Influence of brand reputation on biz valuation is surging beyond 35%: Siddhartha Mukherjee

We are in a new era of Public Relations. In the last few years, the importance of reputation management has taken a sea change. More brands and clients, especially from the leadership teams, are viewing Public Relations from a close range. The industry has undergone a radical change with the advent of social media, which has to a large extent changed the approach to Public Relations. We have a relatively new and young audience that we need to face in the coming years so there are bigger challenges for brands and PR practitioners, who have to be more agile and proactive in their thinking to draw up business solutions for clients.

In our exclusive weekly column – PR Conversation – Adgully interacts with leading business leaders and obtains their exclusive views and insights on the various trends in the PR and communications industry.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Founder of Brand Balance, shares his extensive experience across corporate communications, public relations, and media, and what motivated him to start his own consultancy. He also discusses what sets Brand Balance apart from other consultancies in the market, how they integrate data analytics into brand communication strategies, the most common challenges companies face in managing their corporate brand reputation, the long-term goals for Brand Balance, and how he plans to continue evolving the consultancy to meet the changing needs of the market, and more.

You bring close to three decades of experience across corporate communications, public relations, media and market research, media measurement, brand data analytics, business leadership, brand audit, etc. How have these experiences shaped your approach to corporate brand reputation management, and what motivated you to start your own consultancy, Brand Balance?

In an economy where the influence of corporate brand reputation on business valuations is surging beyond 35%, putting PR and Corporate Communications in the driver’s seat is the only way out.

I am an ardent believer that the world of Brand (Reputation) Management is incomplete without Public Relations and handicapped without the Corporate Communications function. For this, two key aspects need to be addressed to forge a strong working relationship between the CXOs and the PR & Corporate Communications corridor:

The brand custodians need to be made aware of the true definition and benefits of public relations and corporate communications in their language
The PR & Corporate Communications machinery needs to be armed with realistic Measurement & Data Analytics-led ERPs - efforts, resources and processes.

Brand Balance was conceived as India’s first and only Brand Reputation ERP Management Consultancy that optimizes the Efforts, Resources, and Processes of the Client's PR & Corporate Communications assembly line with the help of Measurement & Data Analytics. If the world of Finance, Marketing & Advertising, Human Resource, ESG, etc., can benefit from the likes of the Big four, why can’t the CEO, CMO and Corporate Communication trio accrue similar benefits from Brand Balance!

Brand Balance positions itself as India’s premier measurement and data analytics-led corporate brand reputation ERP management consultancy. Could you elaborate on what sets Brand Balance apart from other consultancies in the market?

Brand Balance’s KRA is to enable the PR & Corporate Communications function to support the CXO KRAs. The services and solutions that Brand Balance offers for the CEO, CMO, and the CCO (Chief Communications Officer) trio converge into and diverge from Brand Reputation Measurement and a wide variety of PR data analytics.

Brand Balance works towards the strengthening of the corporate and product brand scores of clients periodically.

While Measurement & Data Analytics become the mainstay, converging or diverging offerings such as Consultancy & Advisory, Monthly ERP Monitoring, Quality Assurance & Certification, Training Programs and Content Management follow.

It is the only Management Consultancy that offers niche & in-depth ERP (efforts, resources and processes) domain knowledge and last-mile execution services that traverse across the PR Input, PR Output and PR Outcome blocks.

How do you integrate data analytics into brand communication strategies at Brand Balance? Could you provide an example of how data-driven insights have led to improved brand reputation for a client?

Brand Balance’s mission is to strengthen clients’ corporate and product brand scores with the scientific design of public relations and corporate communications ERPs (efforts, resources and processes) and the deployment of realistic Measurement & Data Analytics.

In two unique cases – Corporate brand of a conglomerate, and Product FMCG brand – Brand Balance partnered the PR & Corporate Communication machinery through the year and deployed Measurement & Data Analytics-led ERPs (efforts, resources and processes) across the PR Input, PR Output and PR Outcome blocks.

Brand Balance intervention ensured that:

Corporate Brand Reputation of the conglomerate brand strengthened at the end of the year
The recall scores of the FMCG product brand at the end of the campaign strengthened

While the above two were unique benefits, the organizations also achieved the following:

CXOs got a new revelation about the true value of PR
Budget allocation increased
Client - PR Agency working relation fortified
Better understanding of the competition thought process
Better understanding of Media SWOT
Complete revamp of Measurement & data Analytics MiS within the client organization

In your experience, what are the most common challenges that companies face in managing their corporate brand reputation, and how does Brand Balance help address these challenges?

Corporate Brand Reputation Framework is a complex task comprising three key pillars:

Balanced Brand Visibility across stakeholders
Balanced Brand Promise across Stakeholders
Balanced Brand Experience across Stakeholders

The PR & Corporate Communications corridor takes charge of the first two pillars, comprising 2/3rd of the framework. However, an organization is faced with the following challenges:

No central desk for Reputation Management or lack of Chief Reputation Officer
While, the CCO (Chief Communications Officer) desk is the de facto custodian of Reputation, it needs ammunition of strong ERPs (efforts, resources and processes) backed by PR Measurement & Data & Analytics.

Brand Balance addresses all these challenges by arming the Corporate Brand Reputation machinery with the right Measurement & Data Analytics-led Efforts, Resources and Processes framework.

Having worked in the industry for several years, how have you seen the role of data analytics in brand communications evolve, and what future trends do you anticipate?

The Public Relations and Corporate Communications corridor has the potential to become one of the most powerful functions within an organization. It has the potential to transition from a cost to a revenue centre. There are amazing ways in which this corridor can tangibly show how it is tangibly supporting the KRAs of the CEO, CMO, CFO, CHROs, etc.

However, for this, current visualization of Data Analytics & MiS, both within corporates and their external vendors & partners need a radical shift! There are amazing possibilities of data analytics across the PR Input, PR Visibility/ Output, and PR Outcome stages. The concepts of Account & Media Planning need to become central to our ethos! The industry needs to take advantage of this framework! There are many manual and tech-led solutions that beautifully strengthen this assembly line.

The fundamental aspect that will drive the world of PR data analytics is whether the top management perceives the PR & Corporate Communications function as a mere news management desk or a strategic brand management desk. More so, what efforts, resources and processes the PR corridor is leveraging to convince the Top Management that it is a brand management desk!

We have come a long way! Some elementary shifts have started taking place such as the differentiation between PR Monitoring with PR Measurement. The other one being the effort to eradicate the AVE cancer.

Could you share a particularly challenging project you have worked on at Brand Balance and how have you navigated it to achieve success for the client?

I have been very fortunate to work with clients (CEO, CMOs and CCOs) who are Bravehearts! They are data hungry and proactively seek fresh ideas and disruptions in PR & Corporate Communications ERPs - efforts, resources and processes.

What are your long-term goals for Brand Balance, and how do you plan to continue evolving the consultancy to meet the changing needs of the market?

For decades, the subject of Corporate Brand Reputation has remained the invisible elephant within boardroom meetings in every organization. There was no structured way of addressing and strengthening the brand reputation management framework. CXO KRAs kept getting impacted due to weak reputation management framework.

Brand Balance wishes to be the driving force that will enable the CXO-PR & Corporate Communication collective to scientifically manage this domain, support CXO KRAs and enhance business valuations.

Towards this, Brand Balance will keep innovating, designing and implementing relevant Measurement & Data-led Efforts, Resources and Processes for the CXO and the Corporate Communications collective!