In this unpleasant situation where the whole world is trying to make a stand against the COVID-19, many brands are having a hard time facing post-consumer behavior changes. To overcome this problem during this pandemic Reputation Today and School of Communication and Reputation (SCoRe) had organized a webinar on Zoom in which some of the great leaders from the PR industry gave insights on “Learning from Adversity.” 

At this moment we are flooded with information and the only breakthrough point is the authenticity of the information we are getting. During this ambiguous time, the most important thing brands should do, is what type of content are they creating and who is the expert speaking behind it?

 This will make a lot of difference in the future of communication. According to Udit Pathak, Co-founder of Media Mantra he has divided the entire learning of adversity into different parts. The first is being an entrepreneur. The days are gone where we need to call the employees to the office now we can run the office virtually and cut down the cost. The second and the most important thing is talking to the client, listening to their problems, understand their perspective, and understanding what do they want. The third is technology which has played a vital role and will play a pivotal role in the coming years. And lastly, he said we have to behave like a consultancy and not as an agency. “Communication has always been about what the consumer is thinking and feeling at a particular time. We have to be cognizant of what the common sentiment is. We have to move away from painting a rosy picture to holding a mirror in our hands.” said Mukesh Kharbanda, MD at Fuzion PR. One of the important elements pointed out by Ameer Ismail, President of GolinOpinion is communication. Consumers are standing at the crossroads of life and livelihood. Clients are looking for ways & means to keep engaged. They are open to ideation. Communication needs to be done clearly, transparently, and as often as required. 

Like this, all the panelists gave amazing insights about the learning from adversity and some takeaways which can be useful for other agencies.

1. 1. Ameer Ismail, President of GolinOpinion “Reimagine and rediscover everything including the agency model and stay focus and relevant on what you deliver to your clients and collogues.
   2. Madhu Chhibber, CEO at Madison PR “The key to survival is adaptability and hope is the one thing which can help you to garnish positive ideas.”
   3. Minal D’rozario, Co-founder and Director of Ideosphere Consulting “Agility of mind is one which has completely changed the situation and another is segregating your good to have and must to have that will help to understand what’s important.”
   4. Mukesh Kharbanda, MD at Fuzion PR ” Be optimistic, adapt the new environment, and be compassionate.”
   5. Rekha Rao, Co-founder of Katha Kathan “Hope is at the center of everything that we do, biggest approach to everything we do. Stick it up and get through the situation. Spirit of partnership is what we should be cognizant of”. 
   6. Udit Pathak, Co-founder of Media Mantra “Keep breathing as this is the most important time and this is the right time to upgrade your skills.”

You can watch the recorded webinar here on SCoRe YouTube Channel.

With the help of all these leading PR professionals, it was quite helpful to understand the current scenario and how an agency should think and keep on learning even in this scenario. We have to prepare ourselves for the coming days because PR will not be the same as it was 45 days back.

Related Article: How to be Future Ready

– Pratham Gala

Pratham Gala is a part of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. He completed his winter internship with Adfactors PR, Mumbai.

He was born and brought up in Kalyan, Mumbai. He completed my bachelor’s in Mass Media from Birla College of Arts, Commerce, and Science in Kalyan. His mother tongue is Kutchi but he is comfortable with English, Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati.

He can be reached on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here