What does the word ethics mean? Ethics is a rule of moral behavior. It is the rules or standards that helps one in understanding the right versus wrong. But what role does ethics play in public relations? There is a misconception about public relations professionals that they are the real manipulators and are often stereotyped about molding the truth to save their client’s reputation. We are accused of being the guise of reputation. But if you go to see public relations as a career is about being credible and achieving credibility comes from walking the right paths and building the right relationships. The public relations profession is about earning. We earn the trust, we earn media, we build strong relationships. These can be only accomplished through honesty and being ethical. 

The important rules for all public relations practitioners to become ethical in their professional lives are: 

1. Being Transparent: A public relations practitioner must be transparent at what he/she does and must also advise his/her client to be transparent.
2. Being Confidential: We must respect the privacy of the work and the work of our clients. 
3. Avoiding Propagandas: Information that is used primarily to influence an audience only in the right way should be considered. 
4. Being Honest: Being honest is always the only way towards being successful and building a solid reputation. 

Being ethical can come with challenges and sometimes can put you in difficult positions. But in the end, it is a personal choice. One can be forced to be ethical, it should come from within. One must be able to understand the perception between wrong and right. The existence of a career can only be sustained by choosing to be ethical. Not following the moral values and principles can only question the survival of an entire field. Hence, not only for public relations, every field has to be ethical to avoid stereotyping and to incorporate future professionals believing in ethics driven work.  

Baklava is an authentic Turkish cuisine which is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with nuts or other items as well as syrup. The baklava originally is supposed to have 40 layers of pastry with each layer coated with the syrup and nuts. The meaning of baklava is to ‘pile-up’ which was derived from Mongolian. Baklava has its different variants all of them being mouth-watering. Some of them are: Fıstıklı Baklav, Kuru Baklava, Cevizli Baklava, Bülbül Yuvası, Sütlü Nuriye, Fıstık Sarma, Havuc Dilmeh, Ankara, Findik Basma, Sobiyet, Ceviz Burma, Cikolatali Baklava and there are many more. Baklavas are 100% vegetarian so no one can miss out on trying them. But since it is difficult for one to try authentic baklavas here in Mumbai, I recently discovered a few places here that provide authentic Turkish baklavas.

1. Hurrems baklava: Hurrem’s is India’s first-of-its-kind Turkish confectionery and café that provides authentic Turkish cuisine specialising in baklavas. They have their cuisine prepared by the chefs who are from Turkey itself. It is situated in the middle of Mumbai’s Fort district.
2. Levantine Gourmet: The Levantine Gourmet has authentic Middle Eastern treats and they provide the sweet delicacy- baklavas in a box. The store is situated in Bandra.
3. Bayroute: Situated in Juhu, Bay route provides Egyptian, Turkish, Lebanese, Moroccan and Greek cuisine.
4. Iranian sweets palace: A place that provides authentic Turkish baklavas, situated in Bhendi Bazaar, has been providing baklavas since 1909.

I will be interning with Golin Opinion for two straight months. I have been looking forward to my winter internship ever since I got into Golin Opinion. I am feeling very optimistic about my work. I intend to be the best at what I do. As I’m starting my journey from January 2nd, 2020 onwards, I am ready to accept all the challenges tossed my way. I want to absorb as much as possible. From pitching to the journalists to just getting to attend brainstorming sessions, I want to experience the work-life of a public relations firm. Woking in a PR firm will give me exposure to various sectors. This will help me identify my interests more precisely. I plan to identify my skill sets and use them efficiently. Working in a PR firm will help me network not only with PR professionals but will also help me build relations with journalists. I see my future here, as a PR professional. So to achieve my goals my first step starts here and I will offer to the frim by:

1) Following Punctuality: SCoRe has taught me that if you are not ten minutes early you are already too late. So I will make sure I’m at least twenty minutes early. I also will make it a point to complete my work before the deadline strikes.

2) Volunteering: I will put myself out there. Interns are usually termed to be a fly on the wall. Besides observing I will set myself out giving 101% in all my duties.

3) Being Ethical

4) Presentable: Dressing presentably adds quality to yourself as a person.

5) Documentation: Documentation is very important as it helps with confirmations and avoids misunderstandings. Documentation right is 60% battle already won.

I hope to do my best. I intend to come out as a more confident person after these two months.

India’s daughters? Instead of feeling proud we women feel ashamed of being a part of this country. A country that is not bothered to stand up for its daughters. This term means of no value until justice is ensured to the innocent victims who lost their lives in brutal ways. Rape cases have been trending in media in this country for a few years now. We have heard about some of the most unmerciful cases going around starting with the Nirbhaya case from Delhi, Priyanka Reddy from Hyderabad, Unnao rape case, seven minor girls from the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, case of an 8-year-old from Kathua village and the list can go on. What does it take for this country to wake up? It is time we stop the discussions about the security of our women in India and take proper actions. It is time we receive a proper answer from our government. What is pulling the government back to grant women security and victims the justice they deserve? I am constantly worried and feeling conscious regarding my own, my sister’s, mom’s, friend’s, family’s safety. I feel uneasy when someone I care about arrives late or doesn’t attend my calls or has to leave their homes due to an emergency at night. Life gives enough problems to everyone and now we have to worry about each female in our family regardless of age. Police registered 33,658 cases of rape in India in 2017, an average of 92 rapes every day. Why are we women always told that our safety lies solely on us and that we have to learn Karate, carry pepper spray always? Rather why can’t we ask men not to rape? It is 2019 and we women still have to be worried if we will make it home safely. Where is the justice? Where is the change?

Readers, you all might be wondering why have I written a blog on a black t-shirt? What would I even talk about a black t-shirt? I’m just here to help you cognize that a black t-shirt is the most essential item of clothing one can own. I’m not even talking in the context of only females. You want to dress casual, formal or in a mood to party, a black t-shirt will come to your rescue. Let us start with a formal event where any formal pants paired with a black t-shirt and you are good to go. To add some spice add a blazer. Now let us talk about dressing up for a party I have multiple options like ripped high waisted jeans, shimmery skirt or sequenced pants with a black t-shirt and that will result in a ready to entre a club look. When it comes to rocking a casual outfit no matter what you pair the black t-shirt with may it be any coloured jeans or pants you can always pull it off. There is no other colour other than black that would blend in with bizarre colours. When its Halloween wearing a black t-shirt can help you pull out costumes like a cat, witch, ghost, maleficent, batwoman, spider and the list is endless. Black is that one color that won’t judge you for your complexion. No matter how you look black t-shirt is one attire that anyone can pull off. I am sure whether you are a male-female or a transgender you might find a pair or more black t-shirt in your wardrobe and it has to be one of the favorite pieces of clothing you own. My black t-shirt is definitely a lifesaver. If you tell me that you don’t own a pair of black t-shirt, you are living your life wrong.

If you are a writer, I believe you must first be a reader. Only when you read excessively you can write well. As an individual who is learning to be a better writer, I believe the most interesting and exceptional element about my voice is that I can express well If I feel passionate about a certain topic. I love writing about issues I strongly believe in like LGBTQ rights, climate change. When I understand the importance of certain issues that people tend to neglect. I feel people like me should write about the extent of the problems our world faces. My writing according to me becomes exceptionally powerful at such times. As a writer, you must always keep your message crisp, clear and Words should be simple yet influential. Your readers should be able to understand what you are trying to convey through your writing. While submitting information, utilize relevant data and always provide a reference. I love the writing style of Jerliee Kaye. She writes romance novels, though I’m not the biggest fan of romance books I enjoy reading her books. She uses Emotive language in her writing. You can feel the passion conveyed by her words. I also enjoy reading Economic times compared to other newspapers as they convey their message directly without using complex words. At End of their news they always provide a little background about that particular news.

It’s been almost a month that I started interning at one of the top PR firms not only in India but in the world.  Luckily I got an opportunity to work for a client that hired a PR firm for the first time. So I learned the process of planning everything required for the client from scratch. From media mapping, creating story angles, deciding the appropriate panel opportunities and award categories to planning an entire six month PR campaign. The work that does under working for a client is not an easy task. Little details make a huge difference when working for a client. From sending coverage to the client, preparing PPT’s for the client to sending emails to the client. I have learned how these little details matter and how it can make a tremendous difference to the client as well as our work ethics. Sometimes working for a PR firm we deal with different clients or brands from different sectors, sometimes even working for brands within the same sector who are competitors to one another. Top of the mind one might wonder how one can be loyal to different brands from different sectors yet alone brand competitors. But a PR firm will teach you how to be loyal to all the brands and clients you work for. I think that is the beauty of working at a PR firm. Awaiting for the learnings for the next month.

By Jagdeep Kapoor

24 Brand Mantras was written by Jagdeep Kapoor, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Samsika Marketing Consultants Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, a leading strategic marketing consultancy. Jagdeep is a prolific writer and has authored several bestsellers including 18 Brand Astras and 9 Brand Shaastras. There are over 1,602 articles published in newspapers such as The Economic Times, Business Standard, The Hindu, The Afternoon, Business Today, etc. This book was first published back in 2001 and the second edition in 2009. The book I am reviewing is about the second edition, which contains three topics where he talks about 24 different mantras.

This book is for marketers out there providing them with guidelines to grow and become an efficient brand manager. It is aimed at helping marketers build a brand, launch it and create a successful brand. In the latest edition, he has included interesting brand marketing examples. The author talks about how brands should have an easy name to establish easy recall for consumers. It has helped brands like Honda, Lux, Zee, 9xM build themselves over some time and a part of the credit goes to the name. I strongly agree with his words even brands with big names such as Joseph Cyril Bamford are known as JCB and Louis Vuitton is known as LV. He talks about how using common sense is very important while building a brand. Brands tend to research before launch but fail to apply common sense and create a disaster. He always talks about how segmentation and accordingly sampling the target groups are necessary for a brand’s success. Communication is essential for a marketer because you will then fail as a marketer if you fail to understand the needs of the consumers. One has to be clear in communicating. It helps the brand connect with its consumers. Advertising according to him should be done specific to its target audience with the right proportion and you must be visible and seeking attention is very crucial. The author also highlights the reputation and importance of maintaining that reputation because one mistake can make a brand disappear overnight. Consumers needs come first because if it’s not for them then for whom? The author also talks about an issue where the brands get confused about where they should place themselves in the price category. My favorite part of the book is where the author talks about the important mantras of the heart. A brand should always be humble, should always network, and build relationships, respecting one’s retailers. Positioning the brand is essential, treating it like a human gives a brand a personality. The author also mentions how servicing the first step to a great brand is. A brand should always keep its target audience in its mind. Right product selling to the wrong audience is the usual mistake made by brands. Being prejudge can be disastrous to a brand. Marketers usually do not see this but it can harm the brand. The author ends the book by talking about how brands should respect local consumers and should always be honest.

The author has given many examples to understand each chapter. This is a must read book for brands and marketers.

In my last blog, I spoke about the importance of maintaining a reputation. In this blog, I would like to talk about the importance of managing the aftermath after one’s reputation is affected which is crisis management. Crisis management is the process by which an organisation or a brand handles sudden emergencies or an event that threatens to harm the reputation or its stakeholders. Crisis management is an interesting and challenging field. It is in your hands on how to proceed when a crisis arrives. Crisis management can be divided into three phases:

1) Pre-crisis

2) Crisis response

3) Post-crisis

At SCoRe, I have crisis management as a subject. In a class assignment, we were divided into two groups where we were given two crisis and we had to work on them as a team. One group had to manage the KFC crisis where KFC outlets run out of chicken and my group had to work on the Toyota crisis where Toyota cars have been facing speed acceleration issues leading to accidents. Working as a team we realised how complex managing crisis procedure is. We have to deal with legal advisors, digital teams, CEO, internal and external stakeholders, situation analysts, media, etc. Crisis management involves managing digital media, creating holding statements, communication for internal and external stakeholders, preparing FAQs, manual on how to handle the crisis and so on.  If a brand or an organisation fails to handle its crisis smoothly it can ruin its reputation forever. In today’s day, a simple comment on social media can cause destruction. Companies have to be extra cautious regarding their reputations because now it is considered extremely fragile. At SCoRe we students are trained practically as well.  Hence, we know during a crisis three steps are most fundamental which includes Avoid, Minimize and Mitigate.

The reputation of oneself, a brand or an organisation is very crucial. Reputation helps us understand one’s perspective on you or the brand. Reputation helps to build and maintain relationships and trust. It helps to have influence over others. It has an impact on one’s confidence and facilitates growth. Reputation online as well as offline is inescapable. One must manage their online reputation because in this era a blunder can not only cause destruction in your online reputation but also wreck your offline reputation. A classic example of a well-maintained reputation is of the brand Nestle’s Maggi. Maggi has always been at the top in the ramen noodle category in India and also in the snacks cateogory. Maggi had gained the trust of mothers although being a processed food. Maggi was banned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) back in June 2015 for five months citing excessive lead content per government lab tests forcing Nestle to withdraw the product from the market. Consumers switched from Maggi and completely stooped purchasing Maggi. The reputation that Maggi had built since 1983 came crumbling down. This turned out to be a blow for their reputation. Another classic example is Linsey Lohan who is an American actress, singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and film producer. She is best known for her acting roles in films such as Mean Girls and Freaky Friday etc. She was every girl’s favorite actress including mine. Her reputation started going downhill starting from her drunken driving arrest in 2007. Linsey Lohan’s struggle with drugs and alcohol sent her to five rehab facilities for a total of 250 days since January 2007. Her reputation was terribly affected and she yet faces legal concerns. There are many such reputation related cases that have been ravaged over the years. Some have managed to escape their disaster and some have vanished.