Since she found it so beautiful, I thought I would share this with all of you as this piece breaks some ‘stereotypes’ and Reputare is all about understanding stereotypes as the heart of the discipline of public relations. It’s also a subject that would touch you in some way, someday..in the past or in the future.

Since this came typed to me, I claim no intellectual ownership of this content as my original creation. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have.

THE CINDERELLA MAKEOVER

Is there any space for fairytale romances in love and relationships today? Absolutely. Only the rules have changed ….

As women, we have all grown up with the “Once Upon a time” fairytale. You know the one : “Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a princess…” It always had the same spin and the same happy ending , with the poor, fair maiden laying in wait expectantly for her prince, who of course comes to her rescue in his shining armour astride a white horse, upon which they both ride into the sunset and to a place called Happily Ever After. That’s the stuff our childhoods are made of, and pretty much all of us are genetically and socio-culturally programmed to buying into that idea of happily ever after. Well, recently I read an interesting new fairy tale, it reads as follows: “Once upon a time there was a princess. Along came a prince who asked her if she’s like to ride on his white horse. She said, ‘I’d like to take a ride on your horse, but I can’t right now because I’m a little busy getting my OWN horse. Go ride off into the sunset without me, and I’ll catch up a little later so then we can ride side by side.”

Wow. I think we’re onto something here, I thought. This little re-write was neither suggesting that women play the victim card, looking to be ‘rescued’ by the man of their dreams, nor was it corollary to the feminist way of thought that women are perfectly capable and happy to take care of themselves and don’t need a man complete their lives. It’s an in between road that I feel speaks out loud and clear to the woman of this new century we’ve just embarked upon. I am not a feminist. Hardly. Or else I wouldn’t be writing this. I believes in romance and all the candy floss stuff to harlequin day-dreams. I‘m not a victim either. Bandage is more freely available than princess, if you’re looking for a saviour. If anything there are two pearls of wisdom that I have over the years come to fully understand, appreciate, and live by: Love finds you the minute you top looking for it . And, love like you’ve never been hurt.

Maybe it’s something to do with your settling in your 30s , but the more women I talk to, the more I am acutely sensing this silent awakening. Several of my closest girlfriends are beautiful, intelligent, successful, funny and happy single women. They know how to fix something when it breaks, and do so without having to need a man. But here’s the thing: that doesn’t necessarily WANT a man. Realising this difference between needing and wanting, they’ll put their feet up and say , “Oh Sure! I’d love to one day. If it happens to come my way –great!” Now pay attention ladies here to the words “If it comes my way.” What they’re essentially saying is rather than filling a void that can be filled by walking into someone else’s ready-made life and making his life your own , they’ve filled their own lives with so much goodness and light which they’re more willing to share with the right man eventually invite him to enter their space. When you start focussing on yourself and making you the priority, you begin to shine like a beacon so bright it’s almost irresistible. Before you know it , you’ll have men thinking in their heads , “Damn , she has the most amazing life. I want a piece of THAT!” I know many who personally would vouch for this.

So what happens once that proverbial love finds you ? Happily ever after doesn’t come with any guarantees, warrantees or expiry dates. Love is the ultimate gamble and the stakes are super high; many are too scared to lose and so they hold themselves back. Perhaps we should all approach love like we would business. Are we satisfied with running the corner convenience store because it’s safe , or are we talking about a hugely successful corporation whose ethos is, to win big you have to play big and take calculated risks that ensure continued and exponential growth? With growth comes failure – it’s just part and parcel of the game. If we all lived in fear of getting killed tomorrow, our today would be a pretty forgettable few hours in the greater scheme of things .The female heart has an infinite capacity to love , which is one of the most beautiful things about being a woman. Unfortunately, men take an emotional beating far harder and take longer to come out from the rabbit holes they’ve dug deep to protect themselves from getting hurt again. When heartbroken, women go through the cycle of emotions more intensely but faster. They’ll get it all out –Cry, scream, rant, rave, and cry some more – and then it’s almost over! When you’ve come out of that cycle embrace it. Surrender, let go, you don’t always have to be in control. We’ve all read The secret which hits the nail bang on the head when it likens us all to giant magnets: Love life and life will love you back. If you surrender yourself to love and are open to it being a constant in your life in one way another without fear, you’ll be rewarded ten-fold. Be selfish and let it enter your life. When your heart’s been broken, it’s fantastic preparation for when the real deal turns the corner and bumps into you, you’ll be more equipped to recognise true love the next time it happens to you. And everything that’s taken place in your life up till that point was an education prepping you for this moment.

Perhaps this couldn’t hold true more than if you’ve ever gone through a divorce. Barring the death of a loved one, divorce can be the single most shattering experience of anyone’s life. In today’s increasingly maddening and hectic world, divorce is like a rampant epidemic. And I’m not so sure if it’s a sad statistic that I know more happily divorced people than happily married ones. If I actually take a look and examine all the divorced women I know, they are …. Happy. The so-called ‘stigma’ is slowly lifting. Most married really young. Most married and yet alone. Egged on by their parents and family. They grow up in their marriage. And sometimes, as it may happen when you marry too early, they grow apart and into very difficult individuals who want different things in their life. Today, these women are successful stockbrokers, artists, jewellers, fashion designers, architects, entrepreneurs and they’re out there having the time of their lives. They’re taking exotic vacations, they’re dating. They’re falling in love again, they’re falling out of love, and they’re brushing themselves off and doing it all over again. Because to have a special someone in their lives is like a sweet bonus, garnish on an already very delicious sundae.

These are our 21st century Cinderellas. In today’s fairytale re-write, she’ll be throwing her own, “if the shoe fits’ ball, which all the princes in the land will be clamouring to attend. She’s all women, feminine and dignified, and will graciously accept the attentions of the modern–day Heathcliff, Mr. Darcy, and Prince charming. Lancelot and Romeo who are utterly baffled by this strong, independent, proud and self-respecting Cinderella. And utterly captivated. In relationships and romance, there’s nothing more attractive to man than a woman who has dignity and pride in who she is. Our Cinderella has her own castle (mortgaged or not, it’s still her own ), she’s got her own chariot , she’s got her own diamond ring , and she grows her own fruits and vegetables. She’s not perfect, and thus the spell is cast. She still makes him feel like a man and do all the thing men for centuries have done – be the provider, the bread-winner, the caregiver, the fixer. Only now, he doesn’t feel pressured to assume that role because he has to, but because he wants to. Besides, somebody’s got to water that vegetables garden.

So that mythical place called Happily Ever After? It exists inside each and every single of us. Once found, it enables us to have far more enriching and lasting relationships. Love and relationships isn’t such a scary thing after all. All it needed was a little makeover.

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It’s not that CBI has had a change of heart or unearthed new evidence or been provided new facts to base its case against Rathore. So what’s changed in the last few weeks after the court pronounced a minor fine and a six month jail term for a person who had tormented a girl to commit suicide and drove her family away from their home in Panchkula.

The answer is in the third part of the same HT story in the box titled “When Public Pressure Worked”. It goes to list the cases of Jessica Lall, Nitish Katara and Priyadarshini Mattoo, who were initially denied justice as the culprits had political clout, money and power to subvert the judicial system. However, the public pressure that was brought to bear upon the system changed the balance of power and forced the police and the government to re-examine the cases and eventually bring the culprit to justice.

As a student of public opinion, I would examine the formation of this public pressure.

The press has played a crucial part in giving an outlet to the voice to the many middle class citizens who traditionally did not have an outlet and lacked the courage or the will to come out demonstrate as some of our more rustic cousins. Chakka Jaam, Bandh, Strike are words only read by us in newspapers but we were rarely a part of any of these expressions. With news television and emergence of social media we have a medium of expressing OURSELVES. Just look at the SMSes that channels receive and air as tickers or the polls that various channels undertake or the citizen programmes like We the people to see ‘Middle India’ (my definition of the Indian Middle Class) find its voice and see how that voice gathers momentum. Whether it is Twitter or facebook middle India is fighting for Ruchika by expressing itself.

Someone once said “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” Need I say more.

But, did this voice emerge by itself?

While we celebrate the role of media in bringing the culprits to justice, let us recognise the real heroes who fought the system inspite of all the odds and the deck stacked against them. They faced persecution, threats to their lives, personal harassment but did not stand down. Aradhana, Ruchika’s friend in school and her parents who did give up the fight, Neelam Katara, who stood her ground against the goons of UP or Sabrina Lall who just carried on from one disappointment to another but persisted nevertheless and countless others, individuals and organisations who have fought with rare courage and tenacity and showed that in India Justice could be delayed but not denied…they are the real heroes of India because whilst media gave an outlet to the voice to ‘Middle India’ they inspired the ‘Middle India’ to have a voice.

Aam Admi and Aurat has spoken and the government is listening as this voice can no longer be ignored.

Think it over.

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What’s their message “INDIANS KEEP OUT”! Wonder how’s that going to be possible for a retail outlet in India? Apparently, this is a franchise outlet and the franchisee is an Indian national. The question I ask, “Does Haagen-Dazs have any control over its communication and the way it presents itself to its consumers?” If the answer in this case is a NO, then it’s their reputation that is going for a nosedive and NOT that of the franchisee, who will forever remain confined to the unknown!

My thanks to Rajesh Kalra of Times of India for taking this up in the press and we need many more of such people to take issue with such blatant disrespect of the people of the nation. One could argue that it was an oversight by a franchisee and not really the intent of the company BUT no company can absolve itself of the responsibility of the actions of the people and partners that represent it, especially when it comes to winning hearts and minds of its stakeholders.

Good public relations creates ‘goodwill’ and its foundation is the ‘good work’ of an institution and oversights of like these can seriously damage the goodwill that Haagen-Dazs has earned over the years. Whilst the outlet denies that such an offer “only for international passport… ever existed, there is enough proof of it and pictures don’t lie! Denial is the wrong strategy to follow, it’s like adding insult to injury.

Haagen-Dazs should come forwards and if it’s is genuine mistake (to err is human) , tender an immediate apology to the people and initiate serious action against the franchisee to the point of cancelling its contract. Only then will it demonstrate that its serious about protecting its good name built over years of hard work. There can be no comprise in matter relating to the reputation or good will earned. It takes years to earn it and seconds to lose it!

As Warren Buffet said, at a congressional committee hearing when describing his one life brief to his management team, “if you lose money, I will be understanding, if you lose reputation, I will be ruthless.”

We will wait to see what action Haagen-Dazs take to protect and nurture its reputation.

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“My government’s endeavour would be to create such an atmosphere in the country that …the talent in the country should work to prove that we are unparalleled in the world.” – Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

As an Indian, I have been witness to innumerable depictions of India - nation of snake charmers, an insular socialist economy and a resurgent economy. National image is a strategic choice rather than an accident and increasingly important with the increasing interface of the brand India with the world. So what should brand India be to the world? We looked back to look ahead and our study revealed three distinct phases of the evolution of brand India.

Colonial India: exotic, earthy and vibrant with a nationalistic and multicultural personality. However, it remained the land of the snake charmer.

Independent India: socialist, agrarian, austere and largely socialistic. It was seen as narrow minded and insulated.

Resurgent India: a blend of the modern and the traditional. The average Indian is dreaming big with a groundswell of pride seeking social, economic and geopolitical recognition.

As the world acknowledges India’s tour de force, brand India is at a cross-road. We can either be a ‘soft power’ blending tradition with confidence or be arrogant ‘hard power’ with ‘with us or against us’ approach.

As government, corporate or individuals we need to either emulate the persona of our biggest role model, Sachin Tendulkar, confident of his expertise but nevertheless a fierce competitor who plays to win but is a picture of dignity and humility which commands respect or display arrogance of our power and invite suspicion and apprehension – a possible trigger for attacks against Indian students in Australia.

Brand India should certainly strive to be a ‘soft power’ with a focus on equitable & measured growth, value diversity and balance economic power with a deft yet firm geo-politics.

The real measure of success for brand “Incredible India” would be how Indian in general are “valued and welcomed” around the world while India takes its place as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

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Incidentally, I was the only speaker from the world of public relations or what they called reputation management – the link between CSR and Corporate Reputation. I took my cue from this brief and made a case which could have got me into a lot of trouble with my hosts!

I made a case that CSR as we know it is dead or dying and a new avtaar is emerging. My hosts were generous and kind and here I am sharing with you the contents of my argument. Hope you enjoy it and share your views after thinking it over.

CSR is only a three letter label today
For far too long, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has stood for nice-to-have initiatives that round off a hard-nosed successful business with the softer dimension of social good. Doing good for the community! Philip Kotler, Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management in his book on CSR, defined Corporate Social Responsibility as “a commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices and contribution of corporate resources.” This is one place where I disagree with my ‘guru’ of marketing, someone who’s teaching I have followed since the inception of my marketing and communication career.

Times are a changing. CSR is moving from this optional corner to the mainstream as ‘business responsibility’. Today, there is no difference between ‘doing well’ and ‘doing good’. As we knew it, the former referred to the nuts and bolts of business strategy and the latter referred to CSR. The two are now merging.

We are entering the dawn of ‘Business Karma’ where Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has to transform into Responsible Business Strategy (RBS) Why? Because, Karma is the cosmic law of action and reaction. Under its control we souls in the material world reap good or bad results according to each act we perform. Today, the economic and legal responsibilities of an organization share equal space with ethical and social responsibilities. Businesses! For far too long they have only worked towards the vested interest of their shareholders alone!

This transformation is happening not because Bhagvat Gita has been read by the business leaders! On the contrary, it is a result of several underlying events that have taken place over the years. Karma has been at the heart of this transformation.

The very first change that took place is defined by Jack Trout as ‘The Tyranny of choice.’ There has been an explosion of brands around us. If we were to go shopping for a pair of running shoes in the US of the 1970’s, we would perhaps be faced with a choice of around 5 brands. By the 1990’s this number had exploded to 285 brands. Were we buying a PC on the other hand, we would be compelled to choose out of over 400 models and if all this gave us a headache, we would need to make a selection among 171 brands for an over the counter painkiller!

The consumer psyche hates confusion. Minds can’t cope with this, they lose focus and companies as a result are faced with the Tyranny of Choice –stand apart or stand down. Differentiate or Die!

Second, came what I call the CSI effect (it’s not the popular TV serial), it stands for “Corporate Social Irresponsibility”. Beginning with Enron in the early 2000’s, as you would recollect, skeletons just kept tumbling out of corporate closets taking in their fold some of the most respected names in business… Arthur Andersen, Xerox, WorldCom, Merrill Lynch, Tyco, Citigroup, Freddie Mac…the list went on. And if that wasn’t enough, the final axe came down with the sub-prime crisis late last year and we are still reeling under its impact.

While things may have quietened down a bit in these past few months, as Daniel Yankelovich, a founding father of public opinion research, cautions, “You shouldn’t be misled by the lack of media attention to the scandals, because the mistrust continues to grow.”

Third came, climate change! The impact of our consumption on the planet and our future…companies are seen as gross violators of the environment and today people care more than ever before. Over a billion people participated in the earth hour. They care about the future of their children.

According to a McKinsey & Co. survey of over 4,000 consumers worldwide, transparency about business practices and risks of products and services are very important considerations for them when they make their choices - and they don’t seem to think that companies are not giving these issues adequate importance.

Together, the interplay of these factors has led to the emergence of a “Trust Deficit”. Over 75 per cent of people have less trust today than last year in the senior management of US companies as per a Harvard Business Review survey. Even among non-US companies more than half of those surveyed felt their trust had eroded.

Now consider the fact that consumers are willing to pay more for products of what they consider socially responsible business. What is more, employees too are willing to work for less salary at socially responsible companies. These are clearly reflected in research findings by Penn, Shoen & Berland Associates, in conjunction with Burson-Marsteller and Landor.

Consumers are no longer willing to ignore irresponsible action; they will punish companies they consider irresponsible. Around half the respondents to the McKinsey survey in the US, UK, Germany and India and as many as 79 per cent in China said they have refused to buy products and services from companies that they considered to be against the best interest of society.

What am I saying then? Doing good is good for business! Do the math.

CSR has to morph into RBS Responsible Business Strategy. (hoping that it does not become another three word label!) What does this transformation entail?

Businesses have to stop seeing CSR as mere Community Relations and discretionary, instead “embed” Corporate Governance, Sustainability, Environment and Community Relations into its core business strategy.

By embedding responsibility into business strategy, business today has the unparalleled opportunity to become a force of good. And in an increasingly level playing field, this can pose as an active differentiator and make powerful business sense.

If doing good is good for business how can then CSR be ‘discretionary’. This is my argument challenging the definition of CSR given by Prof. Kotler

There are green shoots of this thinking that is taking place and one has to look at Grameen Bank, HUL’s Project Shakti, GE’s Ecomagination, Infosys’s governance model, amongst several others and learn that doing good is good for business!

The late Anita Roddick was a pioneer and an innovator and look what it did to the Body Shop brand. Need I say more?

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So, how did a tweet about a phrase that we use so commonly to describe economy travel go wrong? How did a person who was Undersecretary of Communication at the United Nations get his own communication wrong? A person who has spent his career advising international dignitaries & bureaucrats on their public presentation get it wrong for himself? Or is it, that we are a society, which does not have a sense of humour?

Mr. Tharoor should know better that form is as important as the content, especially for a public person such as himself. I am attempting to get my arms around this as a public relations professional.

First, the medium. Twitter. Though it’s a fabulous medium to get your message out there, it suffers from the limitation of 140 characters. Suitable for short messages but completely impractical if you wanted to communicate beyond “what you are doing” or sharing “links” to interesting content. How do you set the context? Did Mr. Tharoor get caught in the 140 character trap?

Second, the device. Mobile phone. Great to stay connected and can’t think of life without it. However, ease of access and ability to communicate instantly only leads to reactive rather than well thought out and balanced responses. I see it all the time, especially from the crackberry wallahs. Get a message; read and react instantly. Great for responsiveness but what about time to process message and frame your reply? Did Mr. Tharoor fall into the ‘instant messaging’ trap?

Third, the message. Cattle Class. The cattle class is over 90% of a constituency of any politician. It’s the cattle class that voted Mr. Tharoor to parliament. Can a parliamentarian be so insensitive to his own constituency? As all communicators know the golden rule: It’s not what you say, but what your audience hears that matters! In this case the audience heard a slag that hurt their sensibilities in describing them and not the message about being austere before the call for austerity. Did Mr. Tharoor, a seasoned communicator forget the golden rule?

Last, as I often tell participants in my media training class: be careful with the use of humour as you respond to media enquiry in writing. The recipient may not share your sense of humour. The ‘tweetstorm’ that followed is ample evidence of this so I don’t have to say more. Say what you mean and mean what you say, if you want to be understood.

I do hope, the brilliant Mr. Tharoor survives this very minor indiscretion on his part as this country needs more politicians in the cabinet like him. I have had the privilege of meeting him in New York and can vouch for his brilliance and grasp of international relations, and boy we need people like him at the helm of our Foreign Affairs.

I am sure that this experience brings out the sharp and smart communicator in him that he truly is.

Classic: twitter, the double edged sword..user be aware. Think it over.

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It started with the ill fated buy of Sahara that gave them bad press. Then the fiasco of summarily sacking staff en masse, which played out in the national media and ended with a late night announcement on television by the Chairman taking his children back into the airline. And now the ‘mass sick leave’ taken by their pilots stranding 13,000 passengers across the country. Triggered by the dismissal of three pilots, this is once again grabbing headlines, ‘breaking news’ across the national media, fuelling talk shows and studio discussions. Visuals of stranded passengers crying and cursing the airline are running across the channels.

Add to all of this the impact of the financial crisis and rising ATF costs that has led to the return of leased aircraft and delayed deliveries of new planes ordered by them. Their stock has certainly been taking a beating.

They say, when it rains, it pours. However, the repeated crises they have faced somehow seem to be of their own making. A result of bad judgement and lack of coherent execution of a strategy clearly communicated to their stakeholders.

It almost seems that they are running an airline from the seat of their pants and dealing with issues as they emerge - and that too under the glare of media, print, TV and Online!

It is unfortunate that the airline that re-defined our flying experience and made us want to fly should be taking such a beating to their reputation because of their management skills.

The instinctive reaction is to say, perhaps they ought to be communicating more and proactively to help people understand what is happening and what they are doing about it. But, as Harold Burson says, “Good PR cannot fix bad management.”

It’s time to show the true calibre of the management team and create the differentiation in these challenging times. It’s time to re-define its management image as they did with the way we fly!

Perhaps, it’s time to re-brand the management team instead of the airline!

A lot of credit goes to Mr. Goyal for growing the airline industry in India and as his well wisher, I would love to see him seize this moment, be the leader that he is and take his airline to even greater heights.

Think it over, Mr. Goyal, and Just Do It.

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Came across this research report from several sources at the same time. My colleague Charu Kohli sent it to me. Then I also got to the link from The Holmes Report and this just further confirms what I have been saying for a long time. Public Relations will become irrelevant in the communication mix if it fails to embrace the new online reality. The sources of ‘information and influence’ are shifting and the ‘age of conversation’ is upon us. Public Relations is best placed to as it is seen to be the champion of transparent and credible conversations with organizations stakeholders! At least that’s what it is meant to be!! All the more so, as trust is broken by companies repeatedly and consumers, employees, investors, media increasingly turning to listen in the conversations that are taking place online and then make their judgment. In my earlier blogpost on Online Presence a Key to Boost your Media Relations, I had shared with you a research on how journalists use online sources for their reporting.

Here’s the link to the report, http://www.marketingvox.com/study-new-pr-hires-must-blog-tweet-use-socnets and I have reproduced the key highlights. The results of the study highlight the growing importance of social media in the PR profession and - with support from Korn/Ferry International, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Trendstream - were compiled into the “2009 Digital Readiness Report.”

About the study
The survey was undertaken to help public relations, corporate communications and marketing professionals better understand and appreciate how organizations are integrating online communications into their business practices. It was conducted online via self-completion questionnaires, which were designed to provide quantitative data that allows the statistical comparison of trends and attitudes among key segments.

Respondents were recruited through iPressroom, Korn/Ferry International and PRSA. They were profiled and questioned on their involvement in job hiring to ensure that the sample captured a large proportion of decision makers in regards to recruitment. Over the course of a 6-week period during spring 2009, 278 public relations, marketing and HR professionals were surveyed.

In what marks a dramatic shift away from the mainstream-media approach to public relations, PR hiring managers in the US now say it is nearly as important for prospective hires to have social media savvy as it is for them to have traditional media-relations skills, according to a survey.

Top Social Media Wish-List
Social networking, blogging and tweeting are the top-three most important social media communications skills for job candidates to have, according to the PR and marketing decision makers surveyed. Moreover, most organizations surveyed are considering hiring social media specialists.

Findings from the study
1. Among those responsible for hiring PR and marketing employees, 82% of respondents say mainstream media relations expertise is either important or very important, while more than 80% say knowledge of social networks is either important or very important.

2. Nearly 77% say knowledge of blogging, podcasting and RSS is either important or very important, while almost 72% say an understanding of micro-blogging services such as Twitter are either important or very important.

3. Other new media communications skills that hiring decision makers find important or very important are SEO (62%), email outreach (56%), web content management (52%) and social bookmarking (51%).

4. Media relations is the #1 desired skill for PR hiring managers in government and corporations, while social media skills are most important for those hiring into agencies, non-profits and academic institutions.

PR Takes Charge of Social Media
1. These social media skills will likely increase in importance as PR professionals continue to take the lead in managing most organizations’ social media communications channels.

2. In contrast, the marketing function within most organizations usually has management and oversight responsibility for bulk email communications and SEO.

The research also suggests a potential gap in online communications strategy at most organizations, since the channels with the greatest reach and adoption levels - email and search engine optimization - do not appear to be the most important channels in practice. In addition, organizations do not appear to be as intent on leveraging the trust advantage of their own websites over social networking services to promote their company line. Instead, organizations say they’re more focused on getting the word out than on using new media and social media channels to attract visitors to their own destination websites, the report said.

Here’s some additional re-affirmation of this growing trend: http://www.brafton.com/industry-news/pr-departments-increasing-use-online-marketing-tools-$1319501.htm

Something to think about?
1. Have we incorporated this into our core course curriculum at public relations institutes?
2. How are PR firms gearing their associates to handle these new challenges?

Think it over.

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Last evening saw the first ever PR Lions being introduced at the 56th International Advertising Festival. The PR Lions are the 11th awards category being introduced. This by itself is a growing recognition of Public Relations and Public Affairs in the overall marketing and business strategy mix. Also, the Lions provide a well recognised and a very highly aspired for platform, which till now was sorely missing. If you don’t know about it yet, visit www.canneslions.com for more.

Overall there were 400 plus entries that were shortlisted down to 30 plus by 18 members of the PR Lions jury. Boy, they were made to work like slaves for 12-14 hour a day for over a week. I know this, as Prema Sagar, Principal & Founder, Genesis Burson-Marsteller was one of them. Although I reached Cannes on Saturday and started attending the Seminars, I met Prema ONLY after the Lions were awarded yesterday, despite the fact that she has been here since the 16th June! Such was the rigour in the process. So really, congratulations to those who took home the Lion, they truly earned it!

I won’t bore you with a long list of winners, I am sure you can get that from the press reports that are being filed by our Indian press contingent (www.exchange4media.com), (www.theeconomictimes.com). They are doing a wonderful job of covering the event. Thanks guys.

So, now back to the shortlists, what struck me as I saw entry after entry was a common theme that ran across most of them and what I learnt about producing great work is:
1. The brief has to be meaningful; the mission of the programme to influence ‘real change’.

2. The campaign has to be built around a ‘central idea’, which is created through the depth of ‘insights’.

3. The idea has to be able to ‘stand apart’. It needs to be ‘creative’, ‘innovative’, ‘powerful’ yet simple.

4. The activation has to be engaging. It’s about getting people involved.

5. The activation has to be without boundaries: internet, mobile, ATL, BTL and press exposures.

6. The results have to ‘measurable’ and ‘meaningful’.

After the awards, I asked Prema, as a member of the jury – “what did the judges look for?” She said, “A simple idea, executed well, that made a real difference!”

Simple, yet Powerful.

Think it over.

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Day II highlight sessions for me were the PWC media and entertainment outlook till 2013 (www.pwc.com/outlook). The personality of the day was Biz Stone (the co-founder of twitter)who did a live tweet-up with the audience.

Title: Biz Stone, The Co-founder of Twitter

PWC conducts a global media and entertainment outlook survey and they shared their findings for the five year outlook till 2013 at the festival. Their research showed that the total global advertising spends in 2013 will be 13.3% lower than 08 whilst the digital would increase from 21% to 31%! Traditional advertising expenditure will continue to go southwards. All roads seem to lead in one direction: digital. As Marcel Fenez, PwC, said “there is no place to hide from the digital transformation.” According to their research, there are three trends driving this transformation, mentioned briefly below:
1. Digital Migration: more connected consumers than ever before and rising. Internet has already overtaken TV viewers!

2. Digital Acceleration: consumers quest for value more than ever before. Times are hard and using internet is simply cheaper than consuming traditional media!

3. Digital Transformation: new business models will emerge that will outrun the traditional business model, e.g. their research showed that consumers are happy to watch commercials for free content as long as they are targeted to them and valuable to them.

Lesson: mass media aimed at broad segments will eventually be out. Micro-targeting will be the new currency! If you just look at the T-shirt of the future being displayed at the festival, you will know what I mean. The PM of Japan, premiered this interactive T-shirt at the WEF, Davos!

Title: T-shirt of the Future at the Cannes Advertising Festival

Carol Cone talked about why doing good is becoming an obligation for brands . Using powerful case studies she showed how brands that support ‘causes’ and are seen as ‘responsible’ win not only the hearts and minds of consumers but also their wallets. Want some insights of her work? Press the link http://www.coneinc.com/research/. Carol was one of the jury members for the PR Lions and it was a real pleasure to get to meet with her and have the opportunity to get some insights. She writes a regular blog. You can follow her (http://www.coneinc.com/whatdoyoustandfor). Enjoy. One of the campaigns she showed is a PR Lion winner!

The last item of the day was the tweet up with Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter. He was in conversation with the CMO of Hill and Knowlton who has sponsored the session. It was great to hear how Twitter was born and how it has impacted not only business but politics and society. When asked “what is Twitter?” He said, “A communication network that allows to communicate and share real time.” What struck me was his simplicity and humility and the easy going manner! You can follow him on www.twitter.com/biz.

Of course the PR Lions were handed out in real style, almost like the Oscars but without the entertainment. I am sure by now the lists are already out. If you have not yet seen them go to www.canneslions.com. Hopefully we will see a much stronger presence and performance from India in time to come. We saw a lot of campaigns win that tug at your heart, make a real difference to society at large and drive social change, where PR plays the most effective role. Is there a lesson to be learned by us?

Tomorrow I intend to spend time going through the entries that were shortlisted and seeing the films. That should expand my horizons.

Thanks for reading and join the debate.

Think it over.

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