Public Relations is an important but underrated avenue that is often lumped in together with advertising, marketing, influencer campaign and viral topics
Although often underplayed, it is an essential tool that must not be overlooked, whether, by conglomerates nor small businesses and startups
Public Relations is not confined to newspapers and TV programmes and news. In this ever changing, fast pace, digital landscape, Public Relations is all and everything, everywhere, all at once, panacea
Public Relations is the business of minding the overall reputation, future threats to the integrity of an organisation, in the short and long run. It is a tool, but also an art, only to be appreciated by those discerning few
At Andhika Pramuthya, we strive to provide all the basics of what makes Public Relations reliable and a trustworthy tool, with new added twists
Instead of just Public Relations for Public Relations’ sake, we at Andhika Pramuthya believes in redefining and refining the goals and objectives of the organisations as it is, thus, making the Public Relations tools, more focused, noble and at the same time, revolutionary and enriching for the society we live and operate as organisations
One of the main pillars of Public Relations is of course Media Relations. In the not so distant past, Media Relations is all about newspapers, TV stations and select publishers, and along with it, editors, producers and legions of reporters and photographers. Things changed a bit, that bit may sound belittling the big revolution it was for the media industry as it is, but for Public Relations practitioners in principle, the need for Media Relations remains the same, albeit the ‘Media’ bit, becoming more digital bound and instead of just reporters, editors, producers and photographers, now we have influencers, content producers and yes, studios, specialising in campaigns and visual content productions
At Andhika Pramuthya, we help you determine, re sketch and re paint your media and Public Relations world through defined landscape and perspectives. By determining which media to work in the short and long run, medium and platforms to put resources and efforts on, considering the ever limited nature of both, we help you and your organisations, personalise Public Relations to your utmost needs
Add to that, we help you adopt a more nuanced kind of Public Relations, that is, the Peaceful Organisation focused Public Relations solutions. Instead of just focusing on mere surface perfecting solutions or panache, we encourage organisations to tweak what is tweak-able internally, whether it be leadership, scenario planning, innovation, workplace culture and overall integration of marketing and sales with Public Relations
What we want to do with these is simple, we want to be the catalyst and shippers for more Peaceful nuanced organisations to thrive and prosper, thus making our beloved nation, benefit from such reliable businesses
Public Relations ensures your reputation stays intact for your noble journey. Couple that with active and progressive efforts to upgrade technology, innovation and how people work and interact, that is Public Relations focused Change, your organisation will be most vibrant and newsworthy for longest time to come
Apart from helping you and your organisation chart your Media Relations’ needs, we help you to chart the overall possible opportunities in maximising newsworthy components of your organisation, culture, technology, products and services. That is where not mere Public Relations is enough. A little needed Change is needed for organisations to not be stuck in ruts
Strategic changes is not mere cosmetics. Strategic changes can catapult unknowns into viral monsters if chances collide. Public Relations is all about finding that extra gem of your organisation and polishing it to the max but we also do live in a world where sameness breeds contempt and in PR, that, often translates to being left out, ignored and labelled ‘lazy’, not innovative and so on
Change, in those sense, means a lot. Public Relations can’t make magic out of thin airs. It needs precedence, it needs ingredients, it needs stories, powerful ones
One of the most important component of Public Relations is finding and presenting new stories, for the organisation, to the media, and platforms. At Andhika Pramuthya, we find the sameness and generic plots when it comes to the usual organisation storytelling stifling. How can we help organisations rise to the top, be heard, be seen, be talked about, and reaches the intended target audiences, with the full intended causes and intentions?
It’s a mighty task but Public Relations practitioners in all fields and levels are always almost adept at this, so, coming out with truly creative pieces takes considerable efforts, resources and investments from both agency and organisation. Stories don’t just come out of nowhere. They need to be sourced, legitimised, tested for its flow and engagement power, and lastly, it needs equally powerful, if not, perfect fit sets of mediums for it to disperse, diffuse and interact
In summary, Andhika Pramuthya looks forward to work with you and redefine your Public Relations’ needs in this fast changing landscape. Among the components of Public Relations that Andhika Pramuthya will work on with you are :
+ Media Relations & Media Monitoring
+ Spokesperson Grooming
+ Digital PR Mobilisation
+ Storytelling and Story-scaping
+ Content Development for traditional and online platforms
+ Social Media Direction, Campaign and Influencer Integration
+ Media Roundtable Discussion, Forums and Events
+ Press Conferences, Interviews and Launches
+ Press Release, Speeches and Article Writings
+ Visual Content Development for Public Relations
+ Corporate Social Responsibility, Initiatives and Commitments
+ Trainings, Coaching and Masterclasses
Roundtable Discussions
Nowadays, as roundtable discussions finds its way into webinars and online platforms, the opportunities for reach is immense, but crafting exciting as well as interesting topics and subjects is no child’s play
Furthermore, online participations or engagements, often the hallmarks of great sessions and online events, are often slow, unless it’s mandatory i.e not unlike meetings with the bosses, events that require mandatory participations and are being monitored by the bosses, seems to have a bit more success in that department. Unless one hires cybertrooper teams that floods every chatrooms and comments sections with love and approval emojis at every opportune times
Roundtable discussions are the hallmark of democracy, where opposing views are corralled into an almost scripted civilised discussions, in timely manner
With the right Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), each topics and subjects can be interesting enough to draw in favourable and genuine responses, in often the cases, with the main target audience, the reporters, press and influencers
The main target of roundtable discussion is to plant strategic messages from a client’s point of view, without seemingly hard-selling it to the point of embarrassment. Intellectually stimulating discussions, hybridised with current issues and smatterings of humour could spell wonders
When we talk about the outcomes of roundtable discussions, we are talking about eliciting genuine positive response aka helping our audience reach to a conclusion almost similar or closer to our strategic goals. We can’t buy confidence for confidence sake, and that’s why roundtable discussions are not mere staged marionettes’ play, where we think we hold all the cards. No can do, sir and madams
Roundtable discussions are a genuine way to help stakeholders as well as the larger customer market see the issues at hand more intimately. The jabs and jousts of refined orators, moderated by able personnel, will produce sessions that does not belittle audiences’ intellect, but add value to the time spent they invest listening and ruminating the points presented in these sessions
Let us help plan your roundtable discussion sessions and strategise your KOL panels as well as the topics, issues and the timing of the sessions itself, for greater and more strategic impact for the the overall improvement of your Public Relations and Change initiatives
Media Briefing
Media Briefing is an intense, almost one to one experience between the client and select media and platform personnels. In this age where traditional media will not be able to promise a full round of reaches required, an assortment or mix of reporters, influencers from newspapers, broadcast TV stations, online news and lifestyle portals, targeted fit influencers, as well as bloggers and successful platform players in the content field are welcomed and their needs must be attended accordingly
In most cases, Media Briefings are used by clients to explain or debrief strategic and almost complicated or technical subject matters, argument being, mere press release and kit will be deemed almost non sensical without elaborate and intimate explanations by clients’ side
Of course, Media Briefing could also be used to introduce an array of new product and service offerings, explaining each and every differences and uniqueness, instead of choosing one particular product/services for launch and press conference
Almost expected to be highly technical and lengthy, no sessions should by any means, bore the pants out of reporters, influencers and content creators. Some clients, under strategic guidances, would chose to host separate sessions tailored to suit each and every media and content creators. Of course, cost and resource factors in with such plans
Some clients will chose to pair the rigorous Media Briefing sessions with the more festive Buka Puasa dos. Albeit doing any events in the holy month of Ramadhan will be quite tolling and stressful, the fruits from such labours, if executed well, will be quite more than excellent
Makan – Makan, Buka Puasa, Mocktail Events
Malaysians are notorious with their demands of being served with adequate food at opportune events. Not that they are always served with good quality foods each and every time, but clients and hosts that fails to observe basic propriety, when it comes to timing aka late or serving bad food, will seal a bad image for the clients , brands and agencies involved
Needless to say, choosing the kind of refreshment to serve, noting preferences, door gifts, as well as allergies if any, talks about care and the professionalism of the brand and clients that hosted these events
Most Buka Puasa events are held at posh hotels, an always look forward do for the month, but putting good food and good hotel/restaurants and parkings into considerations, we must also bear in mind that we are not the only ones making plans for Buka Puasa
Reporters and members of the media, and also content creators are inundated with offers and invitations. It’s war out there. Booking in advance, making ample preparations is great but with all plannings, things can always go awry. Best be prepared with all the possibilities, after all, every events means cost to clients and clients do not want to bleed themselves dry with a sombre event with listless attendees, who might also wishes they are somewhere else
One of great highlights of Public Relations stunts are preparing care packages that may include vouchers or select gourmet delicacies that tickles taste buds as well as palates. In that case, packaging and handling are of utmost importance. Best to avoid wastages and be completely sure the recipients share the same enthusiasm when it comes to the food and delicacies presented to them, It may be gifts but certain gifts can annoy, or worse, leave unfavourable impressions
Carefully plan the objectives of your campaign and see how these Makan – Makan event could be a place and session where you can mingle and get to know the media and content creators in a more relax and enjoyable atmosphere
Interviews and Interview Briefings
It is part of the agency’s responsibility to help match the suitability of client’s messages at the intended period with media and content creators in general. Often the case is about scheduling and clients must be noted that Editors hold the last say in matter of deciding who gets interviewed when and even if it should go to print
In the case of content creators and influencers, observing their plans and scheduling is often also the case, but as often than not, compared to traditional media, content creators and influencers demands payment as part of their concession to cover or create content for said messages and client’s products and services
This has often shocked some clients and although Public Relations do prefer no payment arrangements, so as to solicit genuine interests and honest coverage, we still can compare or put often independent and free lancer content creators and influencers in the same category of economic prowess of big brand medias per se
Although the type of payment or arrangements can be varied, either just cash or can be assorted with product and services of same value, it is understandable to a certain extent, that partnering with content creators who have verified followers that appeals to clients’ demographies requires intense and definite investments of sorts. You can’t get anything for free, especially after the pandemic where even the traditional medias got annihilated and even those surviving will have no qualms about requesting for advertorial sign ups and other advertising package commitments
Getting good coverage is one thing, but getting content that is paid by you to say almost everything favourable about you, if done wrong can be a scam, and customers far and wide smells is even from far away, especially nowadays, where everything is share-able online
The trick, if there is one, no solution fits all, is to work with content creators and supporting them to produce good quality time, sidelining the need for blatant every second brand mention and logo
Most partnerships with content creators can be very hard selling and hard selling is not really Public Relation’s game per se. We can see that many content creators resorted to creating advertising contents almost hijacking the ad agency’s role nowadays but in truth, it won’t match the prowess and might of full fledge creativity and think tank teams of real advertising agencies at present
Rather than going head on with real world ad agency’s periuk nasi, content creators could focus more on soft selling and doing more Public Relations nuanced materials that will definitely brings in greater returns in the future
Media Relations
Fostering good relations then with all media including newspapers, TV broadcast stations and publishing houses in general was a must, and maybe, with a smatterings of really famous bloggers, and of course, celebrities that supports clients’s causes
Now, the media landscape has certainly grown immensely to include all types of credible content creators across platforms and along with it, influencers with enough legit pull and personalities to support the brands growth
Not limited to prints anymore, understanding reachs is important as ever. Niche and small followers are no indication that the creators and influencers will not become valuable partners one day. It’s at the end of the day, about engagement, quality content and their select audiences
Media relations can include amongst many things, corporate visits, media nights and appreciation dinners, bowling and other fun activities, not solely the serious stuffs that could be boring and cliche
The goal is to strengthen the relations with select media, reporters and content creators in general. Partnerships can be fostered when ice are broken, and genuine understanding of each others needs and goals are shared. Such end results brings in positive outcomes for future events that may result in favourable coverage and reviews. It’s not a transactional relationship but of mutual understanding and cooperation
Internal Communications
Oftentimes, even the organisations’ communications role have blurry task ownerships. Although it should be under the purveyance of corporate communications or marketing communications, in reality, it is solely owned by the Human Resource department and they don’t really rope in the Public Relations team on the know hows and how to best relay the messages effectively. This is a big loss
At present, many an organisation have a stiff kind of communications internally, stewarded by an even stiffer HR team. Kid us not, we know they do deal with serious matter but it doesn’t mean the task of cajoling, persuading are left to the gutters. No can do!
With serious participations and inter departmental relationship, fostered by agreements of sorts, future plans and change initiatives can be implemented more smoothly and that is oftentimes assisted with the help of good communications strategy
The role of the agency in this is to ensure iron clad and long lasting partnership are not only fostered, but guaranteed, so that such invaluable talent from the Public Relations unit or team, who are by natural course of order, only focuses on external communications, can expand their repartee, and polish their employee to employee and management to employee communications as well
Be it internal newsletters, management journals, breakout sessions or town halls, or even knowledge sharing sessions, these info and knowledge sessions are more than just mere talk downs, top to bottom directives. It can be super informative, fun and also hope inspiring
People needs reasons to live, and with it work. Finding passion is great, but keeping the flame burning is a problem faced by all and that’s where HR and PR teams per se, can work together to ensure the motivations and goals of the individual workers are hyped up and well tended, as well as reminding and also realigning parts of the motivations for company and organisation’s purposes
Organisations should stop being d3cks and expect employee like slaves to dedicate their whole lives and being, and then some, just for the benefit of the organisation aka shareholders and bosses. These may not appear on paper or any HR handbooks but managements acting selfishly are not novel and instead of just becoming team yes mans and yes madams, HR and PR teams should pave roads to ensure balanced views of things and fights for the right fights
This is where Andhika Pramuthya’s unique Public Relations and Change Management solutions comes into view. We can help challenge the status quo and introduce the Peaceful Organisation concepts and implement the Happy, Mindful and Purposeful values into each and very DNA of future communications
Stakeholders, Industry and Shareholders Relations
At times, public relations is not and must not only concern itself with only media coverage or chasing the next big influencer partnerships. Oftentimes, the perceptions from the stakeholders, Industry and Shareholders hold many sways into the future self and prospects of the organisation itself
Knowing this, detailed plans on how to tackle the many intricacies of these relations and how to strengthen and foster them must be developed so that continuous active efforts can be carried out timely instead of leaving it to luck or looming crises
Meetings, get together events coupled with update and news can be choreographed well within the larger picture of a full fledged Public Relations and Change Management campaign
The goal is to create a benevolent cycle of trust and credible word of mouths and endorsement opportunities from members that are supposed to be, in many ways, on client’s or the organisation’s side
Failing to update them on the latest and most important development and news is a failure of not only from the management side of things but the communications team overall. Timely communications is all about creating luck, opportunities and avoiding dismissals when help and assistances are well needed in the future
Rather than the always dreary talks at conventions, summits and conferences, as well as summits and forums, the repertoire for stakeholder, shareholder and industrial relations communications is a vast subject to explore indeed
Some organisations went on to try options and alternatives like friendly golf tournaments, others archeries but the options are limitless. Rather be looked as dreary and boring, it is often better to risk it and be labelled progressive and fresh when trying new things to reach out to these eclectic and oftentimes unique type of audiences
They are hard to reach, even harder to please. Unique strategies to appease, as well as enlighten and entertain these target audience is a must. Be it startups, small industry players or bigger organisations, knowing truly well who these stakeholders, their preferences and future takes, will be a big win both for the organisations and the employees who are serving them wholeheartedly
Press Conferences
Often instigated as by products of launches and signing ceremonies, nowadays, any physical events are not so easily organised as before. With the price hikes for all things services, to venues and preparations for the events itself, health and safety concerns must be well taken into serious considerations before committing to physical events
Although restrictions are being lifted nationwide gradually, we are, by any standards, still living in the shadows of a still looming pandemic. We may be at the wisp end of it but by the looks of it, we shouldn’t rest on our laurels and risk the public with precarious behaviours
Clean air, best ventilation arrangements in the forms of extra air purifier units installed at supposed venues, as well as the normal, mandatory or voluntary Covid tests are required and are but the basic requirements for safe event practices and conducts
Gone are the days, almost, where the crowds are the in thing. And in the case for media, with the reduction of said traditional media now in the mainstream, quality is of prime importance
We may provide CDs of events in the past, nowadays, it can be broadcast live over social platforms with options for viewing and reference for parties involved. In this way, technology has also evolved immensely to help both organisations and media to find good stories and attend to it, without being able to always be at events, physically, and these type of arrangements should not be frowned upon but met with understanding and acceptance as the norm or way of things in this pandemic
In press conferences, agencies such as Andhika Pramuthya will assist the spokesperson or VIPs with their briefings regarding the finer points of the event, the big overall picture of the goals to be achieved and the run throughs of most likely asked questions or talking points. Some organisation, and becoming quite a norm too, prefer to do practice bouts or simulations of the press conferences to ensure the participating spokespersons will be more natural and able to create the flow intended, with the agreed messages imparted throughout. This is highly recommended
Although scripting of the press conferences might sound too limiting, constraining and overall prohibitive of natural spontaneity, to the surprise of many, constant and deliberate practice is, the only remedy to avoid mishaps, scandals and controversies
To help with this, workshops solely focusing on going through possible press conference environments and challenges can be part of the organisation’s overall Public Relations campaign, specifically, for the part regarding trainings, workshops and coaching
Community Focused or Corporate Social Responsibility Programs
In many ways, many organisation chose to include everything related to orphanages as safe option, albeit being carried out by multiple other present organisations. It is because, without proper vetting of the individuals, charity organisations, the management that runs the community programs, things can backfire if there happens to be corruptions and mismanagement of funds, or mishandling of the persons in needs
Nevertheless, finding novel causes should not be treated as too risky and should be avoided at all cost, all the time. It is important to be creative and unique to ensure coverage, even when it comes to doing good. Why not? Successful executions of novel and new groups of people to be helped, can be inspirations to many and help ease the burdens of agencies and ministries involved. That’s why, all the more important that the programs be carried out with proper documentation and paper trains, so as to vet through the lists of recipients of the helps with credible agency and ministry resources for confirmation
Doing good is great, but novel and lasting change, instead of pet projects for mere novelty, oftentimes with not much change or continuous programs, should be avoided, though not entirely. There are times for flashy CSR and community projects but there are also times for serious talks about real community and adjacent society programs. Real businesses should benefit its surrounding community for the better and it should be a cred taken seriously
Doing good doesn’t have to stop at Berbuka Puasa with orphans programs. It can also include pain points felt by the community that has not been able to be addressed by their MPs or affected agencies. In this way, organisations can help be the building blocks, idea generator or even a helping had in programs that are already running its courses, albeit with added new flavour, media appeal and also fresh takes. Nothing wrong with that. All this is important to avoid overlapping of generic programs, worse off, redundant programs that spells wastage and complacency
Sentiment Analysis, Media Monitoring and Surveys
In the age when newspaper and print magazines were most dominant, we used to brand and clients’ name mentions, the size of the coverage, the pictures accompanying are in colour and was it flattering or not, and so on, according to the often adopted Barcelona Principles of measuring all things Public Relations
This technique did find its way into the digital and online world but there’s often debates regarding what is the standard size when it comes to what is a whole scroll through article compared to its print versions, if there are any
We realise one thing after another, that in online publications and coverage, whilst the opportunity to be covered aren’t any easier than the print ones, the length and so called size of the articles, even pictures accompanying it, is almost limitless. But which reporters wants to really write so lengthy an article idolising a brand for the sake of it, it wont happen
As we all know, the world of reporting in the press has always been brevity, and although the space and platforms may have transformed by giving them more access to unlimited word counts, it doesn’t mean they will let loose volumes of novel for a launch from a brand touting some generic first innovative this and that, again and again. Even so, it’ll become redundant and who wants to read such voluminous rhapsodies extolling the great virtues of so and so, the products and services, in sonnets and couplets instead of clear simple english, and what sells
Brevity sells. Business man and women, the community in general appreciates brevity and with the right push, it’ll prompt the readers, potential investors and consumers alike to google for more info, and that’s where content, readily available, a click away, nicely arranged on the search landing pages will help
Sentiment analysis is not gut feelings. It’s technical albeit almost a make believe one, and other major departments such as Marketing and Advertising doesn’t really want to adopt such calculations. Safe to say, it’s unpopular although it is readily available
Rather than go through extenuating rigours of calculating every mentions and lengths of coverages, the safe bet is often to gut with a more calculative gut feelings route
It means, having sets of principles to adhere to but being not too rigid regarding the analysis. An overall sentiment analysis with coverage counts, favourable or not tones, amongst other things, are good enough guidelines but it doesn’t mean everything
Having the sentiment results or reports is not an end game to itself and it’s not going to answer all and everything that is to answer regarding what to do in the next campaign. It is a guide, it’s only a past pattern that doesn’t guarantee the future will repeat the same things. The future is unpredictable. Learning from mistakes and from the past, although invaluable, must not keep us head-locked into complacency and sense of false security by confidently exclaiming one has the remedy and solutions to all and everything, even at great resource
The nature of sentiment analysis is about measuring a thing, something in a window in time and as we know, moods, feelings, sentiments in general are not static nor it’s volatile in normal times
The combination of sentiment analysis, media monitoring that includes all available platforms and online influencing portals, plus targeted surveys are ample tools enough to start a revolution within one’s own organisation
It means, one is retrospective and mindful of the organisation’s journey, its mistakes and learning curves. It means, repetitions does not always means sure failure, and following trends and what’s in doesn’t always guarantee ultimate success
The role of surveys in this so called “Tiga Serangkai’ tools is to penultimately conclude a period of investigation and retrospection. We can’t base analysis with just mere data and numbers per se, by ourselves, even with the latest technologies. We need to go out there and meet, ask real people from select walk of lives to give us favourable and unfavourable replies that are both real time and decisive
Building personas is great. It may work for public relations too but in sentiment analysis, and after that media monitoring, it’s the ‘it and what’ factor derived from the coverage, its effects on the publics that is more important
Over reliance on data, could spell complacency. One can steadily churn out press releases periodically, arrange interviews winningly over time, but without those ‘ it and what’ variables that can also wreck havoc into public perceptions of our clients’ brands and reputation, we might as well agree, we are blindly agreeing to be misled horrifically, and that’s highly unprofessional
Content Architecture, Storytelling and Modes of Deliveries
Back when websites are the sole means and real estate for organisations to stake claim on digital space, some organisations got creative and help sprout NGOs and societies by funding them, complete with websites, presence and all, only to have them voice only good things about the organisations in relations to their so called good causes
This at times, were allegedly popular also in the realms of making certain scientific papers and findings visible to voila!, support the organisation’s credo, products and services
Being online doesn’t mean it is replete from hanky-panky-ness. We all remember how some organisations pay certain agencies to come up with only positive reviewers and commenters whilst also bashing competitors comment sections and reviews. It’s a tough world out there, and that was in the beginning
The world has definitely evolve and change. Instead of blatant saying only good things fake accounts and reviewers, we have officially arrived at the era of mass proliferation of bots, cyber troopers and mass mobilisation of, you name it, fake accounts that looks so real that it has taken hold of most if not many conversations online on most available social platforms at present
All this, affects the very being and nature of reputation and image or brand building of any organisation. Holding up good reputation and good names is filled with mines waiting to detonate at any seconds – it means, with enough resources, any haters and detractors, and of course sworn enemies and competitors, can swarm all available platform to besmirch, bring down, drag down and overall obfuscate what’s right and what’s wrong, to their own selfish benefits
Creating beneficial stratagems in terms of content at the ready or steadily infused throughout periods of time, seems too laborious a work and one wonders if it’s of any benefit in times of great crisis and urgent needs
Creating favourable impressions is all about opportune times and carefully curated lucks. When interests are sparked through great publicity strategies, Google search results must help point to favourable supplemental articles and spaces about the organisation
Needless to say, the organisation in its essence, must also stop by being too reliable on others to write favourable things about them all the time, organisations have to also do the dirty works themselves, lest be, in these times of great resource and limitless online real estate era. The responsibility of the organisation to have a narrative guide is often overlook, and that guide can be characterised by how an organisation curates its portal, website and the overall character, tone and voice, on its sanctioned social media platforms and affiliated influencers and on pay roll content creators
It can be seasonal, it can be colour coordinated. It can all and everything one wants but all everyone have to do is be unique. Let the contents engage, amuse and entertain in this full fledged attention economy era. Lacking efforts to do so, might leave a lasting unfavourable impressions that will not go away nor dies easily. It’s the death warrant people near and far, aka the content producers and owners of today’s world, tries to very much avoid
Creating voluminous contents is hard, this is where agencies like Andhika Pramuthya comes in, to help curate, re develop and enhance existing potentials so that the very nature and uniqueness of said organisations will not drown in the generic same-ness that is all too prevalent and over prescribed in today’s agency solutions fits all agenda. A little bit of uniqueness goes a long way. And that bit can spell freedom and also profitable outcomes to organisations struggling to come out of its own cocoon of same-ness and generic blunders
Creating stories nowadays is all about reading the moods and nature of the going ons in the rooms. We must appreciate differences and nuances whilst trying to stay true to our or organisation’s DNA and uniqueness, a tough call to make but all made easier with agency’s help like Andhika Pramuthya, who can help curate the content and calendarised it to ensure its freshness and relevancy
Storytelling, undoubtedly, is an art but it’s often abused by organisations and agencies alike to the point of contributing to the deluge of Too Much Not Needed Information arena. Sad, and most stories are left to ferment to rottenness to nobody’s benefit. Our role at Andhika Pramuthya is to help beat this lethargy of storytelling mania with a simple exercise of need, opportunity and scale mentality
Storytelling can be a chore, compared to viral memes and videos, the pull is still not there to compete with what’s trendy and hot. Still, with the right select audiences and opportune times, it’s not impossible to create the intended effects and ripples with the said and prepared stories
Reflecting on that, is of course, the matter of modes of deliveries. Back then, we were all too focused on only to TV and some radio ready content and missed out big times on the available opportunities provided by online spaces. But in all truthiness, the online space back then were domains for still too select and small crowd, still impressive, but yes, still too limiting in terms of pull and power
But fast track to today, the online and digital space is too robust that methods of deliveries must be accordingly formatted and follow the crowd lingo and shortcuts to just make entry. The existence of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok and many other social platforms are all essential tools in proliferating messages and must be studied diligently to ensure its ability to be customised for certain programs, projects and campaigns at opportune times and periods
Though not first choice by many organisations, choosing actively to be real time content producer plus, platform developer, is the always new future, we’ve all been talking about. It ensures possible unhindered reach, novel and intimate relationship and more accessible data accumulation and analysis with less scrupples
There are many organisation that chooses the decisions to make their websites simple as possible that it’s almost bare but of course, there are also organisations that has gone to the mad end sense of the option, by going full tilt portal of a website, doing everything, showing everything, becoming a media of some sort, by itself. The outcomes of these two choices are still debatable and in the world of customisation and being different, who are we to pinpoint and accuse the other as wrong and not appropriate?
Crisis and Reputation Management
Most organisations relegates the crisis management as well as its communications parts to operations, namely building and facilities management per se. The overall execution don’t always involves the Public Relations team, until it’s almost always too late. That needs changing
Although everyday operational risk exists and should be handled by the operations, keeping the Public Relations, Human Resource instead of just the relevant upper management teams in loop will be more beneficial for the organisation
It’s beneficial because the communications as well as employee related by laws and procedures can be shared in real time, instead of being hogged by bureaucracies and it’s unnerving waiting time periods
In crisis, everything, must be handled in real time and more important than that is, everyone should be updated and preparations and delegations of works must be marshalled out without delay. Miscommunication, front facing personnel inability to grasp the situation and their tasks are all but a few possible challenges waiting to meet unprepared organisations
Whilst being prepared with crisis management means crisis simulation workshops and the probable crisis communications in action play outs are carried out periodically, reputation management often calls for specific attacks or concerns on individual or the organisation’s brand, products and services
Crisis communications can be very thorough in it’s inclusion of how to best update and reach out to select and relevant media sources, and how to tide in or lessen possible negative press if any, or in its proactive plan in ensuring all relevant personnels are brought to task regarding their approved scripts when facing external stakeholders and the public, but reputation management looks on the long term mindset of mending the said damaged reputation successfully
Reputation management looks into how best to present a positive public facing brand, products and services. Character, brand or organisation’s social assassination is a threat not to be taken lightly nowadays, where ill intent cytro teams can gang up together to malign a reputable brand out of hate, misunderstandings and vengeance. It’s often better to have the so called positive reputation plus points reserve way before probable attacks, so that the public will not be forced to take every nasty hurls as valid and true
Roping in great community works that have real positive value, plus positive overall business outcomes can certainly balance out the negative brunts that came from intentional organisation’s image and reputation focused attacks
Collaterals, Publications and Newsletters
A while back, coffee table books were the rage and a statement to be made. While most lay gathering dusts in shelves somewhere or worse in store rooms and basements, the new era of public relations in the times of digital presence calls for more modesty and less self aggrandisation
We get it, many would say that most of what Public Relations does are akin to self flattery or blamed as beating one’s own chests, but these examples points to certain individuals in management who personally wants their own exposure and more than 15 minutes of fame. Needless to say, the larger portions of Public Relations practice still adheres to public’s interests, as in the whole organisation’s as opposed to just one personality’s bigger than big needs to be always at the front, and centre of everything. Although the methods of getting there are the same, the results can be damaging
Attending to needs as opposed to egos is a fine balancing act when it comes to collaterals, publications and newsletters in general. The need to be affirmed sometimes leads to embarrassing moments and scenarios that lasts more than mere moments. Choosing what to print, what it represents is the gist of this endeavour
The right tone execution replete with the right messages, balanced out with even better typesettings and creative directions will get the jobs done. With technology nowadays, it’s not too presumptuous to send links to soft copies of the materials or directly send a compressed size versions through emails, whatsapp and etc. All these ease doesn’t mean that quality can be compromised, it’s just that, eye to image and text ratio, and design intelligence needs to be factored in, so that the materials sent are reader friendly in all if not most, gadgets and electronics it’s viewed on. Taking that into consideration is just but a basic step in ensuring quality productions of materials of image and brand building for one’s organisation
