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Tag: Komal Rukhana

  • Creating PR campaigns is often a process of trial and error: Komal Rukhana

    Creating PR campaigns is often a process of trial and error: Komal Rukhana

    Mumbai: The PR industry in India is undergoing a transformative phase. With the rise of digital media and changing consumer behaviors, traditional PR practices are being reshaped. The focus is increasingly on creating authentic narratives and engaging with audiences through innovative digital channels. Brands are now seeking PR strategies that go beyond mere media placements, aiming for genuine connections and measurable impact.

    Komal Rukhana co-founded Mint & Milk PR with a clear objective: to break away from the overpromise and superficiality that often tainted the industry. Her viral campaign for Sonakshi Sinha’s press-on nail brand SOEZI showcased her knack for out-of-the-box thinking. The campaign not only captured widespread attention but also set new standards for digital engagement. Under her leadership, Mint & Milk PR has also successfully positioned Kalki as a premium designer brand and represented international giants like French Connection and Invicta in India.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with Rukhana where she shared her views on the challenges and perks of building one of the most promising boutique agencies in such a competitive and volatile industry.

    Edited excerpts

    What inspired you to start Mint + Milk PR, and how did your early experiences shape your vision for the agency?

    I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit.  When I explored the field of PR, I quickly realized it was not only something I loved but also something I excelled at. It was a field that challenged me, but still allowed me and pushed me to use my strengths. I have always been drawn to the idea of building something from the ground up and making a tangible impact. And as the co-founder of Mint + Milk PR, I could not only do that for my organization, but also be a part of that journey for my clients.

    My early experiences in PR definitely gave me a clearer view of what works in this industry and what does not. My approach to work has always emphasized honesty, diligence, commitment, and organization. These values have been the foundation of Mint + Milk PR from the very beginning, and continue to shape till date how we operate, how we interact with clients, and how we approach every campaign.

    How do you approach creating innovative and effective PR campaigns for your clients across diverse sectors?

    Creating PR campaigns is often a process of trial and error. There will always be hits and misses, but that doesn’t deter us from exploring innovative ideas. Because at the end of the day, if I want to genuinely create an impact, I have to push the envelope and think of strategies that are out of the ordinary. That being said, our strategies are always underpinned by a thorough understanding of our clients’ brands, their goals, and their target audiences. We stay updated with market trends, consumer behavior, technological advancements, etc. So now, after years of experience and consistent research and learning, we have higher success rates to our creative campaigns.

    Can you share some details about the most successful campaigns you have curated, such as MyMuse, SOEZI, and Kalki?

    Honestly, there are so many brands out there right now, and everyone is coming up with such creative campaigns, that the only way to make sure your campaign is successful is to stay ahead of the curve. This means suggesting innovative campaign strategies tailored to your target audience, that not fit the brands’ brief but also their budget allocations.

    For example, with SOEZI, since so many celebrities have been launching their brands these days, we strategically intertwined her brand launch with intriguing speculations of her engagement. With MyMuse, sexual wellness was a difficult subject to talk about in our country when the brand started back in 2021. So we had to be extremely careful and creative so as to not come across as offensive or vulgar, but instead shift the narrative from sex toys to intimate wellness, be it through media conversations or influencer content. For KALKI on the other hand, our task was to position them as a design-led brand. For this, we leveraged our relations with renowned fashion influencers, manifested couture exhibitions, and tapped into an exclusive and elite clientele.

    How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact your agency, and what innovative methods did you implement to continue promoting brands effectively?

    In all honesty, COVID-19 was a challenging phase, and there were times when we doubted the resurgence of our industry. But thankfully, we actually emerged stronger. Our biggest learning was that adaptiveness is the key to success. The quicker you move with the waves and the faster you mould and make decisions, better the chances of staying afloat and rebuilding.

    Our first step was to creatively strategize digital launches and virtual events, so that our clients’ messaging reached their target audiences without the need for physical presence. We leveraged social media to amplify visibility for product launches, marketing activations, the brand founders. I think the pandemic really opened the world’s eyes to the extent of social media’s power to influence the audience, so much so that influencer collaborations are now an integral part of what we do for our clients.

    What are some current trends in the PR industry that you believe will shape its future?

    Firstly, I think the immersive use of AI is revolutionizing the way we analyze and deliver content. There are AI-powered tools that provide detailed insights into consumer behavior, market trends, and campaign performance by analyzing vast amounts of data. There are AI tools that will help ideate on and even create marketing material. There are AI tools for everything today. Secondly, authentic and data-driven narratives are becoming essential in building consumer trust in our client’s brands. Epecially given how saturated the market is right now with not only homegrown brands but also international brands coming to India. Also, cultivating strong brand partners and loyalists, particularly when it comes to influencer selections, is superbly important. Quality goes a long way than quantity here.

    What is your long-term vision for Mint + Milk PR, and where do you see the agency in the next five to ten years?

    We aim for further industry expansion and client diversity. We have been doing this year on year, but there’s still a lot more ground to cover and we’re looking forward to tapping into newer market segments. We also want to grow geographically and therein increase our market reach. A lot of homegrown brands are coming up in Tier 2 cities as well now, and we’re keen on working with them to amp up their visibility and awareness.

    At the same time, we have also made plans for team development programs. We believe in investing in our team’s growth, and want to make sure they grow along with the agency. 

  • PR Strategies for Start-ups: Building Buzz on a Budget

    PR Strategies for Start-ups: Building Buzz on a Budget

    Mumbai: Public relations plays a crucial role for any start-up. It’s like having someone else to vouch for your business instead of blowing its own trumpet. It helps build credibility, creates a value proposition, focuses on storytelling and attracts investors at a later stage. Usually start-ups have extremely limited resources and are often bootstrapped, with sliver budgets to scale and grow. This often seems like PR isn’t for start-ups. Well, PR stands as one of the most cost-effective elements in the business and founders can start with budgets of any size. The only thing to keep in mind is that it demands consistency – it takes time for brands to grow and create their voice in a cluttered market.

    Here are top 5 PR strategies for Start-ups to maximise reach and further grow their brand.

    1.Capitalise on excellent storytelling by crafting a compelling narrative

    Humans have used storytelling for thousands of years to build connections with others and strengthen bonds within communities. PR is also about storytelling. When brands shed light on their motivation behind business ideas, or by reducing pain points of customers and solving their troubles through data based research, it creates a value proposition. In simpler terms, the USP of the brand is established, thereby differentiating them from their competitors or establishing a first mover advantage.

    For instance, a prominent name in the fashion industry, that was primarily perceived as a mass production brand, wanted to transition to the perception of a design-led company. Through strategic PR initiatives like gathering significant traction among fashion influencers, celebrities, and prestigious fashion events, we achieved this shift by emphasising the brand’s commitment to innovative designs, quality craftsmanship, and exclusivity.

    Leveraging key partnerships within our network with renowned fashion influencers and enabling the brand to reach fashion-forward consumers, we manifested couture exhibitions for our clients and innovative capsule collections with key KOLs to expand its reach to an exclusive and elite clientele. Through meticulous planning and through a design innovation led approach, we positioned them in key fashion shows alongside the best labels in the country. By aligning its messaging and positioning with the aspirations of its target audience, the brand has solidified its presence in the luxury fashion market and poised itself for continued growth and success.

    2. Leverage owned, earned and shared media

    First, set clear goals with founders on the PR message that the brand wants to communicate. It can be to launch the start-up, a product from the collection or an announcement of a new strategic location expansion. Then, one can leverage owned, earned and/or shared media. Owned media includes blogs, informative articles and building a robust social media presence helps start-ups gain the initial traction needed and SEO value to really stand out. Start-ups can also leverage earned media by media-training their CEOs and aligning that with the backgrounds and vision of the founders.

    A key ingredient to all strategies is a compelling press kit that highlights the launch of the brand, its story with compelling visuals to take advantage of opportunities that are more personal than product-focused. Strategically collaborating with businesses that have similar target audiences and creating social media content and contests are also pivotal.

    3. Invest accurately in a strategy

    In the current digital age, influencer marketing  plays a key role in creating and driving content for businesses in their key markets. Investing in influencers which accurately match your business views and have a high engagement rate will prove to be extremely beneficial for businesses on a budget. Be it a sexual wellness client who would like to build a niche for themselves in the market or a bootstrapped fashion client; creating unique messaging with influencers can push sales through specific and well targeted affiliate programs. This helps turn the eyeballs needed for short term boosts. This can be a pre-launch event, a digital buzz, to achieve campaign specific goals or funnel movers for geographic markets. Identifying and working with the right nano and macro level influencers can be mutually beneficial for both parties.

    Further to influencer marketing is crafting clever content that is in tune with trends. This would ensure that brands are seen as entities that are well aware of industry trends and have an opinion on it. But most importantly, it’s advisable to establish a budget and the cost to benefit ratio when building out an influencer marketing strategy for brands with bootstrapped budgets.

    4. Keep a proactive approach

    It’s possible that a start-up may not have the budget to host an event or have a significant piece of news worthy of announcement to make frequently. This, however, doesn’t mean that PR needs to fall short. Publicists must keep a proactive approach towards it all, from constantly researching trends and connecting with the media, to creating relevant and compelling story ideas. Once a rapport is built, one must timely attend and facilitate inbound query requests to engage with budding brands. This should be a priority on the agenda for publicists.

    5. Crisis Management

    When working with start-ups there could be a bunch of knicks that they will need to iron out as they go along. In such times, be patient with your client. Having a robust crisis management strategy in place can help any negative press or blow outs on social media.

    One size fits all cannot be the approach to PR. It’s imperative to devise plans especially curated for every business, as each one has its unique needs, aim, budget and market. In order to curtail budgets, PR can be flexibly moulded in any way as per the specific requirements of a brand. For instance, a renowned sneaker brand based in a south-east country, aimed to establish its presence in the competitive Indian market while operating on a limited budget, to test the waters in a new market before diving in. Through strategic planning and innovative thinking, we devised a unique gifting campaign targeting the exclusive sneaker community in India. The campaign involved sending exclusive merchandise as pre-invites to the launch of the exclusive store and website in India. We utilised the power of social media and digital marketing to amplify the reach of the gifting campaign, unveiling to reach a wider audience among the sneaker enthusiasts across the country. The gifting drive then served as a prelude to the website launch where we strategically tied up with influencers to unravel the UX and UI, along with the benefits of shopping online and finally launching the official store in India a month later with key media and industry KOLS.

    In a nutshell, start-ups must have a PR strategy in place, regardless of the budget or the end goal. Through effective PR, new and freshly ideated strategies that fit the business’s short or long term goals are set in and targeted plans of action result in setting up a brand narrative for the targeted audience. As the strategic tool that enables effective communication, PR remains an indispensable asset for companies that when employed in the right manner can deliver immense growth.

    The article is authored by Mint and Milk PR founder Komal Rukhana.