Today, at School of Communications and Reputation (SCoRe), the batch of 2020 got yet another opportunity of a masterclass to discuss ways to stand out in public relations with Cornelia Kunze, the co-owner and founder of i-sekai, a consultancy for brand and reputation management based out of Germany. She started her session by answering the question of how is the market for PR different for every region. In this context, she mentioned that PR as a profession is still budding in countries like India and Germany while the markets in US and UK are buzzing with new ideas and opportunities. So, what should one do in order to stand out in public relations and make people notice their actions? Following are the seven ingredients that Cornelia mentioned that one needs to mix in order to stand out in public relations crowd:

1. Dramatize a solution: Public Relations people are called storytellers. That’s for a reason, right? It is important, especially in today’s digital era, to dramatize everything that you do. As a PR person, one should possess the ability to be creative enough to dramatize an entire situation and then provide a solution that is dramatic as well. In this context, she took the reference of Germany Island, a very famous campaign done by an agency in Germany.
2. Be bold enough in a controversy: Now, this is very important in terms of the reputation of the brand as well as the agency working for the brand itself. Most of the time, during a controversy, the brand ends up apologizing, sometimes even without a reason. She took the example of Gillette in this case that how they did not budge from their belief and statement even when their #BeaMan campaign faced a lot of backlashes.
3. Address a societal tension: One should not confuse this point with the above one. It is always better to acknowledge news even if the concerned brand has no part in it. This makes the audience feel relieved and satisfied that there is someone to who they can confine to.
4. Humanize: As storytellers, we need to humanize every idea, every campaign that comes in our way. Empathetic storytelling takes one a long way. Humanizing a product or a service helps the consumers relate with it on a ground level.
5. Be truly loyal: One needs to be wholeheartedly loyal to the brand they are working for. Thus, while working on a certain client or a brand, one needs to know the inside out of that particular brand and client and then put their heart and soul into creating something that will not only maintain their reputation but also make the world look at them from a whole new perspective.
6. Merge data and human truth: The age of data is here. Whatever you put in front of the world has to be data-driven. But, sometimes a lot of data might get mundane. In such a situation, it is always good to merge the data with some human truth, maybe a real-life example or a scenario.
7. Create something new: PR people often get this complaint that they amplify on somebody else’s idea. So, one should always have the goal of creating something new because PR is not only a profession, it’s a mindset. It can make or break the reputation of a brand and change perceptions too.

Public Relations is a very dynamic world and we are at a time when the entire world is changing. “Try to be the brain and not only hands and legs!”, signed off Cornelia on How to stand out in public relations.

–Baishali Banerjee 

Baishali Banerjee is a part of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She completed her winter internship with Genesis BCW, Mumbai.

She is from Kolkata. She did her graduation in Media Science with a specialization in Public Relations and Advertising from NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata. She has always been curious about the corporate world and how all these huge brands function and connect with their consumers on a day to day basis. She interned with Ketchum Sampark for a period of three months under the Brands & Lifestyle team. This experience made her more curious about the PR fraternity. Also, she is a person very open to learning and her interests lie in corporate, entertainment and lifestyle.
She can be reached at @baishalibanerj5 on Twitter and as Baishali Banerjee on LinkedIn