A staunch believer in hard work, Udit Pathak, Founder Director, Media Mantra has got the agency to make a place in the Indian PR (public relations) industry. With his wife, Pooja Pathak, who is also the co-founder of Media Mantra and him at the helm, the agency’s journey of 12 years has been an exhilarating experience.
However, achieving this feat for Udit and his wife, was far from easy. Like every young lad who comes from a business background, he too, had dreams of establishing his venture. Before doing so, he took up roles across various media companies to obtain a better understanding of the industry – during this period, he was associated with India Today Group and went to work with one of the leading PR firms.
Udit recently unveiled his much-anticipated podcast series, 'Pure Reality With Udit'. The series delves into the untold narratives of entrepreneurship, spotlighting the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of industry leaders in their pursuit of success. Officially launched on YouTube, and Instagram, the episodes are also available on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.
Headquartered in Gurugram, Media Mantra has offices in Mumbai and Bangalore and employs 150+ PR and communication professionals.
In a tete-a-tete with BW Marketing World, Udit spoke about his key learnings in the PR business, aligning agency strategies with the business objectives of the clients, navigating through the ever-evolving media landscape, the significance of crisis communication and reputation management and more.
Edited excerpts:
As the founder director of Media Mantra, what core strategies do you believe contribute to effective and impactful public relations?
You have to have a good team that understands the brand, the competition, and how to create impactful strategies and impactful content for the brand which can help the brand to reach its business objectives. Today it is not about media coverage, it is about going to the brand, going in their boardroom and saying that I will solve your business problem via PR.
And if you can do that, any PR agency will always have that respect which I believe the PR firm deserves. Providing media coverage to a brand is my KRA, but when you also talk about market research, consumer sentiment, etc. – that is when we can have more respect and also we can play a vital role in any brand journey. It is about giving value to the brand, that which it is seeking.
Some startup brands simply want a splash of media coverage for six months or a year and achieve what they want to. But if a brand has matured enough, has reached a stage and wants to be seen as a credible player, then they would just not want media coverage and would want you to go beyond that. It is about going that extra mile to firstly find out about the journalist about their writing style and secondly, understand the business objectives of the brand.
How does Media Mantra adapt its PR strategies to navigate the ever-evolving media landscape and stay relevant in the digital age?
We breathe ABC. In ABC, ‘A’ is for aggression, ‘B’ is for being bold, and ‘C’ is for being credible.
If you look at our journey, we have been very aggressive in our growth. Aggressive can be a negative word, too, but I don't mind saying it because, you know, aggression has led to what we are today. Pooja and I are the founders of Media Mantra, and I believe that the advantage with us is that we both are aggressive in terms of our aspirations.
Also, I think we take bold steps. Bold steps could be in two ways. One is by creating bold campaigns for your brands where you can go out and talk about certain things which can achieve the brand narratives or brand business objectives. How bold can you be when you are doing this? Second is, as an entrepreneur, how bold you are in taking risks. And I believe that as an entrepreneur, I'm quite open when it comes to taking bold steps for the organisation. When the year started, I made an announcement where I said that I was going to hire 100 more people. I have not seen anybody or any PR firms doing such a thing.
I used to showcase a lot of our work, otherwise, people would not trust you because when you are starting, the only thing you are confident about as a rookie is your work - about how many clients you're winning, etc., it was very critical for people to join us. At a conference by Praxis some years back, my co-founder Pooja, was a part of a panel discussion, wherein there was a question about emerging firms getting acquired. We were the ones who mentioned that we didn't want to get acquired, instead, we wanted to acquire a firm. We were bold to be able to take such a stance in front of hundreds of people. This is the DNA which we have built-in and is the characteristic feature of the leadership team which flows across the organisation.
About credibility, purely based on the work I have done and also the journey I have had as a professional today, nobody can question me on some things which are very clear to me. One of them is my ethics - I have been always ethical for the brands we have been working on. We would never do anything which is not helping the brand – like just taking the money, and not giving the delivery what the client expects, that’s not what we do or encourage.
It’s our 12th year and the journey has been credible because a firm which is not ethically correct cannot survive twelve years. An unethical firm will face the brunt within one to five years of timeframe. So ethically, we are correct, and we have done ethical campaigns. We have taken a stand and even turned down campaigns which we did not believe in, no matter whatever money was offered, because as founders, we know that money is a part of business which will come in. But what is more important is that tomorrow when we retire, one thing which the PR world will remember is that the founders were ethical and the organisation was ethical.
Believing in this ABC fundamental, of being aggressive, bold, and credible - if you're aggressive and bold, credible is a part of it. You have to be credible, only then you can be aggressive and bold.
I believe that today, only one thing can help you survive in business, and that is your passion. If you are passionate enough, you can even survive a pandemic like Covid. Young people need to understand that passion.
In what ways do you see the integration of AI transforming the landscape of public relations, and how does Media Mantra leverage AI in its PR practices?
I believe that there has been a lot of talk about it but I've not seen a lot of firms implementing AI very well apart from pitch notes. That's not AI, for God's sake.
There are a lot of things which can happen, so I think we all are still in a learning phase. There could be a lot of international firms that might be using AI because they have that power and exposure. But amongst the Indian firms, I have not seen any firm doing extraordinarily different or unique. We all can have long winding talks on AI and its potential, but those would simply be talks and words on books when it comes to building consumer engagement in PR.
Building consumer engagement is crucial. How does Media Mantra ensure that its PR efforts not only reach the audience but also engage them effectively?
There are two ways that you can engage the audience – one, is through business objectives and second, through social media.
It is imperative to be aware of the business objectives of the brand. For instance, if it is a startup that wants to raise funds, I am aware that I have to do an investor-led PR campaign for the startup for the next six months or one year. If I'm able to do that, it means I am solving the brand’s business objectives and I can engage the target audience for the brand.
The second way is, of course, when I am doing the exposure for a brand, I will able to engage the target audience via social media, and the engagement will increase. How am I running those campaigns? For example, for a Women's Day campaign, the plan of how I am running those campaigns, how I would be executing it, if we are considering events and sponsoring the events, if we are doing those activities, etc.
Crisis communication is a critical aspect. Can you share insights into how Media Mantra approaches crisis communication for its clients?
Crisis communication has always been very critical for every brand. But I think there is no rulebook for crisis communication. What might be a crisis for you might not be a crisis for me.
So I believe that a crisis can only be solved by evaluating the situation then. A crisis can be as small as sending the wrong details to your customer - one number in your price list can change everything. That can also be a crisis.
An instance, there was a firm which worked with us which mistakenly wrote Rs 2500 instead of Rs 25 and that was a big problem, but it became a crisis on social media and that required to be apologised for. So I believe that that's not a rule book. Also, every time you can't apologise, sometimes you need to ignore it as well.
A crisis will be very situational. You have to have the right people and senior leadership to work on crisis communication - who can guide you, maybe work with the communication teams of the brands where together you’ll arrive at a solution.
Needless to say, in times of crisis you have to be 24/7 available for the brand - till the time the crisis is not solved, you have to be at it, you have to be working with the client day in and day out and need to be available to the brand’s requirement at that point.
Reputation is paramount. How does Media Mantra proactively manage and enhance the reputation of its clients through effective PR practices?
PR is about credibility, managing your brand, and managing your reputation.
It is about being ethical and candid too. I believe that in PR dual communication will not work. PR firms need to take ownership and say to a brand that it's not just about your reputation, it's also about your reputation. If I'm rolling out any information, I am liable for that too - I can't just do any press release or I can't just roll out anything. I'm also accountable to a community of journalists who have faith in our firm because they believe for a fact that we're a credible entity.
It's about managing the reputation for us also. So I always say to my team - don't close your eyes and send the information about what the brand is saying. Do your research because it's about you, it's about us who is leading the team, and it's also about the brand, which is obvious. So it’s about managing the reputation of the entire community, which is important for us.
Influencer marketing is gaining prominence. How does Media Mantra seamlessly integrate influencer marketing into its PR campaigns to amplify reach and impact?
If we are doing a campaign, we involve influencers too, and as part of the implementation of the strategy, we talk to them.
We make sure that whatever campaigns we are working on, we can give that story or that we can give that product, etc. to the influencer. Influencers might do a shoot - whether it is paid or unpaid, and do that story.
It is about integrative communication. It's. You can't categorise influencers and journalists, separately. I believe every journalist today is an influencer, but every influencer cannot be a journalist.
We have an influencer management team who works directly on influencers with the influencer database - whatever the requirement, we talk to them and sort out whatever is required from the brand side.
How does Media Mantra align its PR efforts with the overall business goals of its clients, and how is the impact measured in terms of tangible outcomes?
Very clearly, for me, there are two things, business objectives and an increase in share of voice. I strive to achieve both of them to make a brand happy and to make a brand more successful.
Measuring measurable results can only happen if I can solve the brand's objectives. If a startup requires funding, and if I'm able to contribute to their success in funding, I will say that I have been able to communicate well. If an MNC wants to go on a hiring spree where they want to hire 2000 - 5000 people, I can give that strategy to the brand about what they need to do in the next six months to acquire quality talent, and they can achieve that important layer of good talent there, then I think that is where the measurable results will come in. An increase in the share of voice is very critical for any brand, and if I'm able to do that, then that is a measurable result.
What have been your key learnings in the last 12 years?
My first key learning as an entrepreneur in the last 12 years of my journey is that talent doesn't come easily. You have to spend time to get the right talent. I always used to think that procuring talent was easy, but it is not - you have to be credible as a company. You need to be present amongst your competition to attract good talent into your firm which we have been able to observe in the last four or five years about how the talent has changed.
The second important thing is you can't be a teacher to all. So stop being one. People will do what they want to do. As an entrepreneur, that is something which I have learned. I thought I would become a teacher to one of my colleagues - I wanted to be a teacher, and I believe I did. But that person went all out and thought that she was a better teacher. So, she taught me certain stuff and I realised that I cannot be a teacher to everyone.
Third is passion. If you have the passion, no obstacle can stop you. I believe that's very critical.
Fourth is that you can also fall sometimes on the other side - you can't be always 100 per cent correct. But I have learned that taking that risk at the right time is essential. If I can take that risk, that is also very significant.
The fifth is about ethics. If you are steadfast about your ethics and you know what is important for people, they will reciprocate the same. I have never deducted the salary of my juniors, and I don’t see the need to do so ever. Also, many times, me and my co-founder take our salaries, last.
I’m no one to preach as there are several veterans in this industry. But these five key learnings, I believe, all young entrepreneurs who are young, who are starting, need to keep in mind if they're jumping into an entrepreneurial career.
