Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Waiting for the PRilika conference, which will be held on 2 and 3 December in Belgrade hotel Metropol, Arun Sudhaman, one of the keynote speakers of the conference, talked about the building of brand’s reputation.
As president and editor in chief of the Holmes Report, Arun oversees the global supply of content, including analyses, reputation insights, public relations and trends in communication.
As a journalist and digital expert, he gained experience analyzing the media, marketing and communications industries. During his career, he dealt with the analysis of reputation and prestige in many countries over the world, from the United States, via the United Kingdom, Russia and China to India and South Africa.
In 2015 Arun was included in the ICCO Hall of Fame.
What are in our opinion the three most important things in building brand reputation?
The most important thing is authenticity. Brands today can’t survive unless they are honest and transparent, both in their behavior and the messages they send. Insincerity is quickly detected, and the consequences can be disastrous. The basic decision when building a brand therefore needs to go in that direction.
Then, there’s the cause. Brand can no longer function independently from their community and environment. They can no longer prosper at the expense of society. Unilever is a good example of a company that includes social responsibility as part of its basic position, in this case focusing on building a more inclusive and sustainable world.
The third is courage. It is easy to talk about how to be authentic and driven by a cause, but it is much more difficult to achieve it, especially for those companies that are left at the mercy of quarterly earnings cycle. It takes courage to make decisions that may be unpopular among analysts and stakeholders – but these decisions often make the difference between strong, long-term reputations, and weak, ephemeral brands.
What are the challenges facing the PR industry around the world?
The biggest challenge is talent. Finding the right people for the new era in media is constantly noted as the main problem facing PR companies and in-house communication departments. Man new skills are essential – including areas such as visual storytelling, strategic planning, data / analytics – together with new business models in order to effectively incorporate and commercialize these kinds of skills.
At the PRilika 2016 conference you will talk about the future of global PR. What will be your key messages to the audience in Belgrade?
The key message is that, although the pace of change in the global PR industry is faster than it has ever been, never again will it be this slow. The industry is being disrupted by several forces – media, technology, globalization – and this is a great opportunity to take advantage of these trends and show that public relations are crucial for building and sustaining brands. But all this demands a certain hunger for risk and innovation, and the ability to make investment decisions in areas that may not necessarily be described as a traditional PR.