It is empowering to see women in leadership roles. These are women who have achieved great things and inspire others. At SCoRe, we had the opportunity to learn from one such leader. Archana Jain is currently the Managing Director of PR Pundit. PR Pundit was founded in 1998 and is a consumer and lifestyle public relations consultancy and known to service luxury clients. PR Pundit is also a woman-dominated firm with 85% of women workforce. Their expertise varies across various sectors, and their clients include brands such as Christian Louboutin, Chopard, FreshMenu, Gadgets 360, HRB ascend, and many more. PR Pundit is also India’s 1st and only PR consultancy to win a Gold PR Lion at Cannes for its ITC Savlon’s ‘Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’ Campaign. In the Masterclass, Archana Jain spoke about the skills that are necessary for communication professionals and dissected a few of their campaigns to help us understand the thinking and planning that went into them. 

She started the Masterclass by discussing the importance of PR and how ‘PR tactics are a powerful ally for any brand.’ She pointed out various studies that show how PR gives a positive boost to the brand and its reputation, leads to higher conversion rates, and how earned media is more effective than paid media. She also gave examples of how major brands like Microsoft, Apple, and Coca-Cola leverage powerful PR tactics for their reputation.

While discussing the skills that are necessary for communication professionals, she emphasized the importance of networking. She encouraged the students to network with budding journalists and experts in various fields. She also spoke about how it is essential to focus on the consumer and their choices and needs rather than focusing solely on the press. Furthermore, Ms. Jain also spoke about the ‘Evolving Nature of PR,’ where she emphasized the 360-degree approach. Here, she presented a road map of what the 360 approach looks like and how it can be used for effective PR campaigns. The 360-degree approach includes all aspects of communications- Social Media, Print Media, Events, and Digital Media. 

Furthermore, she discussed a few brand campaigns and imparted the key takeaways from them. While discussing the campaigns for Jo Malone London and Narendra Bhawan Bikaner, she spoke about how the brand campaigns need to align with the ‘contemporary lifestyle preferences of consumers.’ In the campaign for ITC Savlon and United colors for Benetton, she spoke about the brand purpose for brands to connect with their consumers. This purpose must be chosen, keeping in mind the issues that their customers feel for. Lastly, while discussing the brand campaigns for Adidas and Uniqlo, Ms. Jain spoke about the need for infusing authenticity in the campaigns to connect with the consumer and also to build brand trust. Moreover, Archana also gave a few tips to keep in mind while planning a campaign. These were- having clarity of goals, having sufficient insights, being creative, and getting measurable results. 

Attending the Masterclass with one of the veterans of the Indian PR fraternity was a truly enlightening and unique experience. 

– Trupti Dhamija

Related Read – Masterclass by Archana Jain

Trupti Dhamija is a part of Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She completed her winter internship with GolinOpinion, Mumbai.

She hails from Mumbai. What made her choose Public Relations is how dynamic and challenging the profession is. She has graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science, from the University of Delhi. She was also the President of her department in the college. She has nine months of work experience as a content curator at Unacademy. Her hobbies include singing, painting, cooking, and riding a bicycle. She aspires to join one of India’s top PR firm.

She can be reached at @DhamijaTrupti on Twitter and as Trupti Dhamija on LinkedIn