The Disastrous Impact of Women's Safety Issues on India's Culture and Image

Ever since the Narendra Modi government has come to power, one can clearly see an agenda to improve India’s global image.

However, continued global media reporting on violence against women in India coupled with the Brookings India paper titled Necessity of a new conversation on Women in India published on June 23, 2014, brings the spotlight back to a glaring gap that stands to tarnish India’s image. As Indians, we do take immense pride in the diverse cultural fabric of our society. That fabric is held together by the women of India.

On talking to my expat friends, the question of violence against women in India tends to inadvertently come up. When I begin to explain that its roots lie in the weak law enforcement (as is the case with most crimes), I say it with degree of trepidation. The next question I would get asked is on the kind of outrageous comments that some influential Indian politicians have recently made, including the most infamous one by a former chief minister that stand to trivialize rape as a mistake.

Images from 'Abused Goddesses' campaign of Save The Children India

Clearly as a PR professional, I understand how deep an impact such incidents and comments have on India’s image.

So, the fact that the issue of women’s safety was completely missing from the Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda and was brought up as a reaction to the politicization of the Badaun incident in the Indian state of U.P., was not really the best way for a new government to tackle such a socially critical aspect.

Can India really improve its image without addressing the issue of women’s safety? We would be deceiving ourselves by believing so.

Some argue that by putting women in key ministries, the present government has sent out the right message. While it’s a welcome step but we must not forget that India has had a woman PM for over 15 years (Mrs. Indira Gandhi) and most states have had women Chief Ministers. In fact, the state of U.P., which recently witnessed the most heinous crimes against women, has had two women Chief Ministers, Sucheta Kriplani (also India's first woman CM) and Mayawati. Sheila Dikshit was Delhi Chief Minister for 15 years till 2013. Yet the situation of women’s safety in India has deteriorated over the years.

So what’s the way forward?

Some people point to the re-introduction of the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill as well as reservation of jobs for women in public and private sector as a possible solution.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook and the author of "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead" in a recent interview to CNBC TV18 said that quality should remain the key criterion for women (or men) holding any office. She gave the example of Norway which has a 40% reservation for women in parliament since 2003 yet only 3% of CEOs in that country are women. She argues that we need to get rid of the inhibitions on women, in personal and professional life, rather than trying to provide any preferential treatment. Most of my women colleagues have often voiced their dislike for any sort of preferential treatment being offered  to them in public life just because they are women. 

When we compare that thought to our experience with reservation or reserved quotas for certain sections of society in India, it’s very similar. The beneficiaries of most reservations have always been the creamy layer even within the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Had the focus been on providing better quality education in government schools and colleges rather than solely relying on reservation for SC/ ST, their situation would have been far better. In fact, reservation often makes these communities a subject of rebuke.

So, if the Women’s Reservation Bill does get passed by the Indian Parliament, it may get us some good media coverage but little results for the majority of women. It is most likely to benefit women belonging to higher strata of society or wives of existing politicians who would be fielded by their husbands to take advantage of the reservation, as has been the case so far.

There is a dire need to encourage more women in cities and particularly in villages to come forward and actively participate in public life. But for that to happen, women’s safety is the most basic pre-requisite.

If we look at other countries facing women’s safety issues such as Nigeria (in the limelight owing to the Boko Haram abduction of over 200 girls), there is a common thread – weak law enforcement. Having lived in Nigeria for over 12 years, I can say that for things to have reached such a low point, it reflects the extreme situation that can happen with the breakdown of an already weak law enforcement machinery. It’s a word of caution for Indian governments that the women’s safety issue, if not addressed with the utmost priority, can lead to far more serious crimes at a scale and severity never seen before. 

When governments lose their grip on law enforcement, anti-social elements take the law into their hands with a sense of impunity. For instance in the case of U.P., there is little that one expect from the state government in managing law and order, an aspect that the Samajwadi Party is notorious for messing up, thanks to its own unruly party cadre. Only pressure from all sides – public pressure combined with Central government pressure, can make it deal with law enforcement seriously.

Of course, there is a need for a mindset change which I addressed in my earlier blog post Women’s and children’s safety is impossible in a society that eulogizes aggression. However, that may take a generation to fully address so let’s start with what we can do on an immediate basis.

If there are people who still believe that the issue of women’s safety is not critical enough to figure in the top 10 priorities of Central and State governments, it may just be too late before we realize the damage to India’s culture, to its youth, to the economy and, obviously to India’s image in the world.

Are you a data-literate PR practitioner?

Chances are that very few of us would have asked ourselves this question. Surely we’re PR professionals, not analysts, right?

Well, it’s time we realised the difference that data analysis skills can make in our careers.

All over the world, public relations and marketing teams try hard to garner a greater share of senior management attention. In most cases, marketing fares better as it is viewed as broader in scope and directly impacting business outcomes (read sales) whereas PR’s scope is labelled as media relations. Many CEOs (who usually hail from a sales background) believe that while marketing leads the charge, PR continues in the background coming to the fore during instances such as crisis communications.

So where did PR lose the plot?

To put it simply, armed with customer data and insights, marketers have done a fairly good job at marketing themselves within the company (and more power to them) but alas, PR practitioners have done a terrible job in shaping their own perception.

Let’s take a common scenario – the management asks marketing and PR teams to present proposals on how to position and launch the company’s first consumer product or service offering in a new market segment.

The marketing team is likely to undertake a consumer segmentation study to understand the behavioural patterns of the various consumer segments. Based on the data from study findings, key differentiators would be identified that would appeal to an existing or latent need of key customer segments.

The PR team’s approach would be to conduct a media audit and competition coverage analysis and present some top comments as media perception of industry and competitors.

When each of the teams presents its strategy to the senior management, does the PR approach even stand a chance? It’s not surprising that behind their backs, many PR teams get mocked at for the shallowness of their customer and stakeholder understanding. The outcome would be that the PR team would be asked to toe the marketing line and revise its tactics according to the marketing plan.

What made the difference?

The audience and competitor insights gained through research can make up to 50% of the marketing proposal whereas the best research a PR plan would have is a few slides on media perception and environment audit, usually based on secondary research.

Advertising firms realised the need for an account planning department early on, with the primary function of finding consumer insights that help the creative teams to produce highly relevant and engaging campaigns in the marketplace. The account planner spends time observing the consumer's path to purchase, by using research such as ethnographies, focus groups or quantitative/social studies among others.

In comparison, the research undertaken and insights presented by PR teams is laughable. Most of them would not even know how to frame appropriate questions for a consumer survey in a manner that brings out the desired insights.

The key to changing the PR approach is to inculcate analytical skills among PR practitioners. If it means that PR firms and in-house PR teams need to hire account planners, analysts and statistics graduates, so be it.

The consolidation among advertising firms provides an excellent opportunity to hire account planners and marketing research experts. Many global PR firms have already begun setting up data analytics departments and imparting such skills to the larger teams. However, the model is still being tested at a hub level without having penetrated into markets.

Unless PR practitioners begin to actively seek and generate data (by commissioning surveys if necessary), understand data analysis and develop the ability to derive stakeholder insights, they will find it increasingly difficult to enhance their own perception with clients, in general and client senior management, in particular.  

 So, for the PR practitioners, the takeaways are:

•  Don’t be overwhelmed by data. Identify the relevant pieces that validate one’s perspective/ opinion. And the same ‘boring’ data can be represented visually through an infographic which could make a press release more appealing. Be on the lookout for creative ways to represent data.

• Being data literate is only the first step to developing analytical skills; another key step is to read, read and read in order to gather various perspectives and understand macro-level trends. Then build one’s own perspective based on trusted data source/s. One’s assessment should reflect in documents such as story pitches, opinion articles and in every form of client counsel. Analytical skills can truly position a PR practitioner as a consultant to the client.

• Before conversing with a CEO, be armed with data-driven insights that help decipher relevant trends; without hard data, no arguments can convince a CEO.

• Don’t be misled into believing that analytical skills will inevitably come with experience or with an MBA degree; the ability to decipher data needs to be cultivated on the job and preferably early in the career. 

If PR has to become a management function, it must learn to make sound data understanding its bedrock. So, next time you come across a piece of data, try to see if there exists an underlying trend relevant to your client. We’ve often been told to read between the lines, it’s now time to read between the data points.

This piece is reproduced from my byline with the same title appeared in PRmoment.in dated April 14, 2014

Why are Indian companies not getting the ‘Trust’ they deserve?

Trust is a very emotive issue, subject to interpretation. The closest definition of trust in business would be that one should have the confidence to partner with another party whereby one shares his/her proprietary information, intelligence and practices.

As per the 14^th Annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Indian institutions rank second from the bottom among 27 nations on the basis of being trusted by other nations. The annual survey captures trust levels in four key institutions globally and for each of the 27 countries. The institutions surveyed are Government, Business, Media and Civil Society (Non-Governmental Organizations). China is just one percentage point ahead of India which is insignificant, if that helps Indians draw some solace. But the point remains on why Indian institutions (companies headquartered in India) are not worth trusting or is it that they’re not getting the trust they deserve. I’d like to believe the latter.

Courtesy Edelman Trust Barometer 2014

 

The fact that many Indian brands figure in the most valuable brand, according to 2014 Brand Finance Global in the world effectively does away with the argument that Indian companies aren’t worth trusting. No brands can attain such value without being trusted.

Then why are most Indian companies not getting the trust they deserve?

Conduct

One reason is clearly owing to the conduct of some Indian corporates that has earned Indian businesses and indeed the country a bad name – Satyam Computer Services (wherein its promoter B. Ramalinga Raju is serving his jail sentence in a multi-million dollar scam, arguably India’s biggest corporate fraud), several telecom companies involved in the notorious 2G spectrum scam are just a few examples.

To an extent, our tarnished image is the doing of our own brethren. Of course, one can argue that even America has had its fair share of corporate fraud with Enron, MF Global, WorldCom among others. So, the question should be whether Indian corporates have put in place the necessary checks and balances to avoid such occurrences. Time will tell.

The second reason could be many questionable corporate practices of Indian businesses. While it would be incorrect to paint all Indian businesses with the same brush, many companies do remain predominantly family-run with promoters ruling by fiat. Indeed, the erstwhile Roman Emperors would feel quite at home at many of our corporate houses. Industry forums are buzzing with discussions on corporate governance but when talking to investors and employees at these companies, the usual response is that the pace of reform is too slow to have any positive impact.

Courtesy Edelman Trust Barometer 2014

The Values v/s Valuations Debate

Many Indians tend to opt for white-collar jobs in MNCs, not just for the prospects of better remuneration (which isn’t always the case as salaries in Indian companies have caught up) but for better corporate practices and more conducive work culture. The Edelman Trust Barometer validates the fact when it shows that Indians trust companies from America, U.K. and many western markets more than Indian companies. The fact that Indians don’t trust the Chinese companies is no surprise. This clearly indicates that while valuations do matter (considering some BRIC-headquartered companies have very high valuations), the discussion is increasingly on the values of doing business.

Courtesy Edelman Trust Barometer 2014

 Staying with the Romans, many Indian corporates would argue that Rome wasn’t built (or rather reformed) in a day. Yes, but we’re in the twenty-first century, aren’t we, so perhaps the speed of reform should be a tad faster. Or does this sound like time travel for the old school corporate managers?

The third (and every Indian’s favourite reason) is that of rampant corruption in the government where rules are framed in a way to let those playing dirty get the edge. The 2G scam, coal scam (fondly referred to as Coalgate) are glowing examples. One tends to wonder what the Ivy League educated ministers in the Government were up to if they couldn’t get the basics right. A plausible answer seems to be as Arvind Kejriwal put it- the problem is not lack of capability of government ministers or bureaucrats, it’s the lack of intent. And that’s why any external reform effort is destined to fail.

So, is the end of the tunnel near? Hopefully, India Inc. has been through the worst and learnt its lessons on the way. Let the corporate bigwigs start by taking measures that would help in trust-building within each economic sector. It is when such an atmosphere is created that like-minded companies begin to work together. For instance William Procter, a candle maker and James Gamble, a soap maker realized that if they stopped competing with each other for their common raw material (wax) and formed one company, they would be far more successful.  That meant trusting each other. Thus was formed Procter and Gamble (today known as P&G) and the rest is history. Indian corporates need to realize that instead of fighting with one another for the limited pie, they’re better off working together to grow the pie. And this co-operation should not be limited to a transactional level but on a long-term basis. Reputation building, be it for a brand or an industry, is a long-term play and consistency is key - Consistency in conduct and in communication of the values. So, communication professionals have an important role to play. 

When Indian businesses usher in this atmosphere of trust, leaving corporate rivalry and egos aside, the trust of international companies towards India is bound to grow. The fact that Indian businesses are more trusted by India’s ‘aam aadmi’ (common man) than NGOs, Media and Government should be a good omen. Let’s hope the goodwill is strengthened lest the halo slips.

Lessons for PR professionals from the Kejriwal phenomenon

Yes, there’s lots to learn from the Arvind Kejriwal phenomenon that has stunned not just the state of Delhi but the entire nation. Born on August 16, 1968 he sure missed that year’s Independence Day by a whisker, but the spirit of freedom seems to have own grown stronger over time. While listening to Kejriwal’s speech post the swearing in of the first Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government at Ramlila Ground in New Delhi, it was clear that this achievement is as much to do with a fantastically executed communications strategy as it is to do with shrewd political strategy.

The AAP performance in Delhi is a case study for all in the area of mass communications particularly for public relations students and professionals. While a lot has been said about Kejriwal's political strategy and unrelenting conviction, for the sake of this article, I would want to limit myself to analysing the salient steps of his communications strategy and its execution.

Step 1: Leveraging audience insights

At the heart of any communication strategy lies indepth understanding of target audience’s emotions and hot buttons. While corruption is a nationwide issue, not specific to Delhi, Kejriwal maintained a razor sharp focus on establishing and reiterating the link between corruption in state government to the day-to-day problems faced by Delhi’s poor and middle class citizens – irregular water supply, high electricity bills and sky-rocketing food prices. Add to the list, the appalling state of women’s safety in New Delhi which has been a burning issue in the last one year, and the audience connect couldn’t be more complete for a party that claims to represent the common men and women.

On all these issues, the ruling Congress Party scoffed at AAP’s criticism by providing counter arguments such as our performance speaks. Well, it didn’t and the result is for all to see. The Congress in Delhi couldn’t understand what hit it as its popularity came crumbling down like a house of cards. Poor communication had much to do with the defeat.  

From the very beginning of his election campaign, Kejriwal leveraged symbolism to ingrain his message in the minds of the audience – the broom as a symbol of cleaning the society of corruption, the white Gandhi cap which symbolized India’s freedom struggle and even after the victory, using public transport to reach the venue of his swearing in ceremony.

Lesson for PR professionals: Based on insights, the strategy must clearly identify how every message has a direct connect with an existing audience need, value or belief. Prepare for the counter arguments or as we say ‘rude Qs’. Use relatable symbols to strengthen the connect. Call out key differentiators that clearly set you apart. Most often, it is these audience insights and differentiators that make or break a communications strategy.

Step 2: Crafting credible messages and validating them time and again

Messaging was Kejriwal’s strongest area. Having worked extensively at the grassroots, he was fully aware of the pulse of the poor. Kejriwal and his team pre-empted the fact that the messaging had to address two key questions or doubts that would emerge in the minds of the voters.

1. How serious is his rookie party, AAP in delivering where the other two rival parties, BJP and Congress had failed, considering the others have a sizeable governance record while AAP has none? 
2. Will the vote for AAP be a wasted one since the party may end up winning just a few seats and is primarily aiming to divide votes?

The party addressed the first doubt by taking a tough stance on most of the issues. While Kejriwal was blamed by opposition and some sections of the media for being rigid and self-righteous, his unflinching stance seemed to demonstrate a steely resolve to address the people’s issues. Kejriwal ensured that his allegations against the government were backed by facts/ evidence of some sort. For instance in January 2013 he claimed to have a confidential letter by State Electricity Board stating that the private power distribution companies did have the headroom to reduce tariffs but chose to make huge profits instead. 

To address the second doubt the party conducted surveys on its own which claimed that Kejriwal was the most popular choice for Chief Minister by the people of the state. The raw data of the survey was put on the party’s website for verification. Having a credible and respected psephologist and political commentator as Yogendra Yadav incharge of the surveys, meant that the results were being taken seriously by some media and audience segments.

All documents from the manifesto to the pamphlets reinforced the same messages. To top it all, each and every party leader walked the talk during and after the campaign period.

Lesson for PR professionals: Ensure that all messages are validated by referenceable proof points. If proof points do not exist, use audience surveys to create credible evidence. Always get your facts right and be anal about it if needed. Credibility and transparency are at the core of message acceptance. And most crucially, ensure that the spokespersons walk the talk.

Step 3: Focus on message delivery and swiftness of response on all platforms - traditional and social media

Once AAP got its messaging in place, it went for the kill with all guns blazing. As a PR professional, I could well imagine how effectively its media cell was being managed with the party spokespersons being allocated for high-impact TV debates and print media interviews while its candidates went on a door-to-door campaign in their constituencies. The flow of information to the media was uninterrupted. The calmness and confidence with which most of AAP’s spokespersons (Shazia Ilmi, Rahul Mehra, Manish Sisodia, Prashant Bhushan) fielded questions on TV channels showed the level of preparation, aided by the fact that they all have a media or law background. The party’s lightening fast response to the alleged sting operation blunted the opposition’s attack.  

Well sure, some key media persons were clearly supportive of the AAP cause which showed in the debates but that doesn’t take way from the fact that the media cell was well managed.

Another commendable effort was its social media outreach aimed at the youth led by Ankit Lal, AAP’s social media strategist. Considering the high number of first time voters between the age group of 18-22, social media formed the best means to reach them. An additional message for this audience was on the significance of exercising one’s the right to vote since once they get to the polling stations, they were far more likely to vote for AAP than for any other party.

Most key party members were active on Twitter during campaigning period from @shaziailmi to @msisodia. The number of Hindi tweets showed the attempt to keep the Hindi speaking audience engaged. On reviewing @ArvindKejriwal twitter handle with over 990,000 followers (as on Jan 1, 2014), its following list of 72 consisted primarily of media houses, top political journalists and spokespersons of rival parties, apart from close aides. Similarly the @AamAadmiParty twitter handle with over 290,000 followers, follows 377 comprising a mixed bag of party supporters, rival candidates notably Dr. Harsh Vardhan who is the BJP's CM candidate and top political journalists. The importance being given to media and rival comments was amply evident. In comparison, Sheila Dikshit of the Congress is not present on Twitter whereas Dr. Harsh Vardhan of the BJP has only 32,000 twitter followers.

The Aam Aadmi Party Facebook page had over 200,000 people talking about it any given time while the BJP Facebook page which happens to be older and with over twice the number of likes had on average 160,000 people talking about it. The graphics and visuals, taken from various sources, being posted on the page evoked a high degree of audience interest. Most graphics had a link to party's owned online platforms such as the website particularly to the donations page since a significant part of the party's funding came from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who donated online. Online and offline campaigns were synchronized. Kejriwal became one of the five most mentioned Indian politicians on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the run-up to the assembly elections.

Lesson for PR professionals: In the age of constant media and audience scrutiny, swiftness of response is as critical as authenticity of message. However, this can only happen when Steps 1 and 2 have been thoroughly undertaken. Many PR professionals rush to Step 3 which fails to achieve the desired impact and can backfire during a crisis if the proof points are not in place. On social media platforms, listen carefully and thereafter let each spokesperson engage with the audience directly rather than routing it through the company page/handle. That said, do set the engagement guidelines and train the spokesperson if needed, but don’t restrict people-to-people engagement. Also, the visual element is crucial considering the short attention span of online audiences. 

Day 1 as Chief Minister of Delhi at CM's office
 Courtesy: Post.Jagran.com

As public relations professionals, we have grown richer by studying the experience of Arvind Kejriwal and his party. As we enter another election year, the communication strategy would be a decisive factor for who gets to wear the crown in 2014 general elections. So, exciting times ahead for those in the business of public relations…

January 2014 marks the completion of one year of my blog. Would like to thank all those who have encouraged me during this period and would appreciate feedback on the existing content as well as any other aspects that you’d like me to cover. You can also reach me on @tarunnagrani. Onward with my passion for PR...