LIGHTS CAMERA PR IN ‘ACTION’

Today as I sit to pen down my blog, I go back 10 years in time when my then boss came to me and told me “We have to launch a General Entertainment Channel next week and we are taking media to Bangkok for the launch.”

I was handed over a list of 60 odd journalists who as they say cover ‘Entertainment News’ and with whom I had to coordinate for the travel. Nightmare, trust me!

Elated I boarded the flight along with these NNs (NastyNice) journalists to the colorful Bangkok where we launched the much-awaited GEC from one of the biggest entertainment giant and the rest is history!!!

Little did I know that I was getting into a world where feelings had no place, time had no check and life had no rest. But, I must admit I think I was beginning to like it. Be it staying on the sets till wee hours of the morning, coordinating with snooty celebrities for their PR, sitting in office burning the mid night oil, travelling the length and breadth of the country for weeks and at times during the weekends, I embraced it all.

They say it requires a different kind of Animal to do Entertainment PR. I think without realising, I was happily converting into one. In an exceptionally fast paced world, this animal had to run double the speed to leave behind others in the so-called ‘GEC Rat Race’. Often my friends, relatives used to tell me that what a fabulous job I have and how I rub shoulders with the glitterati. Yes small perks of doing Entertainment PR and u must boost this sometimes J.

The GEC that we launched was unseating the leader and the success of this channel gave me a sense of pride. My inner voice boomed, “I was a part of the team that launched this channel”. I was proud. Once upon a time my client threw a fit because I wanted to leave on time for a personal commitment and called my then boss to say “Please put those on my account who do not have a personal life”.Upon hearing this, I decided to move on. This time to chase my PR dreams in the Brands/ FMCG world. Little did I know that destiny had other plans for me. It wanted the Entertainment PR bug to bite me yet again. As luck would have it, I landed back in my previous organisation, this time to work on MSM’s flagship channel ‘Sony’. Thus began my journey of living out of the sets. Days became nights and nights dawned into days, without realising I started loving every bit of my work, I started loving my job! And then there was no looking back for me. Went on to work on a leading english movie channel, sports channel, launched a music channel , pitched, won and launched a Bollywood channel and another General Entertainment channel. That’s not all! Also started managing PR for country leading comedy channel . I think it was about time I give myself a break from Entertainment PR and go back to the brand world. But, God has his ways!

As I sign off this blog, I am sitting in a new organization managing PR for a FMCG giant , creating campaigns and proudly owing them however the purpose for me is different. It is to start the Entertainment Practice here. Yes, can’t wait for the bug to bit me yet again!!! I just love drama….

And on that note, I leave you with some thought-provokers, if you want to get into Entertainment PR:-

• Non-agenda Media engagement - Never reach out to media only when u are selling them a story. Be in touch. Call them to appreciate a story they have done. Tell them if u liked it not liked it, trust me this works. I applied this and have made some fabulous media friends.

• Embrace the ‘Idiot Box’ - U have time, no time , you have to keep an eye on show formats that are competition to your client. I would always try and catch them late in the night just to keep myself updated.

• BARC is a game changer – BARC is GOD. Do analyse which channels are doing better and why are they doing better. Initiate dialogues with media friends, industry experts on what are they doing right. Every Thursday of week first thing I would do is refer to the BARC report, analyse it and share a quick update with my client.

• Take the Cue – Constantly read Entertainment supplements to be apprised about the news in the industry. Always try and find ways to link up what is HOT to your show, your lead character. I remember how I did PR around one of my lead characters when one of his movie did not get the clearance from censor board. I picked the ph on media and started seeding this story and told them that he is playing the lead in one of my upcoming shows. The result was I garnered 100+ stories across online and print with my show and characters name

• Loyalty – Always remember that the viewer is program loyal and not channel loyal. Always do PR for the format first and channel later. A recent example that comes to my mind is the PR that I did of a leading yesteryear singer who for the first time ever was judging a music reality show on the small screen. Pitched her and the show got mentions automatically

• Build Characters – Build characters of your show and not the individuals – Remember why Jassi is Jassi and Jetha, Jetha Lal?

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