How a PR manipulates (A tip)

I remember an instance, when long ago I had messaged the editor of Mid-Day's film supplement Hit-List for a story on one of my PR clients, Pakistani actress Meera. When I followed up, the Ed curtly messaged back, "Mid-Day won't carry the story." I was irked by that statement, as the editor was only the editor of Hit-List... and not all of Mid-Day. To me, the statement also smacked of typical media arrogance, which once used to be a part-and-parcel of the attitude of old-school media persons. There and then I decided, this had to change, or at least, I had to be an exception.

That evening, I contacted an on-the-ball News Desk journo friend from Mid-Day and offered two separate scandalous scoops with exclusive pictures to support. These two scoops were an offer in return for pitching and pushing the Meera story for nothing less than 'Page 1' of Mid-Day. I had added a current affairs angle to it to suit the main paper and did not mention that I had pitched the same story to the Hit-List editor earlier in the day.

The journo loved the story and the carrot of two huge scoops. He asked me to be patient — as two days later, his senior had a weekly off — and on that day, maybe he could push the story. I was repeatedly assertive about it with the journo and then waited the wait. The story finally appeared on Page 1 with an elaborate continuation on an inside page.

That morning, I messaged the Hit-List editor about it, with a rejoinder: "Sher ke mooh mein haath daloge, toh sher kaatega toh sahi." (with a wink emoticon in the end). Though later, I felt a bit bad about that message (though not about the manipulation). Aisa laga, ke thoda zyaada ho gaya.

BTW: As a bonus, instead of the promised two scoops, I gave my journo friend three controversies to cover for the next fortnight. He was thrilled.

Moral of the story: Only media-fearing PRs can be put in place, not the ones who understand spin. After all, PRs aren't called 'spin doctors' for nothing.

Takeaway for PRs, budding PRs and BMM students: A publicist has a whole world of print, television, radio, internet media and even citizen journalism via social media in his/her scheme of things. If the PR really decides to play the game, there is no way any media person can stop a spin doctor from doing what he/she wants to do. Just decide to be unstoppable and the possibilities are endless.

Note of caution: PRs can create upheavals like nobody's business as they can plot, plug and plant stories or rumours in trade or any media. So they must always remember, that with great influence comes great responsibility. Stay nice. Be ethical.

About the Author:

Dale Bhagwagar is a PR specialist with branding, image consultancy, strategizing, media manipulation, crisis management and mentorship for media students. He has handled the publicity for more than 150 Bollywood actors and 30 movies, apart from being a spokesperson and publicist to 20 Bigg Boss contestants.

Raaj Kumar was something else only! ;-)

Jab main naya naya Mumbai mein aaya tha... being a journalist then, ek baar ek party mein I approached Raaj Kumar for a quote on something... he had one piercing look at me and said, "Jaani, tum abhi bachche ho. Jaao."

When I tried to rephrase my question, he again said, "Kaha na, tum bachche ho, side mein ho jaao." I felt intimidated and decided to move on. I could even make Amitabh Bachchan relent to persuasion, but not Raaj Kumar. ;-)

Kam se kam, I could pester and convince Big B into THIS.

Later in my career as a PR, I got to meet Mr Kumar's son Puru Raaj Kumar a couple of times. Must say, both father and son have been unique in their own ways. Charming and impressionable.

Celebrity PR clients need even better hand-holding and guiding

The PR spectrum is continually changing and expanding, but some entertainment publicists are not changing with the times. They seem to be ignoring the dictum: Evolve or perish.

Traditional PR tactics are phasing out, and making way for professional handling of crisis management on web and mobile space, even if it requires guerilla tactics.

Bollywood celebrity clients need even better hand-holding and guiding in this changing world of public relations.

Contemporary PRs need to understand this, adapt and adjust... and real quickly. It's a new mindset taking over the industry; demanding a paradigm shift from publicity professionals.

Best Bollywood PR

Public Relations on a roll

From what a PR gets, he might make a living. But from what a PR gives, he might make a life.

PR's have been media kings from quite some time. Almost from the time I gave this interview three years ago.

I entered PR sixteen years ago after being a journalist for eleven years prior to that (since my school days). Then, I shifted from journalism to PR mostly because PRs are better paid than journalists.

Journalism v/s PR

This is because journalism is a profession, while PR is a business. But mind you, not all PRs are able to make good monies. Many who are not able to adjust and adapt to changing times also fade away. There are also many journalists and editors who have entered PR from time to time, but haven't been able to sustain.

This is simply because the profession is extremely demanding. It takes a lot of passion to stay put. Some think PR is a lot of stress and builds anxiety like no one’s business. True to an extent! But a great PR also learns how to handle that and treat his work with media like a game. Once that feeling sets in, PR is cakewalk and the passion for delivering impacting service, peaks. And then, he plays.

What it takes to be a great PR

To be a successful PR, one has to have a combination of at least the following -- intelligence, knowledge of market, intellect, street-smartness, contacts, connections, shrewdness, manipulation abilities, writing abilities, scheming techniques and tact and flamboyance to spin. And these are only the basics.

There's lot more to PR including spokesmanship, legal knowledge and mass perception management, psychology and even basic knowledge of psychiatry! Yes, you read it right! There are times, a PR has to double up almost like a psychiatrist; advising and guiding some clients who could be jittery about controversies and scandals that crop up in our gossip-hungry media.

So basically, a great PR is like a magician; building, promoting and protecting celebrities.

It’s never too late to be great

I remember each and every word of the opening sequence in the movie ‘Troy’ (it inspired me a lot). It goes – “Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity and so we ask ourselves, will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we're gone and wonder who we were? How bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved…” So true! Just like the great Napoléon Bonaparte once stated, “Immortality is the recollection one leaves.” Last but not the least, a quote by Daniel J. Boorstin – “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.”

Turn down the downturn

I’m often asked if good PR can really help in times of downturn. My answer is… when trading is difficult, advertising and marketing budgets are the first to be slashed. PR is the cheaper option to advertising. Moreover, getting attention is getting money. As they say, ‘Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai’. The clever ones could enhance visibility to tide over the recession.

Secure return on investment

So what kind of PR could actors and makers do that would add to their image and brand? The number one objective for your publicist is to plan and position you as a stronger brand than before. Whether you are big or on the verge of making it to the top – whether you are looking at a personal PR exercise or film branding – the right kind of planned media coverage is going to help. This, in turn, will be helpful in securing return on investment, which is invaluable.

PR is cost-effective

Many argue that advertising achieves similar results to a PR exercise. Yes, somewhat. But don’t forget that consumers have always relied and believed more in the written word, like articles and snippets, than on advertising. Also, advertising campaigns cost a lot more than PR campaigns.

Smart PR is the cost-effective way to get your message across to the relevant audience. And everyone needs to manage their reputation in front of their target audience. Realising all this, a lot of advertising and marketing agencies have now launched PR divisions. Yes, PR, advertising and marketing combined, do make a better impact, but for obvious monetary reasons, PR is taking the lead now.

And Bollywood is already taking the PR route to get their message across. We know of so many prominent actors who are strategizing to ‘consolidate’ their position in the industry, while their competitors are thinking of ‘survival’ during recession.

Consolidate your brand

The question is, does it make sense to wait for things to get better, or the market to improve? If you ask me, I’d say, it never makes sense to wait for anything. It’s better to get going, pump up your PR and actively market yourself. For those who do, the field will be relatively open at such a crucial time. I would say, this is ‘the’ time for some neat brand consolidation. So don’t wait for recession to end. Start stamping your brand.

Making dreams come true!

This week, there was an unusual mail I received. A reader asked me a strange question – ‘Why PR? Why is there a need for a thing like this and why do we need to know about it?’ Today’s piece explains just that. Why do you need to read up on PR, imaging, branding or crisis management? That might just be the question popping in your minds too.

We are living in a world where perception is reality. For better or for worse, not many are bothered about what the reality is. Most people believe in all the news and gossip they read in the papers or see on television. They CHOOSE to believe all of the written word. Though reality might be different. But most readers, viewers, surfers and listeners (and you are well aware that this figure runs into lakhs and crores) are not interested in reality as much as they are in glamour and spice.

Who is it that forms these perceptions and helps make opinions. Obviously, the papers, the TV channels, the various websites, social media and the FM stations. And who is it that influences the journalists, TV hosts and anchors, RJ’s and web writers the best? It is the publicists. It’s the daily job of a publicist to reach out, convince the media to cover his clients in a certain way and influence the perceptions of the fourth estate. He does this, so that the write-ups and reports reflect his client’s sentiments, requirements and needs.

For a good publicist, communication is a daily commitment, not a monthly ritual. He dedicates his life and times to communication and his clients. He helps make dreams come true. That’s why, I often say, from what a PR gets, he might make a living. But from what a PR gives, he might make a life.

Media is being unfair to Yash Raj… but the fault lies within

Yash Raj Films (YRF) is no longer a banner – it’s an empire. Mentioning some of its films here would almost be belittling the force that YRF has been since 1970. So it pains me to see the media play games with a super-reputed brand like this. Sorry to say, Yash Raj doesn’t play the media anymore, at least not like it used to. Now, YRF is being ‘viewed’ to try too hard to sustain its reputation.

So review after review, write-up after write-up, why is the media being ruthless to a brand which has given us mega-hits since four decades? Isn’t this critical onslaught unfair to a success story that has been legendary? Let’s go right to the roots.

From my little 23 years of experience in media, first as a journalist for 11 years (since my school days) and later as a PR for 12 years, as I see it, there are various factors. But I’ll tackle the most noteworthy ones here. To start with, I should mention a line which a prominent journalist wrote in Mumbai Mirror the other day… “Success breeds respect, success breeds love.”

These words hold true for almost every product, organisation and celebrity today, when brands are being stamped with ‘success’ and ‘failure’ by the over-enthusiastic media, waiting to pronounce ‘judgement’ all the time. And we all know that YRF’s hit-parade has slowed down off late.

There’s another side to it, which Yash Raj doesn’t seem to have realised yet. And that is the PR side of things. We are living in a world where perception is reality. Smart PRs are great perception builders. They mould, make, break and remake images. They play with minds in the fourth estate, shape opinions, influence write-ups… with focus and an octopus approach… things that ultimately result in changing the outlook of society. Today, YRF needs that kind of PR.

As much as the empire needs to strike back with hits, it needs that ‘correct’ PR push and re-imaging… which many in my profession term a ‘makeover’. And all this with subtle manipulation… cause no man ever likes to be manipulated when it is obvious.

What I’m going to say next might sound a bit bitter, but the fact is, that the empire has mismanaged its PR in the last 4 years. Apparently, some of the people who worked in their internal PR department are said to have given so much attitude to the media in the last few years, that even after they have left the company, the ‘attitude’ tag is unshakeable. One simple way to break this impression and break it hard, would be to shift the control and outsource PR for some time, before reverting to an internal PR department again.

Yash Raj is Yash Raj, a pioneer among pioneers in Bollywood. I guess, we all know from within, that this is just a temporary low, till the empire strikes back with a huge hit, and success starts breeding love and respect once again. But yes, this time round, it will matter more than any other time, how YRF handles the media; the PR side of things. At the cost of repetition, I reiterate one of my favourite lines… we are living in a world where perception is reality.