 Welcome back to all the audience members and now we move ahead with the next panel for today. Our second panel and the topic for the same is digitization a boon or bean. Do we see existential crisis happening in the industry or not that we shall get to know in a while and please join me in welcoming a panelist for the same. We are Incorporate Communications moving quick. It's Mr. Yes, I said Mr. Did it come out as please? Okay. No, please, sir. Absolutely not. Huge, huge identity crisis. Huge, huge. Absolutely not, sir. Mr. It is loud and clear. Mr. Bhaskar Majumdar head marketing communications CSR and digital ages. Ms. The good edge. She's a communication strategist. Mrs. Executive vice president head corporate and brand communications. And power. Mr. And this session will be moderated by Miss Malbhi Chaudhary PR manager, media Mike. Thank you. Thank you for such a warm welcome. All the very best. Hi, everyone. The fellow panel and the valued audience that's viewing us right now. So today we are here to explore the subject of utmost relevance in our rapidly changing world which is digitization a boon or bin. The advent of digital age has brought unprecedented transformations to virtually every sector of our economy and society. And with such transformative power comes a series of critical questions with all these esteemed panelists with who bring a wealth of expertise and diverse perspectives to shed a light on this crucial subject. So let's delve together into this thought provoking session and navigate the digital landscape together. Without wasting any more time since we are very short, and it will be a quick discussion. I'll pose my first question, which is, what are the pros and cons in the field of communication. And if I can start with Mr. Majumdar. Okay. But I don't. First of all, good afternoon everyone and thanks for an exchange for media for inviting us to be part of the panel as well as for considering as part of the Julie panel, it was really nice. You know, I mean, I saw a lot of good entries. So it was a good experience, but it's Mr. so many is also there because he's generally late. Having said that, you know, I think that the digital transformation has actually happened during building, you know, lockdown time. Just to give you examples that you know I am someone who starts his day with a cup of coffee or cup of tea but along with that I need my seven or eight hard copies of the newspaper. But now during lockdown, it was difficult to get the newspapers and I was somehow forcefully with digital to get or consume news. So, professionals like us were, I mean, old professionals in the industry, but I still prefer to get the newspaper, which is, which is, you know, in a print version in a physical version but somehow we move towards, you know, the digital way. There are certain good things, there are certain bad things, it happens with technology where we are heavily dependent on technology. Good things are this that you know in earlier times we have seen that I'm sure that everyone will agree with me whenever you used to go for pitching for any particular story in the story is compelling enough. A journalist may consider it and you may actually see the light of that particular news to come into the physical copy of the newspaper maybe the next day or maybe in within one week's time. But nowadays the process I think is the same. But again, if the journalist has considered to carry the news, it's first gets into the website. Then it's been amplified by the Twitter handle of the media house and again amplified by the Twitter handle of the journalist. And then the brand itself itself can amplify it on their own way, putting into their own social media handle. So I think in terms of reach, in terms of time, in terms of engaging with people and getting instant response is much more easier in each list. But the issues are that, you know, unlike print, they have, you know, multiple checks and balances which makes them more credible. And in digital and social it's not there. So rest I will love to listen from others. Mr. Dave, your thoughts. Yeah, thank you. And good afternoon, everyone. And thank you, vaccine for media and current and for inviting me for this panel and you know this changing times and this is a very apt panel in fact. So, you know, as Mr. Majumdar said, you know, we have been kind of heavily dependent on as a PR professional, we have been heavily dependent on traditional forms of consuming news. So, though, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot of digitalization, but still we kind of tend to read the newspapers we would want to see a print version of whatever is there. But, you know, the digital age has actually transformed communication, and then it's it's it's crucial to navigate the pros and cons effectively. So according to me, the pros would be, you know, digital has led to instant connectivity, you know, it has enabled real time communication, and while bridging the gap effortlessly. So, you know, it has expanded our audience, you know, not only, you know, within the local circles but globally also it has expanded our audience. So therefore it has broken the geographical barriers or the boundaries I might say, of course, you know, there has been efficient collaboration and remote work has become seamless, you know, so that way. And we know now we keep on talking about data insights and all of course, those analytics has actually refined our communication strategies. You know, so, so for me, these are some of the pros but you know, what are the challenges what are the cons, you know, if I may, you know, there's a lot of noise there's a lot of digital noise so information overload overload, you know, has has led to reduced our communication span. Then there is this risk of cybersecurity, you know, sensitive data. So we need to protect the sensory data from online threads. There is, of course, we are expected to be always on this is always on culture has happened you know then that is since the lockdown has taken place right that is becoming very challenging. So we are over over relying on tech, and that has somewhat hindered our personal connections. And that's why you know that human connections need to be kind of more fostered. And there is a digital divide, you know, not everyone has equal access to technology so these are some of the challenges that I feel rightly said I even I feel that, even though it has become very, you know, easy for people to navigate with automated tasks and everything but there's definitely information overload and definitely we are drowning in too much of knowledge and it's just haywire everywhere right now. And one thing to add. You know, fantastic branding of the company. I'm also going to wear his T shirt. That's a good one. I missed that. I should have done that too. Okay, Mr. Manav, your thoughts. I mentioned we are old timers. I would not say we are totally transforming into the digital age we are more of the hybrid players. And I think the success lies there because there is a thorough understanding of how the traditional PR works and adapting what is good in the new age PR medium. In terms of see a lot of points have been already touched upon what I would personally think crisis is a big challenge when it comes to the new age media because it's difficult to control. It just goes on amplifying. You know the good part is the good thing gets amplified and so does the bad. So the crisis is one part which is a big challenge 24 by seven being alert. And yes, a challenge. Yes, yes and no because it eats into your personal time. But overall I think it's up to the pace at the way we which we worked. It's made us more wholesome and integrated, which probably as traditional PR players we had only media media to do. So advantages and disadvantages are many but it depends how we look at it and how we use it. That would be my perspective of looking at digitization and PR. Right, right. Mr. Sudip, would you like to add something. Well, good afternoon. I am honored to be part of such a August gathering of panelists. So thank you very much. I think most of the points have already been covered and very well covered, I must say, but I would just dwell upon two things. One very quickly is that digitization. So one is one point is some inductive perspective and one is more general. I think from a digitization perspective. One of the while there are many goods of it but one of the ills is that you know there has been a rampant circulation on fake news or news which are unsubstantiated and you know you as professionals or we all as professionals spend a lot of time in trying to verify or to you know prove it otherwise that this is not something which is true and I think that itself is a very big challenge for many corporates and many you know businesses and individual agencies as well. So I think that is one very big challenge that we face as to how do we kind of, you know, address that situation because it is as someone has said, and before that, and also this is expressed quick and fast. And you know, once it is out there, it actually is almost like a cat out of the bag. So that is one challenge but you know on the other side I think digitization has also taken away the personal empathy. The human relations relationship that we have built or we have bonded over so let me give you a very small example that you know every day morning getting a good morning on I have a great day on a WhatsApp and getting let's say a message on Diwali or New Year a handwritten you know letter or a note which we used to do perhaps and you know when we were perhaps even more younger. I think you know that that constant you know that personal touch, I think digitization takes away so the digitization can never bring the empathy and the you know the humane aspect of it in any communication and I think we need to balance it out so there are good and bad in both. Right, right. Mr. Venkatesh. I hope I'm audible. You're out in a good weather somewhere. Got stuck as usual. Anyway, first of all, thank you for inviting me here and good to see all my friends and peers in the group here. I think what I've been hearing sort of summarizes the good and bad of digital coming into play for PR industry. The one good thing I have seen is that today you don't have to wait for a news that will make your headline your earlier days the one thumb rule for going out to press or to reach out to public. You had to calibrate your message, your story, it has to be having a shelf life, etc. Today for the smallest incidents and events, you can convert it into a good PR opportunity and marketing and communication opportunity. I think that wouldn't have been possible if there was no digital PR. The second important aspect that digital PR has added is that today you don't need to be the sole person talking about your own good. So you don't control the narrative. There is a two-way control that happens. So you're getting constant feedback and you're able to fine tune your messaging. So somebody was talking about a 24 into 7 being available for news. I think that has happened. This wouldn't have happened if digital PR was not in play. And lastly, being able to get endorsement. Earned space was the most important activity of PR when we used to separate from advertisement. We typically used to call earned space versus paid space and stuff. So for earned space, the third party endorsement is also very highly possible because of digital being available now and unlike the traditional places. So for a PR person, round the clock working and round the clock being able to do things for a client and not have four activities over a month or a year, that kind of PR has gone. Today PR is live continuous. You put out some story. Today morning, today afternoon, you have something else which has happened. Everything is a story for you. So I think that excitement that new things is what digital has done. It comes with some kind of disadvantages, but everything will have its own positives and negatives. I think not being able to be in control of what you put out there in the shortest form is a summary of what it is doing negative to you. Everything else is positive. With that, I think my understanding of digital is active. Rightly said, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages and we just need to be the ones commanding and in control of things so that we can enjoy the goods and navigate the bad ones. So let's go to our second question, which is, is AI propelling technology enabled communication and transforming how PR professionals function? If I can start with you itself, Mr. Venkatesh. Oh, okay. So it's too early for me as a person who's been largely a traditional PR person to say whether it's transforming the function. But yes, I see a lot of advantages. It is like too early bird kind of stuff because for people who have to use AI and technology to facilitate the communication, you need a lot of investment, a lot of software. Those are the kind of people who should ideally be talking about what is set to come in. But what I am seeing in public domain is everybody is now trying to use a chat GP to thinking back to the beginning and end of AI. I think it's too naive to think that chat GP is the only thing that AI does for you. A lot of people are using it for research as well as being able to pull out trends and evaluation. I think these are two early signs of how PR can use AI. But yes, the transformation is definitely going to happen and it's going to stay there. I am not able to stargaze and see what all new products will come in. But I am currently benefiting from data analytics and evaluation as the key tool which I am able to use from chat GP. Earlier we provided a bit on writing content and other stuff and we've seen... I think we lost you. Yeah, this is one more reason, you know, technology. That is actually not very helpful. I don't know whether we are using or how to use AI to be able to put out the content. And even I've seen new product which has actually helped. Again. Yeah, I think because she is somewhere. So, these are the two points on technology. Yeah, live examples sometimes. One should be this one. Okay, so whosoever is in a better... Can I take this? Sure, sure. See, I agree with what Venki said right now. But what I also feel that AI has undeniably as an influence on how PR professionals function. And I'll give you some examples. Like for example, data-driven insights. So, AI analyzes vast amounts of data. That helps us to kind of understand our audience sentiments or trends and news in real time. And probably that also gives us more information to kind of have more strategic and targeted communication. That way it has helped. And then of course there is this aspect of automated content creation. AI-generated content has streamlined the writing process. Press release articles and social media posts can be produced faster. And in fact, they can be also kind of timed as per your suitability. This has left... What it does is it's leaving PR professionals more time for strategy and relationship building, which is more important, which AI can't deliver. Then of course there is this thing of personalized outreach, which AI tailors messages based on the recipient preferences and behaviors. So this personization improves the engagement and builds stronger relationships. And of course there is a media monitoring. So AI tools are there to track media coverage and sentiment, which allows us to adjust strategies quickly and gives us a response to break news or crisis. However, having said that, there are challenges. And we have seen that we have been facing it. There are ethical concerns. It raises ethical questions, especially in deep-fake technology and automated social media posting. We as professionals must navigate these concerns with utmost care. Of course AI, that human touch is missing here. PR is all about relationships. AI enhances efficiency. The human touch in communication remains irreplaceable for most building and also for crisis management. And of course the skill adaptation. We as PR professionals must continuously update our skills to leverage AI tools effectively. And this field is evolving every day. We should integrate AI to our existing tools and not let AI sit over everything and dominate. So that's what I think. I would like to add to what Manal just said. I think it's not fair that PR professionals get worried about jobs being lost, etc. I think how smartly we use it as a means to a solution rather than a solution in itself. And that is where and how it should be used to use it most effectively to cover the points which Manal just mentioned. And I think that is where the success lies and that is exactly where we can use it effectively. So this entire discussion of jobs being lost, etc. I don't think this is necessary because if your fundamentals are in place then one uses it smartly for a better output. What more does one need? And but yes, plagiarism, etc. And some legal aspects are things which still we need clarity because it's very new, very niche. Maybe once that is in place, we would be in a better position to say whether we are actually plagiarizing or we are creating content. So those are the aspects which will get clearer as we move on on this path. Also to add to what Tanbana and Manal has said and also to Vinky. I think it's too early to understand the impact of AI. It happens with all technologies. It's always been a lot of discussion happens. But I think it will take another good 1-1.5 years to settle down. But having said that I was having a chat with a very senior journalist in a financial newspaper and I was asking him that what are the possibilities of chat GP taking a job on the entry level and the mid-level of the journalist. And he said that a chat GP can produce an article based on whatever the information is available over there. And to have a good article to be done, you need certain quotes like a quote from a say PWC spokesperson, maybe from a government and that is not possible with chat GPT. And during this discussion, he said, which is a very bold statement. And he said, chat GPT is for people who are below average. So it's going to close the work which is done by the media people, people who are already as Tanbana has rightly said, who have got very good hangover their own work. They can easily survive. So the article which you usually write, it actually talks more about how your personality is. Now, if you get the article done from chat GPT is not possible. But yeah, I think AI tools will be very much useful for understanding the impact of a particular campaign, understand the sentiments. Because still did we are still stuck with column centimeter evaluation, right? Somehow we have to have some kind of, you know, tech based evaluation of campaigns, which may not be a foolproof thing, but maybe better than at least column centimeter measurement. I have one more point if I could add to what basket just said. You know, one of my team members use chat GPT to produce an article for a client. And because she didn't have much time in hand and she used it, she did a little bit of rewriting, etc. And the feedback from the client surprisingly was, has the writer changed? We see a change in the tone, because of the five articles the person had done and the sixth one had a different tone. I was amazed and surprised how could they figure that out. But yes, the human aspect, the personality and this is what So there is another thing also, I was just, you know, attending one of the planners and I got to know that any article which really talks about data, which keeps about data of 2020. Generally, people think that it's been generated by a chat GPT because chat GPT doesn't have data of 21, 22 and 23. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how much it is true. There's no data. There's the tone, etc. I mean, obviously that personalization will be missing. Yeah. You know, chat GPT uses two vocabularized and, you know, very high intensity English language that won't use that. So yeah, there's a difference, a big difference to note. Sudeep, you are on mute. Yeah. Oh, so my two cents into this is, you know, very well covered by the team panelists over here and by the way, the mobile quick branding you are going even more. So that's separate but coming back very quickly. I think that you know, in all organizations, I look at it at a funny side of it that the CEOs or the MDs or the promoters would still need the communication team and the communication manager to be screaming and shouting that, you know, you have not done your job, you are not managing your team. You know, what is this? I don't like this, you know, you have not spoken to X, Y and Z. So I think the CEO or the, or the, or the MD of the organization would always need a human interface just to rant and to shout. Because, you know, they can't do that to an AI, you know, because the AI is going to smile and say, okay, thank you. So, you know, I think that's the funny side of it, the funny side of it that I think, you know, if we do our jobs well, it is well kept because the CEO will need another human being to talk to. And also, you know, use that person as his or her sounding board and also scream and shout at times. Right, right. So, since we are just left with 10 more minutes, I'll quickly switch to my last question, which is how rapid digitalization of media is revolutionizing the public relations industry. So if, if I may, I'll just give you a small example, you know, the easiest way a PR professional can do something about their brand or for their client is to write an article. And to get it published either in a financial newspaper that will be 800 words or maybe a business magazine, which will be 1400, 1500, but now the system or the process is still the same. So you're writing author article, you always have to keep in mind that how do you take out, you know, 20 tweets out of it, or maybe a 500 word blog out of it or maybe 300 word LinkedIn out of it. So that's how, I mean, it has become more of new age content creation, I think, you know, digital transformation in terms of the impact on media or the way we work is a classic example of this. This is a new trend of Oscar, it is called as it is generally referred to as long-tailing in ad factors. Yes. I used to hear. So what happened, you take an idea and you first ideated in a way, you put it on your website or your blog, that blog leads into some tweets, those tweets lead into some story in some publication and then it is actually used as an aggregation for other publications. You translate it and then you put it on some influencer rights about it and all the way it goes through the entire channel of whatever is available with one single messaging. I think that is the single biggest thing that's happened after digitalization, digital is available, which was not happening before, you know, you just would do a story in a print media and that's over. It's more interactive also. So what happened with age? Rina, you could do so many things today, podcast, following it, you know, there's endless opportunities for one single idea to travel. And especially for us, I mean, when I say us, I'm talking on behalf of all the panelists, I think we all come from the Orkut age and from Orkut to understanding podcast is a huge journey. And somehow I think our generation has understood or learned it or adopted it in a very hard way for the younger generation is much more easier to adopt. Yeah, absolutely, you know, as Bhaskar was saying and Venky also mentioned in the long tailing, you know, it is all about, you know, how you create the visualization as kind of enabled us to kind of think on how to create the content and how it's to be distributed, right? The app offers a plethora of tools and platforms for content creation and distribution, right? And also in terms of social media amplification, you know, there are social media platforms, which amplify PR efforts, you know, enabling messages to go viral and reach a vast audience quickly. So, you know, PR professionals like us can leverage, you know, influencer partnerships and user generated content to enhance, you know, different campaigns. And again, you know, if you talk about crisis management, you know, digital media really accelerates the spread of information, you know, making crisis management more critical than ever. So, you know, the PR provisions must be proactive in addressing issues and managing reputational risk on digital platforms. So, so look at how it has transformed and how it is actually kind of trying to kind of, it's kind of influenced us. So, and that's how, you know, you know, from an output to a podcast, we have actually kind of put our thinking hats and trying to see, you know, how we can make it better how we can personalize each engagement, look at virality, look at influencer identification and there is this 24 by seven news cycle, how are we relevant for those and then later on kind of measuring the ROI. So that's what I feel how, you know, you know, these decisions. I think the fun part is it's interactive and engaging, which wasn't there. It was one way. Now it's a two way communication. So it opens up for a lot of activities and things which one was not able to do. So that that is exciting. Definitely. In fact, it's a double short, you know, it gives you the option to nurture, you know, engage nurture and reach to different people. But as you know, social and digital media is more of paid medium. So there is always a possibility of there can be some negative, you know, information which can be explored again. So it's a paid medium. That's how it's much more easier. So it's a double it short. And so you may also say so because I think I'm not going to be able to give any comments. No, no, I, I, you know, when stalwarts are speaking, it is better to, you know, take the pulse of it at the same time. My, my two cents would be that, you know, I take a leave out of our honorable prime minister. The man isn't in his 70s and you know, he, he stops, he never stops amazing me the way he has embraced technology. The way he has, you know, defined what, you know, technology can be, you know, how technology can be used to communicate. And he's, he's talking to, you know, billions of people and not even saying millions. I mean, you know, the Indian audience is 1.4 and he's also talking to a global audience. You know, the way he deployed his technology and the way he is, you know, leading the curve. I think, you know, so what it tells me is that if one wants to learn, if one wants to embrace something, age is not a factor, age is just a number, but you just need to have that Mac to embrace it. And I think here there is a learning lesson that I take from our honorable prime minister. Well said. Well said. Well said. But, but I think what we all should not forget is for a PR person, how much of a technology and digitization happens, our only calling card is a relationship. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's the number one primary thing. Absolutely. By the way, Venki, just to buttress that point further, your point, which is very well, very well taken is that while the prime minister has embraced technology, he still continues with his roadshow. Yeah, yeah, so the G20 was an idea of his like, you know, trying to have a party with his friends. Yeah, 20 become a kind of full party for the nation. See, I don't know one parting comment, you know, we talk about AI AI AI and we kind of make so a lot about AI. Please understand AI is what artificial intelligence only it's artificial. Yes, absolutely. You know, you know what the previous panelist said, it's still very far away. It's still very far away. So yeah, so our human connections are human religions far outweighs. Yeah. Yeah, I think now we need to come in. Yeah, she needs to. Yeah, I think we just left with two more minutes. So first of all, thank you everyone for your valuable contributions. Really, like AI and artificial intelligence and this technology digitization everything is really taking over everybody's minds and playing with it like it's going to be change, people are going to lose their jobs and whatnot, but definitely it's something which we need to be, you know, always reminding us that it's not merely a force we contend with but one that we harness to drive positive changes in not just our industries but beyond. So we should use for the betterment and not because it's something for us. It's there for us to do better things, not to destroy. Absolutely. Thank you everyone for your time and time commitments. So are you taking any digital photograph of everyone in the screen or we can take subject to certain charges which I will build later. Anyways, after this session, Venki is taking all of us to Andhra Bhavan. Yeah, what about the plan we didn't hear any. Yeah, it's going to happen and Manali is going to give all of us a T-shirt. I have Munawar with us. Hi, Munawar. Good to see you. Hi. Munawar is the Plishman. Hi, Pascal. And over to Aditya. Let's move to the next session. Thank you. I've taken the pictures. Thanks a lot.