The Public Relations Workshop
Pillars of Corporate Reputation
Wednesday, March 29, 2000
The Oberoi Towers, Mumbai

Programme

8:30 AM

Registration

9:00 AM

Session I 
Strategies for Developing a Corporate Image / Reputation

Does your company’s reputation add or detract from the value of the product or service?

Corporate reputation is a perceptual representation of a company’s past actions and future prospects that describes the firm’s overall appeal to all of its key constituents when compared with other leading rivals. If your organisation has a good reputation, it can always be used to support the organisation’s business activities – if it has a poor reputation, then it pays to fix it. This session looks at the ways and means by which organisations can successfully develop strategies to enhance and sustain their reputations.  

Dr Gita Piramal, Director - Corporate Communications, Blow Plast Industries
Sanjiv Kataria, Vice President, NIIT Limited

10:30 AM

Session II

Challenges from the Operating Environment

Organisations very often face challenges from the environment they operate in. These challenges could be pressure groups or the local government. If the organisation has worked to establish its reputation and kept channels of communication open, then it is less likely to be asked to explain itself to any self-appointed inquisitor. Communication with various pressure groups and the government is becoming by far one of the most crucial and sensitive areas of concern for companies today. This session will bring together representatives from companies that have witnessed and managed these situations.

Vrinda Walavalkar, Manager Corporate Communications, Enron India Meena Vaidyanathan, Communications Manager, Monsanto Enterprises Limited

12:30 PM

Session III
The Crisis: Communication Strategies to Protect Reputation

Business organisations encounter a wide range of unforeseen circumstances, which have the potential to damage their desired reputation. In today’s fast-paced, media-savvy world, oil spills, product recalls and government agency vigilance are the essence of headline news and front-page stories -- negative publicity seems inevitable. And yes, it could happen to your company too. Even though you may not be able to control the crisis, you can certainly gain better control of your reaction to it. The speakers at this session will outline some of the strategies adopted by them during crisis situations for salvaging corporate reputation.

Vijay P Gokhale, former Chairman & Managing Director, Union Carbide India

1:30 PM

Lunch

2:30 PM

Session IV
Building Brands: Power of Public Relations

Public relations correctly planned and executed is a uniquely powerful tool. This tool can effectively and most credibly communicate an image of your company and or brands to the relevant target audiences. This session will discuss the increasing use of non-media promotional tools by companies to reach primary audiences.

Vikram Raizada, Marketing Director, MTV India Private Limited
Neeraj Roy, Chief Executive Officer, hungama.com 

4:00 PM

Break

4:15 PM

Session V
The Good Corporate Citizen: Partnering Community to Enhance Reputation

Companies that rate well in reputation surveys demonstrate consistent attention to constituents other than customers. Acts of corporate citizenship are taken seriously by employees of these organisations because everyone realises that doing good is, simply, good business. In this session, we explore the numerous possibilities in developing a sustainable community development project, which will add immense value to the corporate reputation.

Vikram Rajaram, Vice President - Corporate Affairs, Titan Industries Limited  
Lata Subramanian, General Manager – Corporate Communications, Jet Airways (India) Pvt. Limited

5:45 PM

Close