StartupTalky

Tag: Public relations industry

  • Maddie Amrutkar, Founder and CEO, Glad U Came, Pushes the PR Industry Forward With Pioneering Celebrity Gifting, Influencer Marketing, and Social Media Strategies

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Marketing and public relations (PR) are important components of a company’s overall strategy to promote its products and brand. Marketing refers to the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs through the creation, promotion, and distribution of products, while PR refers to the management of a company’s reputation and image, typically through the use of media and other third-party channels.

    Both marketing and PR play critical roles in establishing and maintaining a strong brand identity for luxury goods, helping to communicate the value and unique qualities of the products to customers, and building customer loyalty. Effective marketing and PR can also help companies navigate challenges and maintain their competitive position in a rapidly changing market.

    The global marketing and PR agency market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 5-7% from 2021 to 2026, driven by factors such as the increasing importance of digital marketing, the growth of e-commerce, and the changing needs and preferences of customers.

    For this Interview, we invited Maddie Amrutka, founder and CEO of Glad U Came, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Public Relations and Communications industry.

    StartupTalky: What does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Maddie: Glad U Came creates Award-winning digital campaigns that get people clicking, sharing, and engaging the right audience at the right time. From innovative start-ups to global giants, we’re the go-to agency for contenders with a disruptor mindset. We understand that when you’re investing in something, you expect ROI.

    We are a creative, focused, and trusted PR and influencer marketing agency that develops ROI-driven campaigns to help your business reach its full potential.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Maddie: We offer services like PR, Celebrity gifting, Influencer Marketing, and Social media marketing, and what makes us different is that we are pioneers in celebrity gifting in India, and we create well-planned strategies for our client’s growth.

    StartupTalky: How has the public relations and communications industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Maddie: As we go towards a digital world, it is critical to be informed about what is going on around us. We launched our sister company, Glad We Met, a talent management company where we manage celebrities and creators, and we perform digital PR for our clients because of this. Moving further in the realm of influencer marketing was a necessary choice because it is a growing industry.

    Evolution of Public Relations – How the Industry Started?
    Public Relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organisation to the public to influence their perception.
    StartupTalkyKinnary Nensee

    Maddie: For our clients, we act as a “Thinking Partner” and are dedicated to lifelong learning. We follow strict procedures and provide excellent work and high-level advice. Our team makes use of a variety of media to reach the right audience and generate engagement that keeps your business top-of-mind.

    We understand the importance of SEO and hence we have optimized our website to garner the best clients.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Maddie: We have a Google Sheet where we track our employees’ progress and growth; the columns include what they achieve weekly, and we also have a RAG column to determine the progress.

    We also conduct daily opening and closing meetings to discuss the agenda of the day and keep up-to-date on the progress. And heads of departments have a daily meeting separately to figure out the team’s growth.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Maddie: As the Pandemic was a difficult time for all of us, especially as offices were in a complete work-from-home situation, it was challenging at the start, but after that, we also gave our employees the hybrid option of working so that their safety was also prioritized. We made meetings virtually possible for clients and employees so that nobody suffered.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Maddie: We make sure to participate in awards and summits that help with networking and getting more business; also, LinkedIn plays a major role in getting leads because we actively post about our services and hiring. We also did PR for Lokmat Awards, which helped us garner 15 million views on Instagram.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Maddie: We use apps like Razorpay to maintain all the employee activity like salary and holidays so that everything is well managed. Google sheets is another important part of our daily lives as it makes work easy and it is convenient to maintain trackers making it smooth and systematic.

    We also have an analytics and discovery platform driven by AI called HypeAuditor which can be used to uncover relevant influencers, learn more about their audiences, improve the return on investment for advertisers, and protect the integrity of influencer marketing.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world?

    Maddie: New technology can benefit in numerous ways. Startups focused on predictive analytics offer tools to help you adapt story angles for journalists based on interests, prior coverage, personalities, and trends, as well as anticipate the possibility that a journalist will cover your story. Tools for performing sophisticated sentiment analysis on media clips, social media messages, and other sources are also being developed.

    StartupTalky: What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Maddie: In March, e-commerce spending in Delhi climbed by 1%, while spending in Bengaluru increased by 2%. However, expenditure in Mumbai declined by 7 percent throughout the month. As the cost of living is comparatively high in Mumbai people end up paying more on rent especially post covid prices have gone extremely high, so you have to think about the target audience before implementing any strategies.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your plans and strategies?

    Maddie: There will never be a single day in which everything goes perfectly, and some days can be very difficult. However, if you can keep a positive attitude and continue to look on the bright side, the challenging days can be an additional opportunity for growth in both your professional life and your life in general. So, making mistakes at the workplace is normal but make sure you learn from those mistakes and plan better in the future.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Maddie: We plan on tapping homegrown brands as well as luxury brands as our experience in both has been versatile. So we want our clients to get the right limelight in the digital space, and hence we plan such goal-oriented strategies. For our employees we provide leave, GUC is the first PR agency to give Period leaves. As women make up 90% of our workforce, thus we are aware of the need for
    menstruation leave. Hence we granted special leaves for the same to provide a healthy environment for our employees.

    StartupTalky: One tip you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Maddie: One of the most effective methods is to get ideas from other business owners in the early stage of development. Avoid competitive companies and trade your knowledge and expertise for theirs. This will make networking more mutually beneficial, maybe leading to future opportunities.

    We thank Maddie Amrutkar for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Evolution of Public Relations – How the Industry Started?

    Edward Bernays, one of the pioneers of PR said that the three main elements of Public Relations namely informing people, persuading people, and integrating people with people are practically as old as society.

    Public Relations is defined as the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organisation such as a business, government agency or a non-profit organisation to the public in an effort to influence their perception. Public relations is also a form of marketing communication. It aims to create media coverage through topics of public interest.

    Ancient Origins of Public Relations
    Origins of Public Relations as a Profession
    The Growth of PR Practice and Firms
    The Advent of the Internet in PR
    The Role of the Public, Social Media, and Smartphones in the PR Industry

    How to Do Public Relations?

    Ancient Origins of Public Relations

    Academics James E. Grunig and Scott Cutlip identified early forms of public influence and communications management in ancient civilizations. This was a time when the term “public relations” did not yet exist. Early Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato recognized the sophisticated rhetoric produced by ancient Greek cities to influence public opinion. In 469 BC, Socrates publicly spoke to engage young thinkers in a debate. This led to the emergence of ‘sophists’ – essentially philosophers who began teaching the art of persuasive speaking to noblemen who sought public office.

    Egyptian leaders created the obelisks, Babylonian leaders created the pyramids and Persian leaders created statues to promote their divine right to lead their people. Claims of magic or religious authority were also used by kings or pharaohs to persuade the public that they had a right to rule. Magna Carta was created in the early 1200s because of Stephen Langton lobbying English barons to insist that King John recognize the authority of the Church.

    Origins of Public Relations as a Profession

    Many historians identify the early 1900s as the beginning of public relations as a paid profession. This is mentioned in the book “Today’s Public Relations: An Introduction.” Scott Cutlip explained that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact date of origin of PR as the concept has developed over a period of time and through a series of events. He continued – “we somewhat arbitrarily place the beginnings of the public relations vocation with the establishment of The Publicity Bureau in Boston in mid-1900.” The Publicity Bureau (the first PR agency) was founded by three journalists and as a profession, PR was first established in the US by Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays. From there on, PR as a profession spread internationally.

    Initially, the print media and radio stations made up the PR outlets. PR firms relied on postal mail and some telephone access to get their stories out to the masses. However, this process was slow and limited.

    By 1912, post office mail was delivered using aeroplanes. The use of telephones in business and residences was becoming more common and by 1915 coast-to-coast calls were made possible. News travelled faster comparatively due to the available technology of the time.

    It was only during the 1920s that public relations gained entry into the private sector. In his book, published in 1923, ‘Crystallizing Public Opinion’, Edward Bernays introduced the ‘two-way-street’ idea of communication which defied the popular misconception that Public Relations was deceptive and manipulative. He explained that the idea of public relations was to explain the ‘public’ to the client and vice-versa. This was a two-way approach that allowed the integration of the public’s experience and opinions with the practice of PR.

    As revolutionary an idea as it was at that time, advancing technology has made it an easy reality of the current time.

    The Growth of PR Practice and Firms

    Forecast for the Global Public Relations Market Value
    Forecast for the Global Public Relations Market Value

    As public relations grew, expanded, and gained recognition as a profession, trade associations and PR industry publications began emerging as did the guidelines for the functioning of PR. Universities began offering curriculums built around public relations.

    Then came televisions in the 1950s, which became common in homes, offices, and various other institutions across the US and UK. It very quickly became the primary medium for influencing public opinion. Unsurprisingly, it increased people’s engagement as they were being addressed live by another human being. Televisions created a whole new platform for PR firms. This required a new skill set creating more job opportunities within the sector.

    1980 saw the launch of the first television network to broadcast 24 hours a day – CNN. This was a time when radio and television typically operated between 6 am and 11 pm. This changed the existing perception of the news as people realized that the news could be reported live as and when it developed.

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    StartupTalkyManav Makhija

    The Advent of the Internet in PR

    The Public Relations sector turned on its head with the advent of the internet. Universal access to anyone at any time became a reality. It built on the CNN 24 hours broadcast platform making it possible to access websites, online magazines or online news channels at any hour of the day or night. This changed the speed at which news travelled on the super information highway creating more outlets for PR activities.

    The role of Public Relations and its professionals underwent a change again as they scrambled to learn about websites, online advertising, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

    The Role of the Public, Social Media, and Smartphones in the PR Industry

    Top PR Strategies That Will Shape the Industry’s Future
    Top PR Strategies That Will Shape the Industry’s Future

    The internet paved the way for instant, two-way conversations. This shifted the balance of power and changed the role of the audience as well as the role and responsibilities of PR professionals. The role of PR professionals has increased from pitching stories to monitoring stories continuously and being ready with damage control strategies in the event of a negative public reaction to them.

    Social media has expanded the number of channels and formats with individuals now able to upload blog posts, and create videos, channels and podcasts. This has further expanded the roles and responsibilities of PR professionals as each platform requires unique management abilities. Advanced smartphone technology allows the easy capture of high-resolution photos and videos which can be broadcast without any delay.

    PR firms and PR professionals use these multiple formats to craft and pitch stories and also find ways to invite the public to create their own stories. As technology is evolving so is PR and its tactics.

    Conclusion

    What has remained constant through time is the need to tell stories and for businesses to manage their images and communications. What continues to evolve is the how, what, and where the stories are shared.

    It’s difficult to predict the advances in technology in the future or what shift they will create for the public relations sector. The future will reveal itself with time.

    FAQs

    What are Public Relations?

    Public Relations is defined as the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organisation to the public in an effort to influence their perception.

    What are the main elements of public relations?

    According to Edward Bernays, one of the pioneers of PR, the three main elements of Public Relations are informing people, persuading people, and integrating people with people.

    What is PR in social media?

    On social media, public relations simply means making use of different social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc. to enhance and promote the image of an individual or a company and get people talking about it.