Role of PR in these turbulent times

The speakers in the session were veteran PR specialists from Corporate and Academia - Dr  Ajit Pathak, national president of Public Relations Society of India, Ms Seema Ahuja, Senior VP and Global Head of Communications - Biocon, Mr Sudipto Roy, Chief PRO - Exide Industries,  Ms Rita Bhimani, CEO, Ritam Communications,  Dr Madhupa Bakshi, Dean Of Media Science - Heritage Academy, Dr Tanushree Mukherjee, faculty of  Amity Jaipur and  Ms Ina Bose, Director, SNU.

Dr Pathak said, every chapter of PRSI has been  arranging digital  competitions.  For students video making competitions and  paper presentation for professors of PR were being held by PRSI . Simultaneously, they have also launched the Vijayi Bharat program  and celebrated the National PR Day digitally.  Ms Ahuja, heading  PR of a Life Sciences industry Biocon, said, " Brands have to take up a more conscientious approach and not come out as opportunistic during these times". Biocon  has introduced campaigns in a subtle manner focused on communications related to Covid such as issuing safety and hygiene measures without promoting its brand.  Ms Ahuja said that Biocon had constantly kept the employees motivated to work from home. Mr Sudipto Roy, CPRO of Exide, felt that, it was not the time to be creative. Sending out any message in public platform may come out as taking advantage of the situation which companies should refrain from. Exide's approach was to  maintain honesty and transparency by mentioning to customers that popular instant on-the-road services offered by Exide cannot be provided for safety reasons. Ms Rita Bhimani observed that  the pandemic had made a change in the Corporate Communication strategy for employees and customers. With the onset of this public health crisis, the teaching- learning process of PR has also undergone a change, Ms Bhimani  said. Dr Madhupa Bakshi said institutes applied the "blended learning" approach as classes shifted to digital. Dr Tanusree Mukherje of Amity, Jaipur, Dr Madbhupa Bakshi of Heritage and Ms Ina Bose of Sister  Nivedita University  mentioned how their Institutes organized online academic classes and  regular webinars with experts across all fields to keep up the momentum of the teaching- learning process. Infact, speakers felt that the students community were  very active during this period. Students  made their voice heard through live programs on facebook and other social media sites.