Contrary to what we think, today’s audience is not interested in a brand’s bag of wind.
Brands need to focus on the value that they can provide to their present as well as potential customers and investors.
And that’s where PR Companies set foot in to sketch and manage the flow of information between businesses and the public to benefit both parties.
An extremely noisy industry, PR Industry lives in a constantly changing digital landscape where numerous PR companies have hit the marketplace through the ages but only a few have unsettled the industry’s equilibrium.
We are going to talk about one from the pack.
Ace Proton is not a garden variety PR Firm.
It is one of the first companies to adopt the modern-day consumer engagement avatar and bringing innovation to the consumer marketplace.
Ace Proton came under the light in the year 2014 to offer an array of distinguished & disruptive PR solutions to the Entertainment, Fashion & Lifestyle industries.
Since then, the brand has branched out well. Ace Proton has established a strong foothold across India, South East Asia and the USA. Next, the firm started soliciting assignments in other domains such as start-ups, transport, real estate, pharma, travel, environment, F&B, hospitality, retail, etc.
The ability to look ahead has marked Proton out from the competition and assured its success.
With strengthened digital and event capabilities, Proton offers a lot more – from regular social and digital services to photography, videography and an in-house editing team.
Creatives are the backbone of social and digital marketing and with the help of an in-house team.
We interviewed the leaders behind Ace Proton, Dr Snehal Shriwastava & Chirag Bagaria who brought their incredible creative spirit and digital dexterity to founding a unique PR Firm.
The leaders behind the brand
Snehal Shriwastava – Director
Chirag Bagaria – Director
Chirag began his career after completing his MBA from Mumbai and eventually working with leading brands like Raymonds, Elder Healthcare, Gitanjali Gems, Network18 Media & the BCCI. Next, he joined a creative, design and digital agency and it turned out that he was only one decision away from a different professional path.
Taking inspiration, Chirag started his entrepreneurial journey with Ace Proton in a rapidly transforming PR space. What next? Then came the eye-opening realization – to survive in the long run, a digital media pundit is a must.
That’s where Snehal’s role came into view. A well-versed digital marketing personality, Snehal took charge of Proton’s digital marketing strategies and contributed to the brand’s digital competence.
We spoke with the torchbearers of Ace Proton to get a feel of what it is like to start and run a PR agency and how they are leading Ace Proton towards newer heights.
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How will you differentiate yourself from what has already become clutter?
Chirag Bagaria: As a young agency, we noticed several disruptions in the market space since we started.
A watershed event was the launch of Reliance Jio mobile network provider services, which saw a huge leap in the penetration of mobile internet & growth in usage of smartphones.
Another watershed event was Covid19 which forced digital adoption in a big way.
We realized quite early that if we have to grow in this highly competitive market, we have to increase our pace of learning.
Through learning, we could successfully manage to add on a host of services to our portfolio and automate several parts of the operations.
We tell all our prospective clients to choose an agency based on their understanding of the client’s brand and the client’s target audiences.
At Proton Communications, we lay severe emphasis on research.
After getting a client brief, we request 8 days to come back with the first cut of our plan.
Some may find these 8 days a bit too long, however, we use them in the ratio of 70:30. 70% for research and 30% for media intelligence and chalking out the strategies.
This approach combined with our strengths makes us a formidable partner that brands may want to go with.
As a branding professional could you share professional insights on how to successfully market a business during a crisis market such as COVID-19?
Snehal Shriwastava: Indeed, Covid-19 is one of the most unprecedented crises that humankind has ever faced. As the country is seething with waves of the dreaded virus, people are spending more time on digital media and they expect brands to take a stand which many a time becomes difficult.
Last year, social media conversations were about following Covid-19 related preventive measures. This year, it was all about amplifying people’s calls for medicines, ICU beds, oxygen cylinders, and even crematorium contacts. It’s a testing time for brands – should they stay silent and take a break or continue the sales messages and efforts is what they needed to decide.
Many consumer and luxury goods brands chose to be dormant and many of them were being indifferent to the external environment and giving out regular and planned messaging. However, some of them came up with the right kind of messaging and promotions and were talking about Covid appropriate behavior and how can the brand help the consumers in these testing times. These brands stood with their patrons and focused on amplifying people’s needs, updating on vaccines and availability, collaborating with NGOs, recognizing good Samaritans, etc. Since people weren’t finding support from established systems; they started looking forward to these brands.
Users across the social media were only focused on sharing content that informed them about safety measures when the pandemic had begun. Posts on washing hands and using sanitizers did extremely well, as compared to other posts during the same period. During a crisis like this, consumers don’t want to see a campaign that’s talking about selling a brand, or a service. Consumers are willing to engage with branded posts if they’re in the space of the information they want. One of the things with social media is that intent becomes very clear. Consumers respect honest intent and can see through when the intent is not right.
Also Read: Cresco Healthcare LLP: creating a new revolution in the diagnostics industry as a home-service pathology platform
Can you give us more insights into your offerings?
Chirag Bagaria: Yes, apart from Public Relations, we offer the following services:
- Crisis Management
- Corporate Communications
- Social Media Management
- Influencer Marketing
- Video Creation & Editing
- Content Creation
- Event Management
- Policy Advocacy
- Marketing Consultancy
How do you decide on highlighting the aspects of the clients in the media/for branding?
Snehal Shriwastava: Everything at our agency begins with research.
We send the client a custom brief form; the details of which help us to understand the 4Ps of the product from the client’s viewpoint.
Then the content team researches the market, the current & potential size, competitors and potential competitors, etc.
Once we are done with our research, we relook at the USPs shared by the client and try to weave content around the same.
Once the content is approved, we reach out to journalists from that very particular beat with the story.
PR Industry brings its stress and challenge(s). How do you manage them?
Chirag Bagaria: We follow the path of Bhagavad Gita and at all times find the answers we seek. The Gita says in Chapter 2, Verse 47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
{You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.
Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.}
What are your plans for the future?
Snehal Shriwastava: There are many things on the anvil – once the Covid19 pandemic eases up, we will rework the two Event I.P.s that we were planning to launch in 2020. We also plan to have a presence in NCR, Nagpur, Pune and Ahmedabad in the next couple of years.
We are currently a part of the Board of Studies of some Business Schools in Mumbai wherein we try and make the upcoming managers understand the nuances of the work and processes of Public Relations, we want to activate the same module in other cities as well.
All of this will happen simultaneously as we explore more and more sectors for PR and increase the bouquet of our services.
Finally, can you please share some advice or your favorite quote?
Chirag Bagaria: When we think positive, positive things start happening and we are better poised to find solutions.
Positive thoughts go together with faith and hope. Proton stabilizes the atom and in the same way, positivity stabilizes the human mind.
Being positive people, we fundamentally define who we are, highlighting our hopes and dreams and helps us to become better versions of ourselves.
Given the times we are in, I feel that being positive is the most needed thing, although it might not be easy.
