The one hour interaction among PR professionals last Saturday was a buzzing with activity at 12 noon on Twitterati. The Twitter chat was hosted by Pooja Trehan & curated by Tarunjeet and Sonali Sokhal along with participation from Urvi, Sarah, Asha, Navin, Preeti, Ogyani, Vinod & Nimisha. Unlike the video or voice chat the format was plain and simple, one question every minute and everyone gave their views in a text chat format. The topics which were discussed was Sustainable PR in digital era, has troll army made sustainable PR difficult, best practices to deal with troll armies, sustainability PR in Indian context, measuring sustainable PR campaigns, sustainability and employee engagement, best communication tools & platforms that talk about sustainability, up-skilling PR professionals in digital era, sustainable campaigns in Covid times. Preeti, said “Digital Transformation allows you to explore the opportunities to further drive sustainability. The power of technology can help companies become more successful”. Ogyani felt, “Saying that I am an ardent believer that PR can play a more active role in building trust and bringing about change in midst of this digital transformation”. Navin said, “PR is often maligned as a source of white / green- wash. But yes it has certainly made the practice of PR more transparent.” Mou Chakravarty said, “To me sustainability unfolds multiple critical issues from environmental , health , societal and diverse views coming together. It’s time for PR to have a 360 degree view to all these especially when these issues are also leading to bigger boardroom agendas”. Tarunjeet said, “The consumer is also equally aware of the need for sustainable practices. The brands need to up their game and create businesses that actually believe in it.” Sayesha said, “With more and more brands warming up to the idea of #Sustainability and understanding its importance beyond mere brand communication; it effects the overall brand perception. Hence, It can be said that this is here to stay, rather strengthen”. Vinod says, “The pandemic has shown us the importance of it as it has the customer. The consumer now is more aware and conscious and willing to act on the information they have at hand about the brand”. I was of the view that, “PR is always what I call as intangible benefits, a MARCOM guy understands this better than anyone. The numbers are merely to make a client/boss happy but a true professional will know how to reap reward in long run. He knows PR is not parallel to advertising but is a sustainable model”.
Everyone enjoyed the chat conversation which wasn’t noisy but focused and each one could make their statements with ease and was a true knowledge sharing session. In the end all left the intense chat room richer of knowledge and buzzing with new ideas. The format was truly a stress buster and very expressive. Another innovative way to converse minus the noise in a world which has been silenced by the pandemic!
Raghavendra Rao https://twitter.com/rajabhi123