”

Standout mantra for WhiteCrow PR: Sonali and Triveni say that, “We have been partnering with mid-sized business owners and managers to make visible their brand and create an identity, thereby helping them to grow their profits.”

Facio Communications

Set up 4 months ago, by Abhishek Gulyani and Rahul Pandita, Facio Communications handles both start–ups and well-known international brands across BFSI, telecom, BPO and technology.

Breakthrough projects: Facio is currently involved in planning a marketing campaign for launching an international chocolate brand in India, as well as handling an innovative one click mobile app.

Product differentiator: Facio Communications has taken an integrated approach and handles everything from internal communications, to branding, digital marketing, social media, traditional media and PR.

Abhishek Gulyani’s, founder and principal consultant (right), winning mantra is, “Patience, perseverance and people is all that matters in this business. The more you develop all of these, the more your business is likely to grow. Think beyond just media relations for your company.”

Scroll Mantra

Scroll Mantra, was set up 6 months ago, by 28 year old, Neha Bajaj and 29 year old, Rajiv Pandey. The company,  which currently has 6 clients on board, primarily in hospitality and lifestyle space, brands itself as a  new age communication solution incorporating PR, social and digital media.

Winning mantra: “It is important to create a good brand name for yourself from the beginning so never make false promises or commitments to a brand just to win their business. Creating credibility for your company from the start will take you a long way.”

Neha Bajaj, says that they want, “To be known as the most preferred PR employer and the most employee friendly company by year 2017.”

Think Ink Communications

Think Ink Communications was set up 10 months ago. It focuses on media and entertainment and handles clients such as  Ronnie & Zarina Screwvala’s foundation, Swades, Shiamak Davar, Reliance Entertainment’s Talenthouse India, and  24 actor Neil Bhoopalam. 

Biggest breakthrough:Radhika Nihalani, co-founder, Think Ink Communications says that, “Our first breakthrough would be bagging the PR mandate for Talenthouse, India. We got this account when we were just 3 months in the business, a team of 2 people (me and another girl) and just 1 account in our kitty. Getting a big corporate like Reliance Entertainment to trust us with their publicity was a huge boost to us.”

Radhika’s Gyan: “Invest in the right people – they will be your biggest strength. Be realistic to your clients – they will trust you forever. Don’t ‘use’ media just for a story. It’s a business of relationships, work towards building ‘relations’.”

Radhika Nihalani, Think Ink Communications: “My big dream for the company is that whoever we engage with believes that they haven't worked with any team before which has the same level of passion and commitment towards their work like us! “