Adgully Exclusive | PR agencies will create exclusive digital hubs: Avian Media's Nitin Mantri

Avian Media was established seven years back and has a widespread network of expertise across various sectors. The company has now expanded across five cities in India. It started off initially by focusing more on the B2B side but over the past few years the firm got into the lifestyle, travel and sports sector in a big way.

Working on the principle of studying a client's "Circle of Influence' Avian Media has grown from strength to strength. Adgully caught up with Nitin Mantri, Chief Executive Officer, Avian Media, to find out more about the firms plan for the year and to get more insight on the PR industry in the country.

Avian Media is are looking at consolidating its media offering in Mumbai this year and will be focusing more on financial services, healthcare and entertainment as categories.

The company currently has brands like PVR Pictures, Porsche, Bentley, Airbus, Thomas Cook, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd etc. in its kitty.

When asked where does he see growth coming in from, Mantri, says, "Seventy to Eighty percentage of the clients we work with our multi-national companies, so the growth will only continue as more and more companies such as these enter the Indian market. I think Indian companies are themselves too giving more importance to the Public Relations and Communication function."

"So I do not see the market dipping but PR agencies need to move away from just performing media relations but act as communication partner for their clients. Our horizontal focus is going to be on developing digital PR. We have a separate team right now which takes care of this function. It will remain specialised for a long time, but over a span of few years it should become commoditised," he adds.

Mantri says that the PR industry has evolved a lot in the last four to five years in the country. Moreover he says that clients have also started expecting an consultancy-led approach rather than just that of media relations. The shift from clients appreciating quality over quantity is slowly but gradually happening. "I also feel public-affairs and advocacy becoming very important in India. I think digital is a space to watch out for. Globally a lot of PR agencies will be buying out digital agencies, in India I feel PR agencies will also try and create big digital hubs," Mantri points out.

While pointing out some of the challenges for the PR industry, Mantri, says, "The biggest challenge has been in terms of measuring PR. PR is a lot about perception management, which becomes a big challenge as measuring perception is difficult. The other major over the last few months has been due to the current controversy about the tapes of lobbying issue that were out. So we at Public Relations Consultancy of India (PRCI) have tried our best to make people aware that there is an official body which has certain code of ethics for this profession."

While signing off we ask him if the PR agencies in India are at par with the PR practices internationally, Mantri, says, "The markets abroad are a little more mature than the Indian markets, in some cases also because the media is a little more mature. The PR industry always grows in sync with the publics growth around it. In terms of practices, methods, ideas etc the Indian agencies are at par with the international PR industry."

Avian Media is looking at expansion across the South of India and is also chalking out a presence in Kolkatta. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]