In this episode we explore the intersection of evidence-based data and communication solutions for businesses with Minal who has over 18 years of experience in the field of communications. According to her, the language and tone of a communication platform can impact engagement, so it’s crucial to adapt to the platform’s unique expectations for effective communication.

Introduction

0:43 I have about 18 years of work experience, 14 of which have been in communications. Over the years, I’ve seen the transformation of communication from manual to technology-dependent. My work has always involved evidence and data in some form, and I’ve gained a deep understanding of how data works with ideas to solve business challenges through communication solutions.

In my early days in PR, I used to manage Monsanto and would speak with farmers to understand their challenges and create story angles. Later on, I adopted an outside-in approach, which involves understanding the pain of the target persona and then creating a narrative. Today, we’re able to create a message logic to articulate a specific intention rather than just creating brand awareness.

We’re medium agnostic and communicate through the medium consumed by the consumer. We initially had a large team with operational abilities for each medium, but soon realized that it’s not feasible to have expertise in every medium. So, we created a partner ecosystem, and our strategy team and project managers are the core team while the rest is dependent on expert partners.

First interaction with Data

4:57 It was quite exciting for me because I was very young then. But I was working with Western Union at that point in time, and Hawala was something which was spoken about. Western Union was trying to make it a lot more standardized and privatized. Money transfers were seen in a different realm. At that point in time, I remember meeting a person who used to do this, a very different persona than what you would imagine. Of course, not professional, not in a suited booted way, but sitting in a home with chunks of money kept around. And I think that’s when I realized the beauty of interacting with your consumer or your target persona and what all you can gain from knowledge as well as creation or storytelling. He was not averse to marketing. He was very happy, actually, for that matter, as I think he felt it was a two-minute fame. But he really shared the challenges that he would also not want to do something like this. But if there was a platform or channel that could ease his job, he would be more than happy to be a partner. I think that’s when I realized the importance of speaking to your consumer. Second is the tone. We very often think of a copy-paste method, and I’ve been exposed to this. I have nothing against it, maybe when we do it, all platforms speak the same language. But they don’t. Platforms have their own language and tone. So, of course, the engagement is going to be different and is expected to be different. From that perspective, we understood that the tone also made a big difference in the medium of communicating. Then there’s the third one, which is the ROI. Now ROI has evolved from subjective terms to very objective terms. Currently, customers are demanding to know how in numbers you’re going to be able to bring value to what you’re doing. We’re still very nascent. I don’t think we have managed to get there yet. But I think tools such as Wizikey can eventually help us. It’s just a matter of time when everyone, each and every person, starts using data correctly in the ecosystem. By that, I mean, in a company, until that doesn’t happen, we will not be able to get the right potent patterns and insights which could help us to create narratives. So, there’s still time for that. And I think we’re waiting for that time to come. But I think with the advent of AI and all that has been spoken, I think it’s heading towards that.

Favourite campaign  

8:11 I have been very fortunate to work on various campaigns, and each campaign is unique. However, I particularly enjoy it when an entity can identify its identity and communication can hit the nail on the head, saying “this is what I stand for” and the audience resonates with it. This gives the most joy to any communicator because it’s a tick mark that says, “OK, you’ve done your job.” I had worked on Metro AIG, which is a brand that has been in various businesses, but we had to articulate the positioning of one of the sub-brands that they were coming up with or re-coining. Once we spoke to the employees of that division, which was becoming independent of the umbrella brand, and we spoke to the leadership, customers, and suppliers, we were able to get their positioning right. Everyone had an aha moment, saying “yes, that’s what we stand for,” and we were able to see it translated on their various marketing mediums as well as their culture. This was my favorite campaign because I realized the importance of communication not only from a PR perspective or social media but also from a positioning aspect.

Metrics to measure  

10:18 As processes have not remained the same, it’s not the same anymore for any agency. It’s unique to the customer. Similarly, metrics are also unique to every customer. It could be that the people in my community are speaking about my brand. That’s also a metric. Okay, then I get that many impressions or views on my content. So that is also a metric. Now, it’s independent of each brand’s intentions, right? Today, if I have to see that, you know, another example, there was one particular client who came and said, “I want to be seen as a 2000-member company, but I’m unable to hire people because I don’t look, feel or speak like a 2000 people company.” So when we did that entire repositioning and got to really work on it, we got almost, I think, 30% or 30 to 50% growth in terms of their acquisition, and they understood the persona of the brand. I think now that’s also a metric. So it’s tangible and intangible. It’s unique to your intentions. Now, what you’re doing, communication for needs to be very clear. That’s the change which has happened, which helps us to kind of then define what my metrics would be. So, as I said, it’s different for different customers. In India, certainly or anywhere, and because I’m part of a global alliance, I can vouch for it and say that nowhere in the world, I think they have cracked the code. So it’s still work in progress.

Evolution of PR industry

12:10. It’s a very interesting question, but it’s very difficult to respond to because I myself have been part of four pivots in the industry. This means that our industry is changing every 3-4 years, and that timeline will further shorten. Therefore, nothing is set in stone now. The only advantage is that you will still need a human and a human touch. When you are working with various channels, you still need to articulate the message to a particular customer or a certain type of person. This will continue to be a service provision. The only difference is that there will be many more tools added to the mix. That’s the change and the shift that I see. The flexibility of communicators to adapt to more than two or three tools will become essential, and that’s where the change will happen.

The second part is that in the future, businesses will start depending on communicators for many other areas as well. Largely, customers come to you with a set of 5-6 areas where they need help. For instance, they may need help creating a brand reputation, and the most abused word is “thought leadership.” However, all those terminologies will be broken, and it’s going to become specific to each business requirement. Industries are going to have a cluster of the same type of products. Therefore, how do you create differentiation? You’re not going to be able to create differentiation based on intentions alone. Hence, that is going to change how articulation or content is created, or how innovatively you’re thinking of communicating that element to your customer. I think it’s exciting because it allows us to not be dependent on just two or three elements of what we were doing. The lines are blurry between marketing and comms, and it’s not going to be marketing and comms anymore. It’s going to be something else that we don’t know right now, but I think that’s where I see it going.”

How will AI/VR/AI disrupt the communications industry?  

15:01 Technically, I’m not very knowledgeable about that topic, to be honest. I have my own aversion to it, but at the bare minimum, I have exposed myself to it. Actually, the thing is that I am almost scared about what they can really do. I realize that they can either help or be harmful. Now, I have two different opinions about it. I’m not sure if this is the best platform to discuss it, but I’m curious to know what they can do. I know there’s a lot of conversation around ChatGPT, and I think it’s great if it can save time. We work with certain tech clients who need 1000 blogs and content creation using Google keyword search. It’s not humane enough to create that much content with that level of quality and in that much time. Plus, they need alignment and connection of the dots, and for 1000 blogs, I may not be able to do that. So, for that purpose, I think it’s very helpful to have tools like these where I can give the intention, and they can write it, and I can edit and fasten the process. But at the same time, I do have concerns about the quality of the content being provided. Will people really enjoy reading thousands of blogs with the same type of segments or sectors? That’s where the uniqueness of communicators will come in. They need to step out from everyone doing the same thing and suggest a different approach. For example, maybe this is not a good fit for you. Maybe we want to go from A to D instead of A to B. So, I think that’s where the strategic advice will make a big difference.

Dream Metric  

17:18 I hope that the metric is more about mindset. I want customers to unlearn that ROI only means revenue. ROI can mean many things, and I think it’s a coherent mindset change that needs to happen. I’m not saying we are any better, but cohesively we’ll have to start seeing that it’s very complex. I don’t blame anyone because earlier, I used to only do newspapers. Today, I’m doing newspapers plus online, plus social media, plus internal engagement, and so you can see how the diagrams and graphs have changed. So, I think it’s not medium-based but more about whether I have been successful in reaching the outcome you’re looking for, irrespective of how I came to do it. That’s what I really want. The second part is language. I think a change in language will be a big help. And when I say language, I’m not referring to how we speak, but rather the industry language. I think that will help us to be seen and heard differently. Certain industry platforms are doing a fabulous job at it.

Role of PR and Communication in recession  

18:53 It’s very important to understand how it impacts your customers or their customers today. If morale is extremely low, I would rather keep them motivated and for the right reasons with the right language. I think communicators have this amazing sense of empathy. They understand what needs to be heard and said, and we just come with that art and skill. So, if we can do that, I think it’s good to have. But if we’re not doing away with the facts, the fact of the matter remains that if we’re in an economic uncertainty, I think it’s the right thing for the audience to know the real condition. Because we’ve gone through these two years of COVID, and I don’t think we’re mentally prepared to go through that again. So, it’s absolutely fair for the audience and whoever we’re speaking to, to know the real impact and how we can solve that. That’s where I think communicators are going to be helpful. We know how to solve and bring out the best in the worst time. So, I think that’s where we’re going to be helpful in my view.

My two cents  

20:28 I have been saying this for the last 11 years. If I have not got bored of this industry for the last 15 years, which means that you can continue to stay curious and continue to learn. The only thing is that I feel the patience to really go into the depth of what the sector and the business is, that’s become much lesser. I think that the interest of knowing somebody’s business and getting deep rooted into what it may do if we say this to that consumer, I think that is missing in the current generation. Maybe I am a little older, but I’m just saying that I think that can add a great amount of value. Business understanding will take the newer generation extremely well and far ahead.