AARYANA PRESCOOL

Bill Gates was once quoted famously saying “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on Public Relations ” If the richest man on Earth values PR so much, why many of us still take a myopic view of the discipline that has been part of human evolution journey. PR is all about relationships and without it human evolution would have not been possible. We have often come across public relations function treated as an insignificant cousin of marketing or corporate strategy. We are often the first consultants on the chopping block when a share price takes a nose dive and cash flow is under the microscope. However, the good thing is this reality is slowly and steadily changing. There are scores of company directors today who take opposing view and understand that when the going gets tough – that is the time you need PR the most. It is the time you need solidarity, support and solution to deal with adverse situation.  You see when it comes to PR – it’s all about laying the gro

I ndia is country of 1.4 million small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses. As of now there are over 300 companies listed on the SME platform of Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange and several hundred companies are expected to list in the near future. I happen to interact with the top management of many SME companies and majority of them were confused about the value PR can bring to their businesses and reputation.   Although most big companies today understand public relations is important, but for SMEs PR is still an obscure concept. The question SMEs often ask is how will PR help me take my business to the next level? The simple answer is when it comes to modern organisations business plans, public relations (PR) represent an important tool in the marketing mix, actively and continuously differentiating brands from the competition and speaking directly to audiences. Here are just a few reasons why PR is a must-have for every SME communication strategy: