First published in ET Brand Equity.
PR is an essential component in building a cohesive brand narrative: Manu Prasad, Scripbox
PR is a great means to develop and propagate a unique voice and point of view. Since we are focused on a specific target customer, PR, through its various channels, is a great way to talk about issues that matter to them, says Prasad…
As we gear up for the India Communication Summit 2022, a special series has been introduced. ‘My Experiments with PR’ captures the opinions and experience of senior marketing leaders from diverse industries. It aims to bring out to our readers insights on how marketers see the PR industry and leverage communications to overcome challenges.
In this edition, we present Manu Prasad, chief marketing officer, Scripbox.
1. What are the major PR challenges that your industry is facing now?
Scripbox is a wealth manager, and because we are a digital native, we get classified as a fintech, and more recently, wealth tech. A domain that has been transformative from an economic perspective, and one that has received a lot of attention, some good and some bad. One of the biggest challenges therefore, has been to create our signal amidst the noise, from a brand and messaging perspective.
Related to that is the second challenge – much of the messaging in the domain has been around specific products and the returns they provide – from IPOs to crypto. In contrast, our focus has been on helping our customers develop the mindset and behaviour that helps in long-term wealth creation.
The signal of right advice amidst the hype noise is a challenge in an era of constant FOMO, for us as well as our customers. In addition, our target customer is a mature investor who has seen a range of products and market cycles, so it is important that even when discussing the complexity of investing, we don’t get tagged as being overly simplistic, or too condescending.
Lastly, our entire business is built on trust. Building this trust organically, without resorting to seemingly quick fixes like sponsored media appearances, awards etc is not an easy path.
However, the challenges also present us with an opportunity to innovate and push our creative boundaries. Keeping unpredictable trends in mind, our PR objective is to cut through the clutter, while also staying relevant and communicating our messaging in the media.
2. How do you as a CMO plan to leverage PR as a weapon to fight those challenges?
PR is a great means to develop and propagate a unique voice and point of view. Since we are focused on a specific target customer, PR, through its various channels, is a great way to talk about issues that matter to them.
Money is not a topic that is discussed enough in the public sphere, though all of us have hopes, fears and aspirations that are almost always intrinsically connected to money.
By adding this to the discourse, doing our bit to increase awareness around financial planning and wealth management, and providing perspectives that our customer might not have considered, our aim is to build a relationship of trust with them. One based on our expertise and always having the customer’s interests in mind.
From a channel perspective too, both print and television relatively speaking have their audience’s trust. In a complementary way, digital helps us target very specifically, both in terms of message and audience.
3. Is PR only there for crisis management or can it be leveraged to achieve long term goals?
That does make PR sound like the underappreciated hero who gets to shine only when a villain (crisis) makes an appearance. But that, in my view, is a very narrow way of looking at what a good PR strategy can add to the overall brand perception.
In the wake of an unexpected crisis, PR efforts surely come to the rescue of a brand, by taking actions required to minimise negatives and repercussions. But inherently, PR is a long game, and a worthy investment which is instrumental in building a brand’s reputation in the long run. Brand is all about building a perception and in a trust-based business, PR is an indispensable and integral part of brand strategy.
Very few brands run brand campaigns (different from acquisition campaigns) all year round. With the right efforts, PR builds consistent visibility for the brand among the target customers. With the help of PR, we are able to establish ourselves as thought leaders, influencing and impacting the space in a way that makes us synonymous to the domain.
4. Digital wealth is an up and coming concept and many might not be well aware of what it actually deals with. How has PR helped you in spreading awareness about your brand?
Wealth management has been around for the longest while, and in recent years, accelerated by the pandemic, personal finance too has gone through a digital transformation. We have always believed in the unbiased power of algorithms, technology’s potential to elevate data to applicable insights, and digital’s capability to provide personalisation and intuitive interfaces. Now customers are increasingly believing that too.
But digital is a means. Our objective, as a digital wealth manager, is to relieve investors’ fears and doubts around money and financial planning. Our audience shouldn’t shy away from conversations around money matters, rather finance should be a topic of interest to them. With an attempt to simplify wealth management for our target audience, we strive to educate our consumers with genuine financial advice. Our PR efforts have allowed us to be creative and engage with our consumers on complex topics in a seamless manner.
Intending to target a specific consumer base, we have leveraged selective PR to communicate our distinct positioning and desired messaging. We’ve preferred to channel our resources in an effective organic PR strategy, rather than taking the paid route, to increase credibility for the brand among viewers and readers. Slowly but steadily, PR has continuously helped us build trust with our consumers and investors.
5. How has been your experience with PR in your professional journey?
In the past, I have worked as a brand manager in print publications, I have also been a columnist, and PR has been a part of my recent roles. These varied experiences have given me a relatively more rounded view of the domain.
I have found PR to be both a good lead on some brand-driven campaigns (e.g. the annual surveys we do around financial freedom, World Savings Day and Women’s Day) as well as an excellent complementary aspect in general marketing campaigns. There have also been occasions when the PR coverage around a campaign has provided the brand more visibility than the actual campaign – for example, when the brand has used influencers.
The challenge of showing the benefits of PR has been an interesting one to continuously solve. From anecdotal feedback to showing spikes in brand keyword traffic, it has been quite a journey.
Overall, I think PR is an absolutely essential component in building a cohesive brand narrative over the long term. Media has gone beyond traditional mainstream into many streams and that makes the role of PR an ever-expanding and interesting one.