Need for PR

AISECT Group maintained a very low profile for over 25 years wherein not much effort had been made to highlight their key achievements. With services constantly being added to the brand’s portfolio and partnerships being made with government bodies as well as corporate entities, it became imperative to increase the brand’s awareness among its target audience, stakeholders and position AISECT as India’s leading ICT and skill based education, services and e-governance organisation.

Key Challenges

• Although, the organisation had a widespread network of over 12,000 centres across the country and several premier higher education institutions, all the initiatives and activities of the brand were conducted in semi-urban and rural India. Hence, national media in the metros had never heard of the company.
• A humungous portfolio encompassing vocational education, skill development, e-governance, rural employment, financial inclusion, franchising, higher education and much more made it difficult for media to understand the company’s offerings and interest areas.

Approach

Initially, meetings were set-up between the PR Team and the major target media, where a presentation was given to the journalists about the organisation and its business verticals. Thereafter, media interactions were arranged with the company head as well as vertical heads. Moreover, the PR Team escalated the process of applying for industry awards, so as to bring AISECT in the limelight, as far as national level media and industry professionals were concerned. Constant effort was made to ensure that the client participates in all major industry stories. Furthermore, an aggressive regional PR campaign was planned and executed, where all major states were targeted for company specific stories from time to time.

Impact

Over 75% of the national media, covering beats which AISECT was actively involved in became familiar with the company. Gradually, that familiarity resulted in increased media queries for major industry stories and features. Moreover, AISECT won numerous awards in the last couple of years including the Manthan Award South Asia and Asia Pacific, the Skoch Renaissance Award as well as AISECT’s Chairman becoming one of the finalists for the Schwab Foundation’s ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ award. Through the PR Team’s efforts and initiatives, AISECT has also been ranked 27th in the 2013 edition of Inc. India magazine’s list of ‘Top 500 Mid-Sized Companies of India’.

Need for PR

Lall Lahiri & Salhotra (LLS) is one of the foremost Intellectual Property (IP) law firms of India with a Fortune 500 clientele. However, due to a conservative approach towards media, LLS had not highlighted the excellent work being done by its partners and key lawyers. This resulted in negligible recognition of the law firm among the key law correspondents of the target media.

Key Challenges

• Limited coverage opportunity, IP being a niche segment in the mainline media
• The coverage opportunity was further limited by the client as select media was to be targeted.
• The target journalists had long-standing associations with other IP lawyers, who had been their preferred information touchpoint for years.

Approach

A pull strategy was applied, wherein major ongoing cases of LLS for world renowned brands like: Estee Lauder, Coca Cola, Heinz and Novartis were used as talking points. Once the target media was aware of the law firm’s excellent client base and its expertise in the IP segment, a consistent effort was made by the PR Team to cultivate media relations through regular updates.

Impact

Through the PR campaign for LLS, we brought Intellectual Property into the mainframe, where its relevance in various industries like pharmaceutical, film, IT, SMEs, fashion etc. became a regular topic of discussion for the national media. As a result, LLS is now being sought by journalists on all major IP related issues being faced by corporate India and it is now at par with the industry leaders of the IP law segment.

Need for PR

The second edition of world’s third biggest and Asia’s only professional bodybuilding championship was taking place in New Delhi. World’s foremost fitness experts and professional bodybuilders such as Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Erin Stern and Nicole Nagrani were converging in the nation’s capital city for a hitherto unseen two-day long fitness extravaganza.

Key Challenges

• To a large extent, bodybuilding was not recognised as a sport in India. Moreover, the ICC T20 World Cup was coinciding with the Sheru Classic Championship. So, most of the reputed sports journalists were uninterested in the event.
• World’s biggest professional bodybuilding championship, Mr. Olympia took place merely a week prior to Sheru Classic. Since all the leading athletes were busy preparing for Mr. Olympia, they were unavailable for any media interaction until a day before the show, after reaching India.
• The inevitable association of steroids with bodybuilding led to a lot of apprehension among the health and fitness media.

Approach

The campaign was started several months prior to the show, where massive pre-event publicity was done by the PR Team. Stories highlighting the difference between health supplements and steroids were placed in leading newspapers. The CEO of Sheru Classic also participated in a panel discussion on the adverse effects of using steroids on CNN-IBN’s show ‘Face the Nation’. Fitness related tips and expert views were placed in lifestyle supplements of leading publications. The pre-event press release was carried not only by Indian newspapers and news portals but, also by world’s leading news websites about bodybuilding, sports, health and fitness industries. A press conference was organised prior to the show which resulted in widespread national level coverage of the upcoming show. The PR Team met the sports, health and features editors of all major international and national level news channels, newspapers, magazines and websites with the objective of highlighting the salient features of the show and turning the sports and health media in favour of the event.

Impact

A two page spread on the upcoming event was published in Sports Illustrated India. A day prior to the show, The Indian Express carried a Page 1 Anchor story on the upcoming championship. The agency secured an exclusive radio partnership with Radio Mirchi which resulted in free primetime publicity by popular RJs for five days immediately prior to the show. Extensive stories with interviews of the leading athletes were broadcasted on all major news channels including NDTV 24X7, DD News, Aaj Tak, ABP News, Headlines Today, Sahara Samay, Zee News and India TV. ESPN did a special interview with Jay Cutler for their show ‘Sports Center India’. An in-depth three-page story was done by ‘Eye’, the Sunday supplement of The Indian Express. National magazines, including Business Today and Femina, wrote about Sheru Classic. Over 150 journalists attended the event and 315 media coverages were generated for the client.

Need for PR

The objective was to get extensive media coverage in India for the Are You Being Sold? (AYBS) Study conducted by the Grass Roots Group, across seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This study showcased how major IT and electronic brands were being sold at multi-brand retail outlets. India’s performance was found to be the worst in several categories.

Key Challenges

• Only the synopsis of the study was to be shared with the media. The complete AYBS Study was to be made available to select journalists, on special request.
• The company spokesperson was in Australia at the time of the launch of the study. Therefore, he was available for a limited period of time only for telephonic interactions with Indian media.
• Exclusive rights to the story were an issue with many top-line publications.

Approach

Since the study results were of great relevance to the entire IT and electronics retail segment in India, it was vital to get coverage in maximum number of national publications. However, having limited access to the company spokesperson and understanding the importance of The Economic Times and HT Mint, telephonic interviews were arranged with only these two publications. Also, a tie-up was done with NDTV Profit for exclusive electronic launch of the study. Subsequently, a detailed analysis of the study findings was shared with the rest of the media in lieu of the complete study. Questionnaires were also arranged to ensure that the spokesperson’s absence did not result in poor coverage.

Impact

The AYBS Study was widely applauded by the Indian media. Not only was it covered extensively by all leading publications, including: The Economic Times, HT Mint, The Financial Express (Brand Wagon), The Hindu Business Line (Brand Line) and Business Standard, The Economic Times’ Brand Equity supplement also published an interview of the group chairman as a brand performance guru. A special mention of the study was made by the editor of DQ Channels magazine in her note to the readers. Leading IT trade publications, including Electronics Bazaar, invited the company spokesperson to contribute expert articles and the result findings became topics of online polls among IT, electronics and sales professionals.

Need for PR

Despite being one of the best research-based educational institutions in the UK, the university was not very popular among Indian students. As a result, candidates with excellent academic backgrounds would go to lower ranking universities. It was imperative for the university to make its presence felt in the country so as to receive applications from quality students.

Key Challenges

• Only the top three newspapers of a city were to be approached for coverage, thereby limiting the scope for coverage considerably.
• Lukewarm initial response from education beat editors and correspondents due to lack of awareness about the university
• Meeting short publication deadlines despite not having any client representative in India and having to coordinate with the international office in Southampton

Approach

Firstly, a workable communication model was developed in consultation with the client, to ensure that the publications’ deadlines were always met. The initial focus was on penetrating the metros and establishing brand recall. Through various stories, the target audience was constantly updated about the university’s initiatives. Now that strong relationships had been established with the mainline media in the major cities, the second phase of the campaign was launched where Tier II cities were targeted.

Impact

As per the client, after the completion of the first year of the PR campaign, there was a 70% increase in admission inquiries from India. The profiles of students applying for various courses at the university had also improved considerably.

Need for PR

The Kwality Group, that introduced ice creams in India, was established in 1940 as one of the first restaurant groups of India. Kwality Restaurant in Connaught Place, Delhi immortalised Channa Bhatura among many foodies, while the Group’s Gaylord Restaurants in Mumbai and London have an impressive clientele consisting of government officials, aristocrats, Bollywood celebrities and diplomats. The Village Restaurant Complex next to Siri Fort Auditorium in Delhi is home to the celebrated Chopsticks restaurant. The Village also houses Angeethi, Colours ‘N’ Spice and Tonic, which offer varied ambience and cuisines. Bread & More is a patisserie with outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. The group’s outdoor catering division has recently worked for some of the most high profile weddings, parties and events of Delhi and is fast becoming a formidable player in the food services segment.

Due to the advent of numerous dining facilities at more central locations, the clientele of the restaurants under Kwality Group was getting limited to long-standing patrons who vouched for the quality of food and service being offered. Youngsters were not considering these restaurants as the ‘hang out’ places. Moreover, two very renowned chefs had joined the group recently and under their patronage the menu of almost all the restaurants had been revised. So, publicity was required for the ‘coming of age’ of Kwality Group and about the various changes being incorporated by the brand.

Key Challenges

• With so many new and interesting restaurants being launched in the city every week, media was spoilt for choices.
• Since the restaurants under Kwality Group were not new, visiting them was not a priority for the target media as compared to visiting newly launched eateries.
• The owners of the group had allowed various relatives and associates to launch their own companies in other cities under the ‘Kwality’ brand name thereby, leading to dilution of the brand name and identity. Thus, the media especially in Punjab would confuse the Delhi-based Kwality Group with another company of the same name based out of Chandigarh.

Approach

The campaign was started with some interesting food festivals such as Kayasth Food Festival and Street Food of Bangkok. Emphasis was given to highlighting the unique and little-known delicacies that were being offered at these food festivals. Personalised invitations were prepared for leading print and digital food critics. The PR Team invited them to review the festivals. Occasions like Christmas were used for promoting Bread & More’s unique products such as Yule Log Cake. Wedding season became an excellent opportunity for highlighting the new trends in wedding catering, courtesy Delhi-based Kwality Caterers thereby, establishing the expertise of the Delhi-based entity in the segment.

Impact

Within six months from the launch of the PR campaign, Hindustan Times not only did over 30 stories on various entities of the group but also nominated Chopsticks for the prestigious HT Crystal Awards. Positive reviews of the restaurants were done by all the leading publications and websites including: The Times of India Crest Edition, The Hindu, Navbharat Times, timesofindia.com, indianfoodfreak.com, foodandnightlife.com and chefatlarge.in. The corporate chef of the group was featured on the famous Zee Business show called ‘Great Chefs of India’. The negative user reviews on websites like Zomato and Burrp, owing to the stagnant and uninteresting experience over the last few years, gradually turned into positive reviews as patrons were constantly made aware of the new and interesting offerings at the restaurants and had a fantastic and different food experience every time they would visit a Kwality Group restaurant.

Need for PR

Launched in June 2013, Organic Harvest is a fast growing personal care brand. With an aim to expand the brand presence in all major tier 1 & 2 cities as well as launch exclusive Organic Harvest stores in high street locations in the metros within a couple of years, the client wanted a strong PR campaign which would increase brand visibility and awareness nationally.

Key Challenges

• An oversaturated personal care segment in the country led to a reluctance on the part of senior editors to try products from a new and never-heard-of company.
• Lack of awareness among a large section of media about the difference between organic and herbal beauty products was another challenge.
• Limited marketing budget of the client prohibited the agency from executing promotional or PR events.

Approach

An aggressive media outreach strategy was adopted wherein the agency ensured that continuous discussion was held with key influencers. Meetings with beauty editors of all leading lifestyle magazines were set up on a regular basis wherein star products of the brand were shared with them. Key beauty bloggers were identified and approached for product reviews so as to increase awareness among the target audience. City specific coverage was generated for the brand launch in a new region. Another area of intervention was generating corporate level stories showcasing the tremendous success of the brand and the enterprising spirit of the founder that has resulted in the meteoric growth.

Impact

The Agency nominated the brand’s exfoliating face scrub for the ELLE India Beauty Awards 2014. The client was also assisted by the Agency during the voting process. This endeavor led to the product winning the award under the ‘Popular Choice’ category. During a year-long campaign, the agency generated over 150 print coverage as well as about 40 product reviews by prominent beauty bloggers. The brand and its Founder were also featured in prominent shows on Aaj Tak and CNBC Awaaz.