By Jaideep Shergill, CEO, Hanmer MSL, MSLGROUP Asia

Chess | Courtesy: Muffet on Flickr

Companies and corporate entities have always searched for the right partner to enable and execute the right plan to bring favourable outcomes for their respective businesses. This is the essence of ’Strategic Counsel’ or Strategic Communications, which has become increasingly popular in the global communications market over the last two decades.

The Master Plan

Strategic counsel is advice that consultants like MSLGROUP give clients for communication efforts with a specific agenda, a master plan and key points of connectivity that enable execution. Typically, the master plan revolves around certain key issues close to a client company or entity in question which could involve building the brand, addressing the challenges that a brand or product or service might be facing, managing or diffusing sensitive issues pertinent to the business or operating environment, influencing opinions, urging stakeholders to undertake specific actions or in advocating a change (in business process, legislation).

Lessons From The Vaishnavi Case

The Tatas used Indian PR agency Vaishnavi Communications successfully as a consultancy in building their corporate brand, in building bridges with successive governments at the Centre and States, advocating policy changes and so on… and for a decade they did so pretty well, up until the 2G fracas (See: Radia Tapes Controversy) saw the entire operation fall like a pack of cards… and in the process impinging the very fabric of trust and credibility on which the Tatas prided themselves on. Nevertheless, while the case of Vaishnavi leaves a lot negative connotations behind, there are several positive lessons as well.

Many of the lessons come by way of studying the interplay and process of how strategic messaging or information is pushed to the larger public through journalists, public speakers and commentators, subject experts, researchers and /or policy makers.

Grabbing Consumers’ Attention

Today, consumers’ and opinion leaders’ mindspaces are cluttered with information overload and brands fight hard to attract them. Here is where strategic communication plays a role in creating a higher, more differentiated share of attention. Counsel that puts together the engines of conventional and new media helps identify not just the challenge, or the right stakeholder, or the primary content but in focusing upon the right channels, adding tweaks and spins to the content, thus deriving correct messaging and building newer levels of intermediary, influencer or consumer access that would otherwise be prohibitive to a company or brand… both by way of complexity of process and commercial considerations.

Exploring New Avenues, Taking A Different Approach

We have brands which have begun asking themselves the question “Are we doing enough to reach out to all our stakeholders?” or “What should be doing to be heard and taken seriously by our stakeholders – whether a consumer, influencer or policy maker?” I have been approached by clients to try and understand what it is that they can do differently to try and build or enhance their current levels of trust, credibility or faith in their companies or brands. The answer is both simple and complex at the same time. This is to say that while the tools are simple, the process is complex and longwinded. It requires oodles of time and patience to be able to make things happen!

The Essentials Of Strategic Counsel

Brands can benefit by touching upon the yet unexplored areas, and mind you, no matter which company says what… the fact remains that many only just aspire to delve deep… the magnitude of the challenge or the cost preventing them from going further. Therefore, the solution for companies, corporate entities and brands is to look at some essentials:

1. Deep market knowledge: Does your consultant or advisor provide you with deep market knowledge? This directly implies that research, insights, information or intelligence, whichever way you look at it, is critical.
2. Network and outreach: Does your consultant have an understanding and access to the right channels, the key stakeholders or opinion makers who’s view and perceptions affects the business and brand, as well as to multiple touch points whether offline or online media, digital platforms, industry platforms and so on?
3. Customized and Segmented approaches: Not every message is adaptable to every environment, so does the consultant have the ability to help construct the right message and content – adapt and customize the content for different audiences?
4. Measurement: How do you measure your success, what are the milestones and are they realistic?

Most strategic communication counseling mandates are about promises which can fall flat because they are unrealistic in terms of their time-resource-goals proportioning. So there is an opportunity out there for all of us in addressing new client needs and looking at solutions from a new perspective. Yes, there are challenges… but then that’s what is exciting, isn’t it?

Originally posted on Asia.mslgroup.com

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