The eighth edition of the Godrej PRmoment Adfactors 3030, 2022 announced

Aashima Verma, 29, associate account director, PR Pundit
@AashimaVerma4

If you want to find out why she says #PRSeKaroPyaar, check out her winning entry video below where she explains why PR are change agents in a world where consumers are looking for problem solvers and not product sellers:

Abhijot Magotra , 25, Account Executive, The PRactice Strategic Communications
Abhijot on LinkedIn

In his own word Magotra says his mantra for success is “Research->Storytelling->Impact measurement->aimed engagement”

#HarshRealities: Breakout Campaign 
"Harsh Mariwala, a renowned stalwart of India Inc. had captured his entire life experiences in the form of a book. The PRactice was assigned the task to publicise the book.

We decided to do it innovatively and that is when the hashtag 'HarshRealities' was born. The one-month-long campaign involved reaching out to all the publications/ portals/ podcasts, creating many ripples to be able to support his initiative to mentor fellow and upcoming entrepreneurs in India."

PR for PR

Do you want to know the tale of Brand Singh Rathore and his tryst with PR? Watch below:

Akshat Chopra, 28, Public Relations Officer, Power Grid Corporation Of India Limited (POWERGRID)
@mrkeenguy

Akshat described himself as a creative storyteller. He says during the pandemic he picked up digital visuals and video skills with which he created a range of content by himself including 65 posters, 2 graphic novels, and a coffee table book, 2 brochures and over 40 films during the pandemic by myself.

He also used the time to pick up a course credential on brand management from the University of London and London Business School through Coursera.

Breakout Campaign
Starting a multilingual newsletter for the employees of Power Grid Corporation of India that covered, tech, business and health topics.

Amrita Sarna, 30, Manager-Corporate Communications, Max Life Insurance
@Amrita_theSarna

If you want ‘One Kadak Reputation Please’ take a ‘dekho’ at the infographic below:

Breakout Campaign 

India Retirement Index Study
“A digitally administered all India study in the age group of 35-65 years, the survey mapped Urban India’s preparedness to lead a healthy, peaceful, and financially independent retirement life. As part of the survey outreach, led the media strategy and adopted an integrated approach across digital, social, print, online, and broadcast media to create buzz.

To sustain conversations across stakeholders, hosted a retirement-themed webinar for employees and created content across brand channels in the form of interactive polls, quizzes to increase engagement."

Boss’s Thumbs up!
“Amrita is instrumental in the successful media launch of the IRIS study. Her approach ensured that the first edition of the study was received well by the journalists and garnered wide coverage not only in business but also vernacular media. Her enthusiasm and always-on spirit drives meaningful media outcomes that strengthens industry reputation of brand Max Life” – Manisha Singh, Corporate Vice President - Corporate Communication, Max Life Insurance

 Anamika Bahuguna, 24, Senior Executive - Corporate Communications, SRF Limited
@anamikabahuguna

Joining the chemical conglomerate, SRF Limited, in 2019 Anamika has won 'Best Debutant Award' for her work in helping the company grow their social media presence.

SRF Flag Bearers
 Anamika ideated and conceptualized a video series to promote the value-driven culture of SRF (India’s largest specialty chemicals company).

"The concept of this video series was to capture the journey of long-serving employees of the organization. Through this, we honoured people who have been with the company for a long period of time by presenting a glimpse of their glorious journey in their own words."

In 2019, the LinkedIn page of SRF had only 25,000 followers, in 2022, the page has over 80,000 Anamika says, “The responsiveness of the management, marketing/HR teams to entrust the communications department with substantial and challenging responsibilities is one thing that will continue making me proud for many years to come. We also must note that it’s a 50-year-old organization, with a lean corporate communications team of just two people, and no digital partner.”

Anjali Hans, 26,  account executive, Ruder Finn India
@anjali_hans

#PRSePakkeRaste: Why PR matters

Take a look at her campaign for explaining the value of PR:

Arshya Harjani, 26, Senior Account Executive, Edelman India
Arshya on LinkedIn

Arshya Harjani took the pandemic as an opportunity to update her skills. She took up Google’s Fundamental in Digital Marketing course and is also currently enrolled in IGNOU’s Digital Marketing Diploma (2021-2022).

How she applied her learnings

Arshya been able to effectively apply her learnings at work across clients. Recognizing the decrease in attention spans, she pitched an internal communications video campaign for a major beverages client.

For the European Union’s social media campaign ‘With Love from Eu To You’, Arshya spearheaded the Phase-1 organic influencer outreach targeting 35 influencers. She reached approximately 2,712,671 people generating a multi-lakh PR value.

She also worked with homegrown brands like Taurus Shop to build a promising identity on social media platforms. Arshya directly worked with the owner and created the website’s storyline and rebuild the social media page.

For a well thought out PR for PR campaign watch here:

Ashima Bhatia, 30, Senior Account Manager, Value 360 Communications
@ashimabhatia26

A PowerPuff girls fan, Ashima Bhatia says she imbibed their key qualities (the tough, go-getter temperament of Buttercup, sensitive caring nature of Bubbles, and leadership and strategic approach of Blossoms).

Strategic approach

With the idea, “sustenance is the key”,  Ashima initiated a strategy shift for clients from “Jo dikhta hai, wo bikta hai” to more bold and courageous approach of “Jo Tikta hai, wo bikta hai” while delivering continued media visibility using varied PR tools.” She has also upskilled by learning LexisNexis, Perception and Quants.

Breakout Moment
Ashima has recorded a 90% client retention from past two years and single handedly generated large business.

PR for PR

Why should brands be more like Mario? Watch below.

Mario’s Secret Revealed: What Mario did to boost brand image amidst pandemic?

Bhagyashree Yavagal, 28, Senior Associate – Client Experience, Weber Shandwick India
@thisisbhagyashree

She has also led influencer campaigns for clients across beauty, wellness and relationship apps.

PR for PR campaign

#MaaKaPyarPR

"PR is like the mothers in Dharma Productions’ movies - playing a key yet understated role. A mother always believes in you, she’s the one to share your success around and manage your crises and failures in the outside world.

Like a mother, PR is also built around the 3 Cs – Care, Credibility & Crisis Navigation. Post pandemic, it’s imperative to express that you Care - you put people over profits, you are Credible at what you do - build and sustain stakeholder trust and Navigate the probability of a crisis. 

Going forward, you will need a trustworthy partner none better than a mother who doesn’t ask much, keeps pace and ensures peace around and about you and the extended family. So, the need of the hour - #MaaKaPyarPR."

Daniel Dunn, PR, 27, New Business Development & Media Relationship Manager, The Other Circle
@danieldunn28

Daniel Dunn was working with a boutique agency which specialized in PR and marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. However, his stint was cut short as the entire PR vertical was shut down during the pandemic.

Daniel says, "Job openings in PR firms were hard to come by with the pandemic then at its peak in 2020. My ex- colleague and I decided to start freelancing to stay in sync with the media. Slowly but surely, we on boarded a beauty brand called 'Auravedic' an Ayurvedic beauty brand, 'The Switch Fix' a clean and conscious beauty brand and 'Shiv Sagar Restaurants'."

Breakout Moment
“Working so closely with the founders of different brands enabled me as a PR professional to see my work make a difference for the clients and be appreciated by the founders for my work.”

Do take a look at Campaign 'PRovid', why PR was a winner for brands during Covid:

Dharmesh Dave, 29, co-founder-moai communications 
@dave_dharmesh_d

Dharmesh Dave spends his time knitting bow ties as well as stories. Somewhere along the way he realised that while the dynamics of PR changed in the digital world, the goal remained the same – to build credibility, and in a digital world, credibility comes with a blue tick.

Breakout moment
Dharmesh’s solution to this was, “To help digital celebs be credible, and increase their revenue by earning them prominent media coverages. On an average, 60% of the time these stories yield them blue-ticks.”

He does this by:

1.    Opening the doors of the influencer and creator PR sector in India.
2.    Discover new value proposition of digital PR – Social Media Verification.
3.    Increase their credibility, which thereby surged brand deal cost and frequency.

Do take a look at his primer for building reputation using PR:

Jaison Rebello, 28, Account ManageR, Edelman India
@rebello_jaison

Jaison Rebello believes in meeting communication goals that can be verified against business goals.

With this in mind he set up mechanism that evaluated every media impression from the standpoint of messaging, reach, and impact. The idea was presented to the leading steel client’s leadership team and was later adopted by them.

He also created a video series on LinkedIn that helped clients create awareness about their corporate solutions group so that they could attract top talent for the team. Jaison worked with them to capture the group’s work culture and expectations, and the positive work experiences of its various team members.

Why Reputation is inseparable from PR

Take a look at Jaison’s take on the three main communications imperatives that would be critical for the companies in the post-pandemic with PR at the core:

13. Julia Joseph, 29, Account Manager, Avian WE 
@TheJuliaJoseph

Julia Joseph works on digital strategies for the social sector. She says, “A key aspect of social impact is behaviour change. I have enabled this for clients by stressing on the importance of data driven narratives for varied issues like protein advocacy, access to sexual and reproductive health, climate change and gender-based violence”

She has created digital storytelling opportunities on several platforms like YourStory, TOI Online, HT Digital, Firstpost, and NDTV.

Outside of Avian WE, Julia dedicates time towards initiatives that uplift the PR profession. In 2021, she delivered Career Seminars (#PRepTalk) at four Undergraduate colleges and is also a part of a mentorship programme by her Alma Mater SCoRe.

PR for PR

Here is the campaign Julia feels can be done to explain better the role of PR post pandemic, especially in the area of reputation.

Context: The stakeholders that organisations deal with today are more informed, demanding and questioning than ever. Moreover, indirect stakeholders, like communities and activist groups have a growing influence.

Primary Stakeholders: Chief Reputation Officers - CEOs and/or CCOs

Campaign Objective: Invest more in PR as the most important asset for a long-term delivery of the organisational purpose (rather than short term delivery of business goals).

Campaign: #PRwithPurpose

How will we do this: Create a 'Reputation Index' that demonstrates the power of PR in building organisational trust, supported by case studies led by PRCAI & ICCO.

Kavya Ramesh, 30, Reputation Manager, The Mavericks india 
@kavyaaa_

Kavya Ramesh thinks of herself as the Hermione, of the PR world. And what does the time turner do for her in this world?

She says, “It does not really help me with time travel but magically helps me navigate between two completely different worlds- Entertainment and Technology! Lucky for me, these are two of my greatest loves. The contrast has been my biggest strength.”

The Pandemic Challenge

While the pandemic made the world come to a standstill, businesses had to continue functioning.

Kavya says, “We had to continue telling stories to all stakeholders. The media landscape was going through an overhaul. With print mediums refusing to prioritize entertainment, I leveraged social media channels (Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) for creating visibility for Zee TV in the south.”

Date is truly king

Kavya said she always knew that data was king but realized just how much this is true while working on a quaint jewellery brand from Chennai- specializing in bespoke silver jewellery.

Breakout Campaign
“When the silver jewellery brand wanted to launch a new tagline, even though they already had a creative agency, I undertook the mammoth task of not only just creating a tagline for the brand based on extensive research but also devising a plan to launch it across mediums to amplify our messaging. Furthermore, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to leverage our larger narrative of silver vs. gold via data driven storytelling through the launch of an in-depth survey conducted among target groups”, shares Kavya.

Leah Jena, 24, Senior Account Executive, Technology Vertical, Adfactors PR
Leah on LinkedIn

Leah Jena started her career as a PR professional handling one of India’s biggest innovation ecosystems called T-Hub. Here, she got an exposure to 500+ startups from various sectors solving different problems.

In the last four years, Leah has received recognition in terms of the work that I have done for the startup ecosystem.

Client Thumbs Up
One of the founders sent in a note of appreciation, “Leah has supported the branding activities of AdOnMo in 2020. She was instrumental in driving the messaging of AdOnMo and positioning it correctly in the media. A 'go-to’ PR professional, Leah is dependable and her hands-on media relations have helped AdOnMo get strong exposures across leading publications,” – Sandeep Bommireddi, Founder of AdOnMo, Winner of Forbes 30 under 30, 2020.”

Data Storytelling

Handling an industrial IoT client Leah effectively leveraged data and build narratives around the use case of IIoT in different industries – this helped garner over 40+ sector focused stories for a startup that never had a media presence.

She also  experimented with different tools like NodeXL, Google Trends, etc. to understand industry trends, user behaviour, and emotions on online avenues. Take a look at her journey here:

Neha Chandra, 26, Account Manager, SPAG Asia
@nehac95

A podcaster in the challenging area of purpose communications Neha Chandra has embraced digital communication during Covid.

She started a podcast- dLOG, interviewed 40 experts, conceptualized influencer videos, conducted panel discussions, tweet chats and drafted doctor authored articles. The impact was over 80 hours of listenership, 600K+ views on social media including You Tube, LinkedIn, Twitter, IG and Facebook.  

Prachi Chavan, 25, Senior Account Executive, Ruder Finn India
@pracheec

Prachi Chavan may be a bit of a newbie when it comes to PR, but her work does not reflect the fact that she has been in the industry for just 3 years. Working on campaigns against cyberbullying for a dating app majors Bumble and. national cosmetics brand on #WorldLipstickDay are just some of the examples of the work she has done.

The work has earned her over 2,000 organic posts and that very rare journalist’s thumbs up.

 Journo Testimonial
“Working in mainstream media I deal with at least 10 to 15 PR professionals in a day but very few like Prachi stand out. She is extremely professional, calm in her dealing and always there to help. Her call will be extremely polite, and her pitch will always be in my best interest. What I hugely value is that she respects my time and will only call after messaging, she won't take more time than needed and get the work done, for me and her client. It's rare to have qualities that Prachi has like being diligent and passionate about what she does. Every time I have called her, she has been of great help.”
- Rohit Khilnani, Entertainment Editor, NDTV

Rajeshwari Sahay, 27, Communications Office, UNICEF India 
@rajeshwari1409

Rajeshwari Sahay was working at NITI Aayog’s digital team when the pandemic plunging her full tilt into the challenge of providing crucial and credible information for a key policy institution.

During her time at the policy making body, she helped set up NITI Aayog’s Instagram & LinkedIn presence which are now at 380,000 and 168,000+ respectively. During the pandemic NITI was the first government body to immediately pivot to YouTube Live events – press conferences, interviews and launches. 

Rajeshwari feels, “In a digital world, one which is governed by measurable metrics and data driven insights, empathy is an important attribute we usually don’t factor in. Impactful communication is the sum total of data, metrics and the ability to understand the needs and aspirations of your audiences and the pulse of the times.”

 Breakout Campaign
“At NITI Aayog, I conceptualized the launch of the #CoronaWarriorsIndia campaign across social media channels in early April 2020 as an attempt to document stories of grit and determination from across the country during the strict nationwide lockdown. The campaign helped us crowd source close to 1000 extraordinary stories in one month and reached over 50 million citizens during the early months of the pandemic. The campaign was recognized by Discovery Channel and United Nations India for the 10 part series called Bharat Ke Mahaveer which premiered on television as well as the Discovery Plus OTT Platform.”

 Rashika Ganeshan, 25, Account Manager, Edelman India
@rashika_g

Breakout campaign - Infosys Media Day
“With no press release to follow, we ensured that media/influencers were pre-briefed individually about the event details and sent personalized e-invites. In order to catalyse the conversations around the event on social media platforms, hashtag #InfosysMediaDay was circulated among the media and influencers. 

On a day of our event, Indian media industry was also following the live addresses by the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi, Mark Zuckerberg, and Mukesh Ambani at a Facebook event. We as a team still dominated the news cycle on live television and secured the visibility amongst elite media.”

Client Speak - Rishi Basu – India & APAC Head Corporate Communications, Infosys
“From anchoring corporate interviews, creating crisp messages, and briefing docs, media coordination and being responsible. Rashika is an extremely dependable and hard-working colleague. Her contribution to several projects like the Infosys Media Day have been of great value to the team.”

20. Rohit Kumar, 30, Senior Executive -Public Relations, AirAsia India
@rohitmk123

Acute cervical spondylosis in 2018 kept Rohit Kumar bedridden for over 6 months.

Rohit overcame this challenge to work with AirAsia India and pushed to make up, “For the time I had lost due to the ailment.”

Perhaps due to his experiences, Rohit says, “ I have the ability to withstand pressure in the face of stiff demands from various stakeholders, the experience was challenging but at the very same time when I look at the learning that I have imbibed through my experience, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world. Within a short span of time, I have developed a very strong rapport with the aviation media landscape who have been very vocal about the work done in conjunction to churn out creative story pegs.”

Breakout Moment
“Having cracked a Forbes cover for my client in the first 6 months of my stint as a PR professional with Madison PR, was just the beginning as I started to realise my potential and understand the media landscape better which again led to an organic coverage in The Bangalore Times. Having continually supported the brands with coverage in electronic, print, radio, trade magazines and online, the share of voice for AirAsia India has increased three fold.”

Defining Campaign
“In our effort to serve migrant communities, we launched a very special campaign ‘Umeed Ki Udaan’ which gave us a sense of fulfilment about the way our charter flight operations panned out. Our efforts resulted in organisations and individuals such as actor Sonu Sood, National Law School alumni and few state governments to drive 29 charter operations under 'Umeed Ki Udaan; to help over 4,500 migrants reach home safely.”

Sakshi Panda, 26, Account Executive, Adfactors PR
@SakshiPanda0908

Sakshi Panda, used the pandemic to gain an understanding of the changing media preferences. She trained in data analytics, Google discovery campaigns, Canva. 

This allowed Sakshi to gain perspective in how to handle the communication for 3 of her clients who were impacted in different ways by the pandemic.

Sakshi brought in different strategies that included leveraging micro-influencers. Her work has been identified as a case study for integrated communication by her organisation.

Why PR is a firm’s biggest reputation asset

Sakshi suggests a campaign that uses pop culture, specially the Marvel Universe to reveal the benefits of PR, specifically targeting young entrepreneurs between the age group of 21-39 years who follow Internet and cinematic references.

Concept: Blipping!
“We would use the concept of Blipping for the campaign. The Blip (also known as the Decimation and colloquially as the Snap) is a major fictional event depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise in which half of all living things in the universe, chosen at random, were exterminated by Thanos. Going by the storyline of the MCU, the blipped living beings were resurrected after five years only to lose their means of livelihood and identity.

Blipping in the campaign reference will be used to indicate a similar impact on businesses that lost identity at the outset of the pandemic or in the middle of the pandemic due to reduced customer support and brand recall.”

Watch it here:

Sayanee Chatterjee, 27, Senior Account Executive, 20:20 MSL
@PlayPawsitivity

Sayanee Chatterjee saw the pandemic and its resultant disruption as an opportunity to grow, leading campaigns and picking up video and audio editing skills.

She also learnt to read and analyse raw data for a computer major and brought data campaigns to life. For a start-up client Sayanee again used data to get away from the tedium of funding news.

Not surprisingly data figures in Sayanee’s PR for PR campaign idea. Take a look:

Shruti Jain, 29, Public Relations Manager, Taj West End (Indian Hotels Company Limited)

@thecloudwatcher_

Shruti says, “With hotels doing lesser than average business, its implications were realized in the allocated marketing budgets. By reimagining the job requirements through upskilling self and adapting tasks that were outside of the core purview, I was able to produce high quality artwork and marketing collaterals and grow the social media presence.”

Breakout Moment
“Having launched the social media presence for the hotel in 2020 (ITC Windsor), Shruti was instrumental in deploying tactical collaborations to build an organic fanbase among the 2nd and 3rd generation clientele to capture future business prospects, in addition to managing the digital channels single-handedly for a period of 6 months, garnering organic followers.”

Simran Arora, 24, Senior Account Executive, Adfactors PR
@simranarora_1402

The integrated role allowed her to administer LinkedIn for leaders, resulting in a 10% increase in followers. She also worked after hours on social media handle "Upside Me," which gained over 1 million followers. As data storytelling became important, Simran used it for a nutrition brand to launch a video campaign demonstrating that 80% of Indians are Vitamin D deficient. The film gained over 240 million views and helped to start a discourse about Vitamin D and immunity among the media.

A TV Show on PR?

Simran designed a TV show format called 'PR Par Charcha' to highlight the impact of PR. Watch it for its innovative edit, and no, Samantha does not figure!

Sneha Chakrabarty, 30, Reputation Manager, The MAvericks india
@SnehaPaul

With the rise of the digital economy, the future is bound to revolve around technology. At Edelman and Mavericks, Sneha Chakrabarty has serviced large brands and start-ups in telecom, cybersecurity, fintech, and automotive.

Breakout Campaign
On Microsoft, Sneha helped with building Microsoft Stories with the client from ground-zero. Stories were put together of customers, partners, and employees with journalistic values for a global audience.

 Customer Thumbs Up
“It is my pleasure to recommend Sneha for this year’s PR Moment 30-30 listing. She plays a key role on the Razorpay mandate and having closely worked with her, I can say that she is someone who takes full ownership of everything she takes on. On Razorpay, she has led several big-ticket campaigns including our FTX event, funding announcement, payment reports, etc, and she has delivered excellent results. She can rally her team very well, visualise the larger picture, churn near-perfect content, and come up with focused recommendations for the brand
that align with our goals. Overall, she is an asset for Razorpay and The Mavericks Teams!”
Hepsibah Rozario, Associate Director, PR & Branding, Razorpay

Snigdha Sidhra, 29, Senior Account Manager, PR Pundit
@snigdhasidhra

She used these skills consciously to both understand how to pivot the narrative towards what the audience wants to hear or sometimes layer it with an approach which brings a new perspective to how audiences perceive the brand.

During the pandemic Snigdha pivoted to a digital first approach for building effective campaigns.

 Top PR learning
“If there is one core lesson I have learned in my PR journey post the pandemic, it is to help brands move beyond information giving and pivot towards establishing genuine, authentic and emotional connect with their consumers.”

Tajinder Kaur Saini, 30, Account Manager, The Practice
@snigdhasidhra

To be versatile in my career I choose ‘skills’ over ‘sector’ which led me to develop compelling communications’ strategies that had the power to influence how audiences experience the brands.”

This allowed her to work for a range of sectors from biscuits, mobile phones, entertainment and e-commerce.

During the pandemic Tajinder was promoted from to account manager.

Why PR and Reputation go hand in hand

To understand why PR matters in a brand crisis, watch Tajinder’s submission video:

Tara Nag, 24, Senior Account Executive, Genesis BCW
@tara_nag

Amidst the pandemic, she has not only strategized digital plans but also strengthened influencer relationships.

Says Tara, “I have successfully secured barter partnerships with influencers (following of 1M+), a herculean task indeed! Mastering the art of virtual product launches, I am proud to be a part of Canon’s revolutionary R5 launch.”

PR for PR

Take a look at Tara’s PR for PR campaign idea:

#PRescription for companies to dodge the pandemic bullet: Know the symptoms and take action accordingly!

Tulshe Agnihotri, 26, Senior Account Executive, Ruder Finn India
@Tulshe Agnihotri

During the pandemic has handled both brand crises and a global product launch. In her analogy, she is now a ‘pro smartphone user.’

The only winner in the top 30 to submit a fully visual entry do check it out here and her thoughts on ways to leverage PR for PR:

Yukti Patney, 25, Senior Account Executive, Ruder Finn India
@yuktipatney

Not surprisingly her entry was a beautifully made infographic describing why she deserved to win the 3030 title. An integrated approach, comfortable with the visual medium, she has worked in collaboration with brands to create many groundbreaking campaigns.

Some of them are the first-ever online concert with RED FM, trendsetting challenges with MX TakaTak, digital storytelling for doctors through videos, and many more.

PR for PR

During the pandemic, fake news has been one of the most important yet ignored problems. What brands needed to do was to educated consumers with authentic information through PR programs, to ensure that correct information is being consumed.

Take a look at her video explaining for PR can address the challenge: