Entertainment PR

By Smita Deshmukh

Entertainment PR

What is it ?

Defining Entertainment PR

In Theory…

This is just one more branch of public relations that

professionals can take up as part of their career

In reality…

It is much much more than that

An entertainment PR professional is the eyes, ears, voice

and often the thought behind what media and public knows,

writes and talks about the business/celebrity

It is Power. It is Glamour. It is Drama.

It is Back Breaking Hard work.

It is a world of its own and nothing like anything else.

A script, a story that you get to write…….

The Industry: Forever expanding

MOVIES

Mainline

Offbeat

Documentary

Regional

International

Hollywood

CHANNELS

GEC

News

Music

Sports

Movies

Kids

Shopping

Factual

Infotainment

CELEBRITIES

Individuals

Writers

Musicians

Performers

Dancers

Actors

Authors

Chefs

Talent

OTHERS

Theatre

Radio

Awards

Musicals

Festivals

Events

Clubs

Broadway

Bands

Fashion weeks /

shows

Charity galas

Both active

& vibrant New Age

Traditional

NEW AGE

Web Content

YouTube Channels

Web series

Stand Up Comedians

#Hotstar #Netflix

#Ditto #SonyLiv

Add a layer of #LANGUAGE to this and the whole space simply explodes with opportunities and

possibilities

The Movie Makers & Sellers

Corporate

Disney UTV

Studio 18

Eros

Trinity

Desi

Yash Raj Studios

Dharma Productions

Mukta Arts

Excel Entertainment

Corporate /

family run Production houses

Studios

International

Paramount

CBS

Sony

BBC

Apart from Bollywood & Hollywood, Indian market has huge amount of #LANGUAGE and REGIONAL cinema

like Tollywood, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Marathi, Gemini studios, Ramoji Rao studio, etc

Media in India

• Number of registered publications (English and Regionals) was 1,05,443 as of March 2015

• 101 languages and dialects • More than 813 TV channels in

English and in several Regional languages like Doordarshan, ETV, Sun TV, Asianet. 400 news channels and 413 non news channels

• Radio – AIR and private FM channels are catching on in the metros

• Web – Growing exponentially

Media conglomerates:

• The Times Group

• Dainik Bhaskar Group

• Jagran Publications

• Zee Network

• Network18

• India Today

• Malyala Manorma Group

• Sun Network

• ABP

• Star India

Media Wheel: What makes news?

MEDIA

INTERPRETS

INFORMS

MOULDS OPINION

ENABLES DECISION MAKING

ENTERTAINS

AGENTS OF CHANGE

EMPOWERS

Entertainment PR

PR agencies with

active

Entertainment PR

arms

PR structure in an

organisation

CEO / MD

Marketing Head

Brand Teams Promotion Teams

Communications Head

Publicity team

The PR Structure:

Typically it is a

part of brand

promotion &

building

The Attitude

The skills and

mindset that is

needed to be in

Entertainment

PR

Attitude

You can never turn it off

This is an always on business and so you have to be willing to give

that kind of commitment and time to this space. Also, you are never

off duty and not a guest at your event

Entertainment & its people excite you

The latest movie to the latest show, a twist in a plot, a celebrities

daily life…the world of entertainment should excite you. You can

pick up a niche maybe music but then the subject and everything

about the business and the people have to be intriguing and exciting

to be able to sustain and grow in this space. There has to be pride in

your work

Redefining BE COOL!

Rubbing shoulders with celebrities and industry types isn’t always

fun. Demands of celebrity clients are often out of ordinary. Being a

clever and calm trouble-shooter is essential.

ROI Experts

You need to understand budget implications. The ideas maybe

fabulous but it will still be about optimum ROI. You have to be able

to think out of box, creative and sometimes with no spends available

Storytellers

Just being good at writing is not enough. It is mandatory but you

also need to have the capability to find exciting 7 compelling stories

in the daily mundane

What drives business?

1. What is media and how does it impact PR efforts:

1. Know your media

2. Understanding the impact and the need for media engagement

2. Mapping the media for entertainment space:

1. What works and what does not

The Media Mix

The Times of India The Hindu

Deccan Chronicle Hindustan Times

Indian Express Asian Age

Free Press Journal DNA

Mirror Deccan Herald

Economic Times Business Standard Financial Express

Business Line Financial Chronicle

Mint

Dainik Jagran Hindustan

Rajasthan Patrika Amar Ujala

Jansatta Punjab Kesari

Purvanchal Prahari Prabhat Khabar

Navbharat Times

PTI UNI IANS ANI

Reuters Bloomberg

Cogencis AP

AFP

Impact Campaign India

E4m

Indiantelevision.com Televisionpost

Tellchakkar Indiaforums

Bollywoodnews Times

Buzzfeed Scoopwhoop

Bloomberg TV CNN IBN

India Today NDTV 24x7 NDTV Profit

News9 NewsX

Times Now

Business India Business World Business Today

Outlook Business India Today

Mainline Financial Regional Channel Wires Trade Online Magazine

Top 10 dailies in India

In ’000s

Wire agencies • Wide array of information and stories from across the globe, which they

provide to publications

• Highly credible sources of information

• Has the potential to relay Indian news to a worldwide audience instantaneously

Remember Customers/Prospects (readers) buy stories that are interesting and

contain:

• Controversy

• Conflict

• Drama

• Characters

• News and Spice

• Facts

•So we focus on change and news

Creating PR plan

• Objective: Understanding the process & creating a professional media plan to achieve business and communication goals (promoting a company, a show, a star, a brand…)

1. Defining the goals 2. Creating a structure 3. The key elements that need to be a part of the plan 4. Creating content to drive media engagement

The 5 elements

The client list

• The potential clients – TV show – series, reality show, Late night shows

• A movie – art film, big budget film

• Web series

• A play – regional, English

• Live show

TV is tough

• Create constant buzz about your TV shows – teasers, gossip

• Keep close eye on ratings, listings in newspapers

• Women’s magazines, digital and regional media will be key

• Get media on sets for coverage, plan it well

Movies – long drawn buzz

• Movie promotions begin 1.5 month in advance

• Teasers, launch press meets – expose the star cast

• A massive social media outreach is created

• Using stars for promotion is the new buzz – eg – Sui dhaga

• Inter-city, intra-city media meets

• Contests, meeting fans

Ticketed events

• The PR plans are directly linked to ticket sales

• Massive digital promotion

• Outdoor will be key

• PR teams have to work closely with the event management company

• Pre-event buzz focussed on select media (for target audience)

Crisis will come

• Hrithik Vs Kangana

• #Nepotism

• Padmavat

• #Intolerance

• Salman Khan

To handle each crisis, the PR professionals need good understanding of business, law and public opinion that legal opinion