How customisation in PR can be a game changer
PR is a skilful game where each move has to be calculated with precision to win. Here’s a look at a challenging assignment that came our way and how we made this a national success for our clients.
Since 1995, Chennai-based Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation has been giving away the Mahaveer Awards to outstanding individuals and organisations. The concept was to recognise their excellence in propagation of `Non-violence & Vegetarianism’, `Education’, `Medicine’ and `Community & Social Service’. Recently, the 19th edition of this was held.
The Foundation had so far identified, recognised and honoured over 60 individuals and institutions doing selfless service for the welfare of the needy, the weak and the voiceless. They had been continuously giving away these awards, yet wanted to reach out even further. Their goal was to reach out to individuals across India and secure nominations. However, this was not happening despite their best efforts. It’s then that they approached us.
We analysed their target group and came up with a Pan-Indian strategy. We took a three-pronged approach. We created Regional Content, translated it into Regional Languages and had Regional Partners to disseminate this.
We understood that there was a lack of awareness about these awards. We needed to not only build awareness but also whip up the enthusiasm for this so that there were a larger number of nominations.
We first looked for Local Partners in every nook and cranny of the country and tied up with them. They became the torch bearers of our mission to spread awareness and garner nominations.
We also realised that the one-size-fits-all approach would not work with the content. We did not want to take te esy way out and use a single release for all regions. We went through the award lists and state wise looked at the winners. We customised every single press release that went out depending on the region. For instance, the Kerala press release went with the names of previous award winners in the region. This created the connect.
The press releases were translated into vernacular languages ranging from Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi to Punjabi. This brought in the local flavour and multiplied the reach exponentially.
After the PR campaign which was run in newspapers across the length and breadth of the country, things changed dramatically. Nominations poured in from all quarters, from Punjab to the North East to South India. This provided greater choice.
The Mahaveer Awards also got a greater audience and platform across the country. It drew in a lot of recognition and respect for the good work they were doing. Besides the publicity they gained the good will that it brought and the dissemination of their noble ideals.
