Can there be a model for building attractiveness?

The answer is - 'Definitely'. Attraction is more scientific than most would have you believe. 

Every time a Brand has a human interface, it arouses deep-rooted physical, psychological, sociological and cultural reactions in the person, exerted as a ‘force of attraction’ by the Brand. This intrinsic capacity of a Brand to arouse the audiences’ interest and create a magnetic pull towards itself is Brand Attractiveness, also called Brand Appeal. Appeal (appropriately derived from the French word adpellere, meaning ‘to drive’) may be described as the inherent force of attractiveness of the Brand that interests, pleases or stimulates, and it is this force that makes a Brand desirable (or not).

Brand Attractiveness is a powerful, intangible force, which goes much beyond its physical appeal. It is an invisible, overwhelming pull, which subliminally, but irresistibly draws audiences towards itself.

Communication plays a dual role in building Brand Attractiveness. First, it embellishes the inherent force of attraction of the Brand, and secondly, it helps transport this inherent appeal to audiences who have never directly experienced the Brand. Good communication is the telescope which brings Brands up-close and personal, enhancing attributes to make them more noticeable. It is also the microscope that helps bring out the internal intricacies that may need deep delving to be experienced. Nevertheless, for this appeal to work, the force of attraction has to be natural and intrinsic to the Brand.

The Brand Attractiveness Model has four pillars on which it is founded, namely Rational Appeal, Emotional Appeal, Communication Appeal and Aspirational Appeal. 

(Adapted from the book 'Decoding Communication')

God’s trick

Communication must have a profound impact on survival for it to be as abundant as sight in humans and animals. It is an innate function present at birth and many of the neonatal responses that are hardwired into the brain manifest as instinct. Humans, animals and even some plant species communicate with each other. 

The most basic communication in all animals remains instinctual and reactive, i.e. in response to food, danger and sexual stimuli. The more evolved the communication used, the more efficiently information gets transmitted, resulting in a better outcome. For example, in the case of food, evolved communication can give an idea of the direction, taste and source; when representing danger, a sophisticated language can indicate the degree, type of danger, or methods to overcome it.  And when it comes to symbolizing sexual stimuli - well, let me just leave that part to your imagination.

Human communication is unique; it is not just biologically inherited but is also learnt. Other animal species communicate mainly through behavior, ritualized calls and gestures, whereas humans possess highly evolved linguistic systems that can express an infinite variety of diverse thoughts and intricate ideas. The human language system, with advanced semantics and syntax, has the ability to communicate myriad concepts with precise detail. Little wonder that this evolutionary leap distinguishes us from every other organism on earth.

The four-sided argument about the development of language in humans remains indeterminate. It may have developed as a normal byproduct of a well developed brain (called Spandrel), or on account of natural genetic selection (as an Adaptation), or because of the idea information system pressures (known as Memes), or due to the neurons in humans that facilitates imitation (Mirror Neurons).  A few other interesting ideas also give stimulus to new theories; like a suggestion that language developed as a 'social technology' to eliminate visual idea-theft.

Whichever way the above arguments go, the fact that language developed due to a blend or a combination of several factors including those stated above, cannot be argued. It advanced as different species realized that production of sound was useful and gave them a distinct competitive advantage, leading to the development of sophisticated variations of sound to communicate better. Language is only an exaggerated variation of natural communication capacities.

At the same time, language, the basis of communication, is also at the center of conflict and confusion by mere virtue of multiplicity. The 7000 or more human languages seem to have their origin in God’s ploy against humanity. The Book of Genesis speaks of how God tricks a united, single-language human race (who had resolved to build the heaven-touching ‘Tower of Babel’), by confounding them with the ‘confusion of the tongues’ - languages.

(extract from the author's recent book, Decoding Communication)

CSR: A marketing tool?

(This debate recently appeared in the Business Standard supplement, Strategist)

Coca-Cola’s Support My School initiative in India has been touted as one of the biggest CSR initiatives by corporate India and is beamed on NDTV with a lot of fanfare. Coca-Cola is not the only company that has effectively bundled, branded and communicated its CSR efforts; too many companies have started communicating their CSR efforts too early in too conspicuous a way. While their intentions are lofty, the whole razzmatazz surrounding such efforts raises a question: is a good idea for companies to communicate and get credit for their commitments?

HARISH BIJOOR

CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults

When companies put their profits back into the very same people who help them make money, the marketing cycle is complete

Coca-Cola has got its act right. The guys behind the scenes, global chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent, downwards, are a force to contend with in the world of corporate social responsibility (CSR) marketing. Today CSR marketing is a new sub-science of the world of marketing at large. In fact, it is the best thing to do when you are a big brand with a footprint of consumption across the world. Brands such as Coca- Cola, Marlboro, Dettol etc that touch billions across the world use CSR in their marketing approach.

Look at the the history of CSR. It began when companies first looked at their corporate bottom lines and discovered profit. Having discovered profit, and investing that profit or splurging it into everything that was possible, such as personnel training, corporate junkets, corporate jets, profit had to find its way into society. CSR is the last thing that a corporate enterprise does. For instance, visualise a large vat. Imagine the money going into CSR activities as money that goes out of a small little pipe vent right at the top of the vat, much beyond and after the Plimsoll line of profits has been breached. Visualise this vat with a small vent opening right near the top brim. If you see it this way, you will also realise that if these profits did not find their way out (into society), the vat would itself be in danger. Therefore, CSR expenditures typically have been “safety valve expenditures”.

At the outset, corporates look after their immediate physical environment as a CSR activity. If a company had a factory in Jamshedpur, it would look after the people in the eco-system around it. Then the mindset changed and companies started thinking beyond their geography by picking up causes. They picked up causes adjunct to the industry they belonged to. 

For example, a company in the tobacco segment looked at health, a marketer to kids looked after the under-privileged kids. Subliminally, if not overtly, the connect always existed.

Then came the era of obscene CSR marketing. I have been witness to CSR efforts during the Tsunami that hit Indian shores some years back. I saw large trucks carrying water and supplies. Many of them chose to emblazon themselves with the brand names and logos. One corporation even had savvy ‘marketing-think’ where it had the top of the trucks emblazoned with their brand logo. This was for the media helicopters to catch when they hovered around the area under distress. How far can one go?

The latest is the Coca-Cola India ‘Support My school’ campaign with NDTV. I like this campaign as it picks a cause that is universal and big. It is about kids and their rights and the need to education. It picks rural and small town schools. It takes valuable resources to the points of need. It is not shy and does not use subterfuge as well. It talks to its audience without resorting to the in-your-face tools of advertising. It helps build future customers. In that way, it gives and takes. It gives resources today to support a nation of school-going children. It takes subliminally. It takes when it impinges its brand name all across, and plants a soft thought of an otherwise hard brand in the minds of impressionable kids.

I believe no corporate organisation must invest its money into CSR without purpose. Corporate organisations are run by stakeholders—by shareholders and employees— among others. The organisations must aim at profit in their ventures, both commercial or CSR oriented. However, in making this profit happen, it is not wrong if good money can chase good causes such as this one. Coca-Cola has cracked this code with the campaign and other initiatives in South Africa where the company is aiming to be water positive. CSR makes marketing sense as companies make money from people. When they focus their profits back into the very same people who help them make money, the marketing cycle is complete.

N CHANDRAMOULI

CEO, Comniscient Group

CSR must be an extension of the organisation's state-of-being and not just an activity that has to be ticked off in the check-box

While many organisations undertake their social responsibility as charity, many undertake it to fulfil their marketing needs or to give a positive disposition to their brands. However, all of them understand the personal-social benefits that accrue from acts of altruism. When a corporation acts beyond the narrow areas of self-benefit and works for a larger, socially-beneficial cause, you can describe it as CSR. This helps the corporate/brand in two important ways — first, the innate value-system that gets espoused by the social action helps build ‘organisational culture’, and second, CSR showcases any organisation’s positive intention, an essential ingredient in building organic trust for it.

Every organisation wants to impact the world that influences it. In order to determine that it has to decide on the following factors: internalities (that which it thinks it is responsible for) and externalities (which are outside its sphere of responsibility).This boundary of responsibility-acceptance is arrived at by balancing the intent with the ability of the organisation and becomes a direct measure of the organisation’s integration (on human, cultural, emotional and physical fronts) with its external world. As organisations expand to include more external aspects creating a progressively larger responsibility circle, they become more and more relevant to their ecosystem.

For instance, a responsible mining company may rehabilitate the people displaced as a direct result of its operations. If it considers more of its impact as its responsibilities, it may even replant trees to undo the damage caused by it to the environment. If it further increases its internality sphere, it may go further and invest actively in creating an ecological hub on the previously mined area. It is quite natural for an organisation that exists for profit to seek direct or indirect benefit from all its actions including CSR. Seeking benefits, be it marketing, community, image or other subtle benefits from the CSR is acceptable, beneficial and even recommended.

But if the benefits sought through the CSR are blatant or unreasonable, the action becomes counterproductive and is bound to have a negative impact on the brand. When you think of the ‘real’ campaigns, Coca-Cola’s ‘Support My School’, Aircel’s ‘ Save Our Tigers’ or Tata Tea’s ‘ Jaago re’, most audiences will have a visceral calibration of where the campaign falls on their acceptability line.

Yet, when starting CSR initiatives, the organisation has to understand that there is a significant time lag between the action and result expected from the CSR initiative. Therefore when organisations engage in altruism they must do so without looking for quick results that they are so accustomed to. Further, to create a sustainable programme of CSR, one needs to balance two opposing forces. First, the farther removed the corporate social responsibility is from the core of the business, the more trust it will generate. At the same time, the more direct the connection between the CSR and the business, the more sustainable it will be. Companies which get this balance right, accrue benefits that are highly resistant to erosion over time. CSR is a good strategy but only in the long-term. Though it is used to develop markets or for image, it is far more useful when it is used to infuse the organisation with culture, vision and values — the core drivers of any business.

The importance of CSR cannot be understated for it shows the organisation’s integration with its society. It is, however, important to temper expectations from CSR. Most importantly, CSR must be an extension of the organisation’s state-of-being and not just an activity that needs to get ticked off in the check-box.

Will Sach-in prevail? The trust issue.

Trust is unidimensional. In this case, dimension should be interpreted as a characteristic most relevant to the trustor for trust to be conferred on a trustee. For a doctor this may be the ability to provide a good diagnosis, for a pilot it may be her flying skills and for an artist, his flair with the brush. Uni implies that the trustor will usually place trust for one or a few closely related aspects in a familiar range. For example, while you may trust your boss to give you career guidance, you may not trust him to cook you a good dinner. In related aspects, that the trustor has grown to know or can infer, trust builds automatically – for instance, you may trust the same boss to give a good speech at the local club due to his inferred ability. The unidimensional aspect puts limits on how far you can push trust – and if the relevance seems too out-of-context, unidimensionality would be violated, resulting in trust erosion. 

Sachin endorsing 'Sach' and
Bipasha endorsing 'Real activ'

The subtlety of the unidimensional aspect gets elaborated in this incident. A cricket-loving friend and I were at a grocery store and she reacted strongly on seeing a new juice brand promoted by Sachin Tendulkar (the world’s leading cricketer) called ‘Sach’ (meaning Truth). It was surprising to me at first since Sachin is an overachiever in his game, completely non-controversial and universally loved. Like many other celebrities, Sachin has a host of endorsements - Pepsi, Visa, Philips to name a few. In fact, he even put his signature on a limited edition car.

As long as Sachin was only endorsing brands, there was no problem. But Sachin had moved from endorser to 'owner' status. He had ‘allowed’ the juice carton to carry his name, and my friend’s reaction conveyed betrayal. Sachin’s endorsement had stretched relevance a little too far and violated the principle of unidimensionality.  In fact when I later got to know that he even has a 10% stake in the company that promoted the juice brand - Sachin's trust loss seemed completely justified as well.

Keep unidimensionality in trust intact, and you'll always gain. Stretch it too far and it can turn counter-productive. 

(some parts of this blog have been extracted from my book, Decoding Communication)

How to listen

To understand your audience better, one must follow the first step of communication - observation, or the art of ‘intricate listening’.

We all intuitively know how important listening is to communication, but how many of us know how to listen.  Listening, is naturally not limited to the auditory function and comprises of combined 'listening' of all senses put together, including cognitive and the extra-sensory. When all this is fused, one becomes far more aware of the communication environment, giving rise to a highly ‘intuitive’ awareness. 

With koan-like wisdom, the Chinese symbol ‘to listen’ is a self-explanatory amalgamation of five sub-parts which include symbols for ‘ear’, ‘you’, ‘eyes’, ‘undivided attention’ and ‘heart’, shown here.

Lets look at the four stages of listening. First and foremost, listen with your eyes - what do you see. Trust your eyes before your ears. Secondly, give the communicator your undivided attention without any visible distractions or mind distractions. This will help you absorb without any dilution. Thirdly, listen with your heart - implying that you must empathize and 'feel' for what is being communicated. This will help you interpret underlying messages. And last of all, listen with your ear - into what is being said. 

If you combine these four forces into listening, you will have an enriching experience with the world. 

(some parts of this blog piece have been extracted from the author's recent book, Decoding Communication)

Illusions of the mind

This figure below is an optical illusion created by Prof. Akiyoshi Kitaoka who has been studying the reason why such illusions occur in humans. If you look at the figure below, you'll see it rotate continuously, but if you fix your eye on any one spot, the rotation stops. Why it occurs is not completely clear yet, but it teaches a lesson in perception.  Prof. Kitaoka has been gracious to allow the use of this image in Decoding Communication to explain the Third lesson of Perception.

Optical illusion of Rotating Snakes by Prof. Akiyoshi Kitaoka, 
Department of Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan

 

Trust in an online buying experience

Decoding Communication

What makes you trust a brand, and why does that brand sometimes miss the mark?

Among other things, it also has to do with an ability to fulfill expectations, but when that ability is delivered with  sense of dedication, trust is a natural outcome. If you make your customer's pain areas to be your delivery points, your brand's greatness becomes evident. Let me take the case of my book and its launch as an example to show how.

When you launch any product the first rule is to ensure reach and availability. With a book this becomes crucially important because a good book to a reader is like candy to a kid with a sweet-tooth. You need instant gratification. One day extra feels like a lifetime and in some extreme cases, depression takes hold if you don't find the book in time.

When several readers wrote to me saying that they had ordered the book from flipkart, I was thinking that it might have been a better experience if they  felt my book in their hand and saw it on the shelves much like the experience I enjoy myself (yeah, yeah - I've been called old-school before too). But I guess what I learnt can put me in the new-school bracket now.

My book  launched recently (and though I had slotted 3 weeks for it to reach major stores), flipkart had the  book within 3 days of my distributor sending them the books. That was fast by any standards! Then I noticed that they exercised care with respect to uploaded reviews and only verified ones were put up (something every reader expects). It only when I went on some rounds of book stores that I realized how important the flipkart experience is to a book-lover. When a book is sold-out in stores, it  can take between 7 to 10 days to reorder. Using flipkart, though the delivery is 3 days the reordering is almost instantaneous.

flipkart does two other things very well to make it a great online experience for book buying. First, like an on-ground book store, it is a good judge of books and takes a calculated risk of ordering a higher number of copies from the distributor if it thinks it will do well. Secondly, it thinks like a book reader and ensure fastest delivery by making the distributor a partner in the delivery (often picking up the book from the local city office of the distributor to ensure upcountry delivery faster).

I personally think that flipkart has a sweet-tooth for books, and when someone feels exactly what the customer feels, it is easy to trust them.

Brands - Ideas with soul...

Living ideas

An idea is a 'memetic' system analogous to the genetic information system. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from person to person through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable actions.

Richard Dawkins, the originator of the term meme, wrote in his book, The Selfish Gene, “Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes, fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.  Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation.  If a scientist hears, or reads about, a good idea, he passes it on to his colleagues and students.  He mentions it in his articles and his lectures.  If the idea catches on, it can be said to propagate itself, spreading from brain to brain.”

Memes rely upon stored memory to create new memories through experiences of different kinds - physical, psychological, experiential, transactional, ethical, metaphysical, spiritual, social and cultural. Memes self-replicate and respond to selective pressures following genetic principles like natural selection, variation, mutation, competition and inheritance.

To give a more philosophical interpretation to the Brand, imagine it as a living idea - an idea which has a soul. The Brand is the soul that gives animation to the idea - its non-corporeal essence, its vital-breath or life-force. The Brand is embodied in, and acts through, its physical and non-physical extensions. Every state of the idea expresses its brand-soul and the concept of Brand is present in the smallest thing that the idea represents, as much as it is evident in the whole. It is something that emerges from the conscious and subconscious interaction with the complete entity.

As soon as an idea has been conceptualized or it begins to transact, the Brand’s journey of life has begun. The Brand may be visible or invisible, it may be understood or not, but the Brand is born with the birth of the idea itself. Such a 'living' idea carries in it a natural ability to spawn and inspire generations of brands. 

(Extract from the author's forthcoming book 'Decoding Communication')

What does Creativity have to do with Rational?

Strangely, a seemingly non-logic based ability, creativity, is a primary part of Rational appeal. Roughly put, Creativity is a strategy ability to cope with situations to create better or new solutions. Creative solutions are those that combine innovative thinking and efficacious application. When Brands display Creativity, they demonstrate an ‘intellectual’ ability to deal with the future better. Audiences don’t just measure Brands on a creative scale from a viewpoint of novelty, entertainment and utility, but from a position of future risk amelioration and protection.

Creativity, the third operator of the rational base of Brand Appeal demonstrates a Brand’s high adaptability and sensitivity to the environment it exists in. It also gives the Brand the imagery of a pioneer, one willing to take risks and go into unchartered territories, making it an attractive proposition.

Creativity places the Brand high on the social ladder too and this position of social leadership relegates its competition to the role of an automatic thought follower. A Brand’s Creativity shows a new way of thinking, giving it a unique appeal that audiences prefer to associate with. A creative Brand not only enhances its own value but brings value to society as a whole, helping breed a creative-culture in society, a necessary ingredient in social survival and growth. 

The Holy Trinity of Persuasion

Laying down the principles of persuasion, Aristotle writes in Rhetoric, "Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments."

Understanding, knowing and practicing these three principles, namely Ethos, Pathos and Logos, helps to lay the foundation in the study of positive persuasion.

Ethos

Ethos, related to the English word ethics, relates to the moral stance and personal character of the messenger. When communicating, the spokesperson’s ethical stance is the first aspect that gets transmitted to the audience. The perceived moral stance of the messenger is the vital test that allows a message to be accepted (or not) by the audience.

The intrinsic ‘believability’ of the messenger leads to the conviction that which is said, 'is true, and will be done'. Spokesperson ethics are valuable inputs in decisions taken by audiences and transgressions are taken very seriously. In Communication, the spokesperson’s character must be prominent to all strategies of persuasion.

Ethics and Communication are inseparably intertwined. Professions that have power over masses have the ability to sway and control the perceptions of millions by directly engaging with just a few. Communication plays the role of a guide for leaders, preparing organizations and communicators for public scrutiny as an 'ethical trigger' for self-governance.  This duty of self-monitoring becomes even more prominent since outcomes get radically influenced depending on the ethical stand taken.

Pathos

The appeal of pathos, or emotions, is sequentially next when persuading audiences. Emotional responses result from deep 'internal' forces and have strong subliminal influence on audiences. Pathos is related to sympathy and empathy, and the use of emotions helps make audiences more receptive to the communication because the use of emotion is unquestionably persuasive.

The response to primary emotions, (and their derivatives) like love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness and fear, is often seen as beyond-our-control.  It implies that our reaction to them is involuntary, subliminal and therefore, uncontrollable. It is this reaction that the communicator seeks in evoking Pathos.

Caution is necessary in the use of emotions due to the deep residual impact it can have. For example, if fear were used as a primary emotion to generate audience responses, the response will generate the after-effects of fear and this could give rise to acute reactions like stress, aggression, anger, and defense as a natural mechanism. These negative reactions could set off undesirable and unmanageable responses in the audience.

Logos

Logos - the appeal of the intellect - generally means logical or academic argument. This third pillar of persuasion is proof, or apparent proof, provided by persuasive arguments and always gives direct and clear answers. This is the rational side of convincing – one that appeals to audiences on the basis of their sense of reality. Logic depends on reasoning which itself rests on truth and perception of truth.

Often the line between fantasy and what is real gets blurred in communication, and what sounds right often becomes more important than what is right. It is, therefore, the communicator’s role to test and retest every message, and each one ought to be corroborated based on facts before presenting to the audience.

          Using logic alone can be harsh and even unjust at times. While they may be able to convey the 
         content, facts frequently do not convey the spirit of the discussion. Cold logic needs to be mixed 

         with the warmth of emotions and the balance of ethics to  suit human relations.

Every persuasive communication rests on the delicate equilibrium of the three pillars of Ethics, Emotion and Rational. When and how to use each of these comes with knowledge about these three principles and a sensitive consciousness of the audience. 

(extracts from the forthcoming book 'Decoding Communication')

Public Relations in a digital era (video of keynote address)

Video of the keynote speech delivered at the Digital Summit in Kolkata. (June 2012).

Public Relations in the digital era.

Public Relations in the digital age - (keynote address at Engage - The Digital Summit), Kolkata

Today was a day among digital stalwarts. Mr. Jawahar Sircar, Chairman, Prasar Bharati declared the summit open and spoke about the legacy of the organization that he recently took over - AIR, the government's FM channel, and Doordarshan - the free-to-air channel that still covers 40% cable homes in India. Anurag Batra, Chairman, exchange4media, was the first keynote who spoke about the growth of digital with inimitable panache, followed by Mahesh Murthy, CEO, Pinstorm, who showed how necessary it is to listen to  digital conversation and how to make sense of it. Vikramaditya Sinha, Director, Online, The Nielson Company was next and Narendra Nag and Geetanjali of Naked Communications followed after. There are several other greats I missed listening to, but just the first half of the day made my trip to Kolkata well worth it. (for a list of all the speakers and other details see http://www.engagedigitalsummit.com/speakers.php?page=speakers)


A gist of my keynote on the topic of 'PR in the digital age' is given here:

"Several speakers before me today have told us about the importance and nuances of the digital medium. My talk connects the institution that is the platform for today's event, PRSI, and the topic of the event, Digital Summit, and shows the intimate connection between digital medium and Public Relations. 


We know how the digital age is defined by an extremely high degree of interconnectedness, instantaneous communications, and its inherent capacity explosion or implosion capacity - the ability for things on the internet to significantly propel or impede any idea, organization, person or brand. 


Some inventions are life-changing - implying that life changes as a consequence of these inventions. The steam-engine, printing press are examples of such inventions and the Internet is one such. Our lives have changed forever. 


Due to the Internet, every person has an opportunity to be a part of a world changing idea. Each person can influence any other connected person, pushing their ideas and thoughts into people they have never met or even known. The small can kill the gargantuan and the new can hit at the belly of the established. We live in an world in which everyone has information access and its arbitrage alone can no longer be an advantage. Its how we process and use this information that is the key. 


Let us see if you can identify this  definition, and I'll ask you to tell me what it defines after you listen to it:
'It brings our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and it helps us function more effectively, contributing to mutual understanding and sharing. It brings private and public into harmony'


What do you think this defines? 


It sounds extremely close to social media, it almost sounds like it can also be used for defining the internet system as a whole. But, this is actually a definition for Public Relations!


Surprised? Well - Public Relations has always been about having 'important others' to project your point of view. Almost exactly what we are all attempting digitally. So, if you see, the advent of the internet has not dramatically changed what PR practitioners have been doing for decades - the digital era is just an extended way of life for Public Relations professionals. 


If we finally cut all the clutter, PR typically attempts to build two things, Reputation and Popularity. While the definition of Reputation has been attempted by previous speakers and its importance is understood in by digital professionals, Popularity is an extremely aspect common to PR and digital world as well. Let me define this first. 


Popularity can be loosely defined as the degree of 'likability' by a significant many. Does this remind you of a button that you click often? 


Reputation also is very important, but I would define it differently from the way other speakers have sought to. This all important indicator of social-worth, is the transmitted belief about attitudes of respect of something. Transmission being the operative word in the sentence. 


Media scrutiny is something all PR professionals are used to. All messages, stories have to be whetted by the media so that it is in line with the needs of the readers. Something like a moderated internet. All they need to do now, is cater to the needs of this reader/viewer audience directly. Digital just got PR  a little tighter, that's all. 


I now outline 6 steps that will help any organization to make their PR effective. But apart from this, it will also make them more suitable for the digital era automatically. Lets see what these important points are: 


1. Self awareness: Several of the audience has asked previous speakers, 'Must we tell it as it is?'. Well, I answer it a little differently. First you must know yourself. Its like the answer to the ubiquitous question, 'Who am I?' And once you know yourself, be yourself. It will help build organizational self confidence, and resultant self-respect.  


2. Principled approach & Transparency: This implies that the brand or organization act according to the self-awareness. If I were to ask you the owners of the brand Maggi, you may say Nestle. But it is you, as the users of the product, the consumers, the influencers, the brand participants who are the true owners of the brand. If the custodians of the brand (legal owners of the brand) act such that all action is such that it benefits these 'real owners', such action will be in line with this rule. It leads to self-regulation and greater belief in the brand. 


3. Criticism - self and from others: Public Relations and also the brands digital foray require one to be self-critical. This is a self-improvement method that allows continuous betterment. The other part, the ability to take external criticism builds resilience from others. After all, we must believe and know that there will always be the 'other point of view'. Once the brand has the ability to take criticism, society considers it to be dependable, and gives it more 'likability' and 'transmission'. 


4. Organizational humility: Humility is the sign of greatness. When it comes to the unfettered field of brands, it becomes even more important. It is shown by an absence of vanity, lack of selfish interests. When brands become all embracing and understand the 'law of unintended consequences' they become more humble. The unintended consequences is of two types. First, when the brand knows that what it achieves is not just a consequence of its own actions; and many others, even those unknown to it, affect in unintended ways. Second, it must  also know that the brand has the ability to affect similar others in unintended but positive ways. It must act with this belief, and when it does, it is on a path to greatness. 


5. Commitment: Showing commitment is the showing the will that makes winners. It is evident in sportsmen, where years of training is required to participate in one event, the result of which is totally indeterminate. That is commitment. It is infectious and spreads in society like a positive contagion. The world loves anything with commitment, and society tries to emulate anything with commitment. 


6. Sensitivity: This answers the question 'how must one act' in Public Relations and in the digital world. It must be with a deep and genuine caring for all the 'true owners' of the brand. The world of unintended audience must be embraced. 


Employ these 6 factors in what you do in the digital world, as they are only extensions of what the PR world has perfected over decades. 


  

Book Review: Sanjiv Mehta, CEO, The East India Company

Sanjiv Mehta
CEO, The East India Company

"Decoding Communications gives readers  an in-depth view into the DNA of communication and how to structure it to make it effective and efficient.

Chandramouli's years of experience in this field shines through, as it applies psychology to the field of communications, to dissect the various powers at work. By bringing in the social perspective, the author allows the reader to really get far beyond communication techniques to understand the art of persuation and influence.

It is a must read for executives managing communication, marketing, branding, PR, but also a great book for anyone looking to become a stronger influencer and powerful communicator. A great resource for beginners and experts in the field."

About The East India Company: See http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-16/india/28311109_1_brand-new-avatar-sanjiv-mehta 

What role does 'HOPE' play in communication?

Emotional maturity can be defined as the response of a Brand when faced with tough decisions that help it remain emotionally poised and balanced, acting with self-faith, and appreciative of the other’s point of view.  

Hope is an energy filled emotion that works when the chips are completely down – the more despondent the state, the more necessary Hope becomes. Generated through self-led positivity, Hope is optimism without disguise – that allows a Brand to collect itself and have a goal, even when everything seems to be lost. Hope also keeps focus on the future and takes attention away from problems. 

It is a healing emotion that spreads fast socially and creates a sense of positivity in everyone it touches. Hope, in one sense, is one of the most vital, self-triggered emotions that everyone silently desires. When communication feeds Hope, it makes the audience believe, even though the circumstances may seem impossible.

When communication messages carry 'Hope' in them, they turn audiences into anticipated positivity. If a Brand wants to generate emotional appeal, its communication must transfer hope to its audiences. 

(extract from forthcoming book 'Decoding Communication')

Book Review: Deejay (Deepak Jayaram), Managing Partner, Dialect (Group M)

Deepak Jayaram (Deejay)
Managing Partner
Dialect (Group M)

"Decoding Communication is an absorbing treatise on the evolution of communication through the lens of psychology, sociology and anthropology. It shows the importance of  our approach to effective communications, so important in an age of instant social-media reactions. A necessary read for those who see their calling in the communications industry."  

 

Arjun Balakrishnan, Director, Panasonic, on Decoding Communication

Arjun Balakrishnan,
Director, Panasonic India

"Congratulations to Chandramouli on pathbreaking analysis and content in Decoding Communication.  There is no question that it is a brilliantand insightful analysis that draws on  Anthropology, Cognition and Intelligence. In other words,your book seeks to reflect the correlation between communication and the truth.

Outstanding work! It is really for the student of communication as well as for the CEO."

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman (India) Aegis Plc. reviews Decoding Communication

Ashish Bhasin is the Chairman (India) and CEO (South Asia) of Aegis Plc. Before this he was has been a Lintas veteran for 21 years. 

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman (India)
Aegis Plc.

"Decoding Communication by Chandramouli, is a good treatise on the often partially understood process of Communication. It is quite strange that while we have over 600 advertising agencies and over 250000 people employed by the advertising, marketing & communication businesses in India, we don’t have sufficient literature. To that effect Chandramouli’s efforts are laudatory and will help the industry.

What I liked about Decoding Communication is that Chandramouli covers a wide spectrum of the different facets of communication, including propaganda, public relations and brand appeal. His past studies on the Trust aspect of brands has enabled him to throw light on Trust. Infact two chapters are devoted to Trust and how it impacts both brands and businesses.

I would very much recommend Decoding Communication to students, practitioners and proponents of the Advertising & Marketing Communication world, as a good starting point for gaining insights on a topic that is more complex than what it appears from outside."

About Aegis

Aegis Group plc is a global media and digital marketing communications group. Aegis plc has two operating businesses, Aegis Media (Carat, Vizeum, Posterscope, Isobar and iProspect) and Aztec, the scan-based market and consumer insights company. Aegis Group plc shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Aegis media has 5 media companies under the group - Carat, Isobar, Vizeum, Posterscope and iProspect.

How to add Rational Appeal to your brand?

Humans are known to have higher cognitive abilities - a mental process of knowledge acquisition based on awareness, reasoning, judgment and perception. Rational is a bridge that helps us arrive at the truth. It helps in cognitive judgment and is a necessary part of every decision making process. When communication is based on the rational, it appeals to the cognitive intellect of the audiences, demonstrating infallibly, reason to believe. 

Quad erat demonstrandum (latin for which was to be demonstrated) is a statement made at the end of mathematical proofs or philosophical arguments. This is the way one must approach rational communication as well - beginning with an initial premise. The communication that a Brand makes must be logically deduced, demonstrating the sought conclusion. 

Logic appeals to intrinsic proofs of reasoning and extrinsic proofs through demonstration (as in testimony, eye-witnesses) but it must conclusively and unambiguously show the result as demonstrated. However, if Rational is used too directly, it may alienate the audiences and despite it being an extraordinary tool, it must be used in conjunction with other appeals to create  the natural attractive forces of a brand. 

(Extract from the chapter titled 'Attractive Forces of a Brand' from Decoding Communication)

Book Review: Murugavel Janakiraman, Chairman, Consim Group (Bharatmatrimony.com)

Murugavel Janakiraman
CHAIRMAN, CONSIM GROUP
(Bharatmatrimony.com, Indiaproperty.com,
Clickjobs.com)

" Chandramouli has done a masterful job of 'decoding communication' in his new book by the same name. With a good balance of theory and practice, he provides readers with an insightful introduction to the development of communication theories while covering a range of issues of significance to businesses of all types. It is particularly strong in offering an account of the development of major theoretical approaches in communication and its applicability in business.

As John Wanamaker put it and quoted by Chandramouli, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Wanamaker may well have been speaking for most marketers today. Innovative and useful products fail, organizations are unable to align vision, investors are quickly disheartened and seek exit - and all this and more, not because what organizations created was wrong, argues Chandramouli. Most times it is because organizations could not effectively communicate their service, vision, product benefits correctly, or because they totally misunderstood their audiences.

Chandramouli looks at some of the key reasons why communication has become so wasteful and has degenerated into a system without accountability in many companies. Therefore, every communication, the basis of all the internal and external relationships a business manages, he exhorts, should be based on Sustainable Communication. He goes on to describe that organizational winning strategy and offers six simple steps to help create a Sustainable Communication system in any organization.

The chapters on Propaganda and Public Relations are particularly interesting, which is not surprising considering that Chandramouli is a veteran and highly successful PR professional in India. He writes that PR is the only communication tool that was created for the sake of the public in response to their needs, facilitating "public understanding and acceptance".

Public Relations not only communicates but guides how to communicate, preparing the organization to a lifestyle that would be no less than spiritual. Public Relations thus brings the organization and its society into harmony.

Elsewhere in the book, Chandramouli draws on his nuanced understanding of Greek history to talk authoritatively on the holy trinity of persuasion, namely Ethos, Pathos and Logos, that has helped lay the foundation in the study of communication and positive persuasion. On these three pillars rest the perfect persuasion and a persuasive communication strategy.

Decoding Communication indeed provides a detailed analysis of the historical, scientific, critical and cultural questions at the foundation of communication theories and practice. It is a book that will prove to be essential text for communication professionals  as well as students and all those interested in the art of communication".