 Our first person to come upon to this stage is better suited for this ladies and gentlemen Please put your hands together for Dr. Anurag Batra chairman and editor-in-chief BW business world and exchange for media. Can we have a round of applause for the gentleman everybody? Wonderful. Thank you It's a budget day. I am also focused on the budget coverage on business world So that's what I'm taking on my phone and I was watching the FM's speech on business world out in Welcome to the fourth edition of the exchange for media PR and cop com 40 and the 40. These are young leaders And you know when I was preparing for my session today. I said, what will I talk to all of you? first of all You must have seen in the last five days Leading group from India. They had a PR crisis they got a research report on them and There's share slid and again, then there was too much coverage Rightly, so it's a large company of what happened in a Lot of commentary around it And I was thinking could have that group handle that He went a little better and I have my three top Suggestions on that and that illustrates the role of PR My first point is that you know leaders entrepreneurs founders CEOs Should have surround themselves with people who tell them the truth not necessarily tell them what is the bosses want to hear because at the end of the day everyone survival and They're thriving depends on it and the link point with it is that the PR and cop com leader should have a role at the board Because if a communication can get the stock to be down by forty five billion dollars by forty five billion dollars then the The role of media and hence the role of corporate communication should be right at the boardroom so I think I I'm sure and also the right person the right Communication person in the boardroom can add value in the wrong communication person in the boardroom can subtract value That's true for every role, but really the point. I'm trying to make is that PR and cop com has to have a role at the Border governor's level, you know border directors level at you know And a very strategic level and not just at a tactical level. I think it needs to change. It should have changed Like lawyers of a big role In companies CFOs are big roles the CFO in the lawyer are very important with compliances have become important So the role of the head of cop com has become even more important in the last seven days What has happened with Adani Enterprises? Should be an eye-opener second. I was thinking what could I mean? It's very easy to give advice to someone how to lose weight how to grow hair how to run your company better All kinds you know how to bring your children better I am a doer. I do believe in advice and I believe good advice is very valuable Right advice is very valuable, but it's very easy to look back in the rear view mirror and say oh This person should have done that that person should have done that, but there are three the first is PR and cop com people having a role at the Epex DC and making and they being very honest and showing mirror to the To the promoter that's very important and the promoters are smart. It's not that CEO's promoters they know even if they May not agree they will think about it and over a period of time they want to be Successful, so they will implement. They you know Second point is what could have what have you learned from this? One who you feel when there is a crisis home You know I read this cover and trust me. I do read magazine beyond my magazine So I read the time magazine cover. It's called the power of speaking less zip a beautiful cover it's Blue cover in India. They change the cover. They had a cover on environments India's ESG is pushed And I read the piece and I've since last ten days. I try to speak lesser trust me So also is the person you're feeling is he or she over communicating. I think We live we get bombarding but what's that this so over communication can be counterproductive Especially when you're dealing with such a sensitive thing that happened in the last one week, right? And Heidenberg is a short seller, you know the short cell So they have had a very successful track record till now Everyone they've gone after they've been proven right at least they damaged the company Right the stock price has been Pulled down. So one is who are you feeling is the person that you're feeling believable credible is the person Saying the right things are you is the person believable? You know the CFOs and lawyers are too used to everyone listening to them They're signing the checks especially in listed companies lawyers of a disproportionate advice in India still less but in the US No big decision can happen without the lawyers advice So who you're feeling To the media is also important. Should the promoter of himself come? I don't know the lies. There's nothing right wrong When there's some absolute black and whites But in these things, I don't know maybe the promoter should have gone himself But some people in his office will have told him nice are up Chotee she's a handle $45 billion wife dog Chotee she's a and the entire credibility at Quaspec So I mean, I don't know the answers and I don't I'm not a theory person Taking decisions I take decisions very fast mostly third point within this is the first point was You know the cop com leaders having a seat at the head at the Boardroom level second is what can you do in the crisis in the three lessons one is the person you're feeling should be speaking, right? And should be believable Second should the promoter go himself? Maybe yes in my view. You can come and do two Scripted interviews. I'll say it as it is. This was a time to show your real matter That's what I believe Right, it was significant third point is It's a larger point is how do you choose your media engagements? When do you come out? When do you speak? of course You know, there are leaders who write their annual letters. Mr. Kumar Bangla Miller one, you know, we featured it I think today with especially if you're a listed company again, you know speaking Just right is enough. What is less? What is more is always subjective But I think you have to create multiple Spokespersons because the touch points and the number of occasions that you may have to represent yourself has grown events will happen which may be Outside your control, right? So I think creating more Faces that are credible spokesperson. I Think the bench strength of faces of people who are credible in world-life gravitas When they speak and you know believability is very important last year in exchange for media We started racking the spokespersons of political parties. We came up just before in bar. We came out with spoke present It's not what you say is it believable For the spoke person some of them are pure entertainment So some of the spokespersons called well because they're a little more believable little more authentic and my last point No business Digital and technology has made an impact like in the media business It's made impact in every business. We are speaking for 55 days after chat GPT version 3 was not Again, I have a viewpoint that chat GPT will not replace human. It may replace some jobs And about 25 days back Writer reached out to me She helped my daughter on her book and said some of her friends have lost content jobs Can you help them place? This is about 25 days back. So yes some jobs will go but chat GPT is based on machine learning on past data past behavior So it cannot by definition definition create something new. So if you have to do a new painting We can create a painting like it was created in the past But if you have to do an entirely different way of presenting something Writing something it cannot so the human ingenuity will always be in play Our too much reliance on technology is good, but it's not so good so I think The touch points have increased Technology touch points have increased, but the role of physical touch Maybe there should have been a press conference Just feeling your spokesperson your cfo on a Monday morning on two channels wasn't good enough Because the retail investors are 8% and they are not necessarily only watching those channels So I'm using the last week Issue because it was a very important issue from a communication standpoint now one question you could always say That what has happened is bigger than communication Is there a larger question about whatever was raised? Again, I keep saying coincidences are not so coincidental and I wrote a piece 14 months back about how foreign media covers India even in you pay one you pay to especially the last line So there is a BBC documentary There is a I mean at the end of the day No one company's representative of the whole country in a good or a bad way But the fact is I want to give you one positive thing about about Adani is that a large part of India's GDP Comes through ports everything comes and there are government operators of ports But almost 20% of GDP of India comes to Adani ports And it is difficult to build infrastructure very fast So they may be wanting to be India's largest infrastructure company which they may become But the fact is there's significant So all this happened in one week you can always think maybe there is a larger Scheme around it. I don't know I've never believed in conspiracy theory But a friend of mine's father says I've written it in the past key Coincidences are also not so coincidental So I don't know but the larger point is the role of corporate communication is becoming bigger and bigger It should have a role at the Epics decision-making They should be consulted and be part of every decision that is strategic Of course tactically they're involved second in crisis feel the main man if it is a crisis of this, you know Second is feel people who are more believable Who talk just right when they talk people listen third create more spokesperson than one and the last larger point is Just doing two Appearances on to leaving business news channel is good, but is it good enough? maybe So these are questions noble again in life. There's no right wrong It is very situational. It is very contextual and there must be thinking which we may not know behind what happened Why those decisions were taken and I want to end by contrasting Traditionally India's largest business house Transition in the way they do their media I don't have to tell you traditionally the last two plus decades, which was the largest business house in the country The name starts with our the promoter now name starts with them. I Think over the last One decade. I've watched the kind of people they've employed They've employed people Traditionally, they would extend patronage to every media person things have become very selective and very strategic And they've changed the way they engage with media I think there's something there to learn and also when large business houses will own media When media will get an opportunity to report Factual things which may be not mostly positive the media will do that So is it a good idea for large business houses to buy media companies? Not sure I will tell you know, I'm not Nostradamus or an astrologer, but these are questions, you know Gathering of copham and communication leader. I just wanted to raise these. I wish you luck as I shared This is the fourth year. We expect a full house in the second half We have 95 percent of the winners coming as current shared We started the PR copcom domain on the site more than 17 years back We started the PR and copcom awards 14 years back This year will be the 15th year. So we believe that PR and copcom people have an important role I mostly respond to every junior most person may not call back But I text back always because I think they have a role to play you are who I answer mails these are little lesser because then you know continuous engagement, so I've Purposely toned it down But I I think I tell my senior editorial colleagues in both the companies that PR people are an important part of what we do You must communicate and even if you don't want to do an interview tell them you're not don't lead them on Don't keep it vague. Tell them we can't do an interview now Whenever there's relevance we'll do but don't keep them hanging. They'll keep calling you you'll waste your time and their time So point I'm trying to make it I've always believed that PR and copcom are gatekeepers in some cases of the leaders that we want to feature And they we must engage with them in a deep manner only not when we need Them but throughout the year and you know a lot of PR cop on people ask for Meetings for their clients on a relationship basis Depending on who should meet we do engage, you know sometimes the promoter was large I'll meet otherwise mr. Ja or noor Depending on if it's an healthcare person Jyotsana so on and so forth So really point I'm trying to make is that we've at exchange for me They always believe this is a very important stakeholder ecosystem for us It's reflected in how what we do in this space. We also bring out PR commune, which we launched last year Hopefully this year will become bigger and bigger with this. I wish you luck and I hope you continue to read magazines And we are not in the just in the magazine business in exchange for media We're not in the business of events or magazine, which is impact and pitch or you know online We're in the business of building communities So we built India's largest marketing advertising media Communication community for the last 21 plus years in e4m within that we built sub community And we'll go even deeper in them Similarly in business world. We are a B2C brand and we are profitable now. We'll grow And you know, I lost I lost all my hair in the last nine years trying to make business world profitable It took a lot of investment But in the last 20 months we've been profitable our best time is ahead of us within the business of brand and content We're in the business of audiences and reach format and magazines are Being picked up from stands You'll be surprised watch next six months, and I'm not just talking about ours You know, I still buy a time magazine almost 500 bucks economist almost 500 bucks I like to read the physical magazine. It's good for my eyes. Plus, you know, I'm digital Two and a half minutes spent on a site is significant time I spent like every evening before I sleep 30 to 40 minutes reading a magazine Right on a Sunday much more Right this the habit of reading is not going out of and print in print as it's credibility One surrogate is books the number of books being sold the number of authors writing books So clearly print is not going anywhere And I must tell you the biggest corporate leaders that I engage with they'll do an interview and then ask Of course the online goes immediately. Oh, when is it coming in the print issue? It's always a question. I'm asked So clearly I don't write off print. I've been hearing about print for last Seven eight years. I've been hearing about radio for 15 years Newspapers for another 10 years. I mean if newspapers Newsprint price hadn't gone up by the way it has gone up. It was seven hundred dollars a ton It is almost fourteen hundred twelve hundred to I'm talking paper Newspapers would have been actually very profitable Because the revenues have gone up and some of the newspapers most of the newspapers in Covid brought down their costs of people Right, so I just want to say that We'll continue to engage with you in a meaningful and a deep way We wish you luck and the leaders we celebrate today through a jury process I get to know I Don't even have the list. I'm not asked But I know one or two names because you know one or two ex-colleagues and you know current check with me only in that context I know the names and I must tell you we don't sell our awards. I Met someone exactly two weeks back in my office business world office. He's a guy so work for a media company now His own company. I won't name the company You know, I want all media companies to do well life is about abundance While we compete with each other. It's okay. Life is about abundance. I won't take But we don't sell our awards and he told me So I was sitting with two of my very senior And I was very quiet listening to making notes and after he left I asked somebody sitting in the So how much do you think what I'm thinking? He was almost accurate. He said two things He said one you're thinking why are we not getting second is we are missing out on so much money That you're a bang on but we can't do this It's not that we don't like money It's not that money is not needed But I think we'll be a little old-fashioned if you believe in someone will have them in the least but not a quid pro There are lots of things we do for revenue and we'll continue to them and we are not apologetic about it And we do our awards with the jury process with honesty with no good propo and we are very Front foot about it that we do awards You know because everyone says all politicians are bad all media people are like this All PR people are like this all you know you can't paint everyone with a broad brush every Organization is unique every person is unique. So I Just want to end by sharing a story last year. We had the BwCFO world and one of the winners Came on the stage and he had a long two minute speech But he went on for 10 12 minutes and he cried in the speech He said when I got the first BwCFO 40 under 40 it helped me gave us too much credit to us You know, I believe in destiny Everything is destined. You know, I'm a Hindu product. I believe in that So we gave us too much credit But the fact is it played a role some role at least it gave him confidence of not anything So when the list is unveiled today, I know one name because she used to work with me for seven years And I was joking with her on the mail that because I wanted to meet you and you don't meet me That's why we were given you the what but that's clearly not the case Except that I don't even know who the 39 minutes are That's how we do it In all our awards and you know, Ankit is there for me for me runs the D2C awards And I gave him feedback and last week I was there at the Pride of India Awards again I gave him feedback, you know, so we tried to improve anything from a process orientation and mostly all of what was still subjective Because the jury members are also human. So awards is not a perfect process Our dishonest process, but it's close to perfect cannot be because human beings are also taking qualitative You know, who's right? Who's not right? And in five minutes, what can you decide? So it's it's a very close to perfect process But it's not a no awards in the world is perfect. It's qualitative judgment Humans are humans. There's the biases for people against people They have to decide in five minutes But the process is honest and we do a lot of preparation of the jury before they actually come into the jury So I'll leave it at that wish you luck As we celebrate the copcom and PR community, I think it has celebrated much lesser than it should be That's what I feel and I hope Today's initiative will help you in your journey in some bit. Thank you. God bless you