BRAND TALKEEZ: THE RISING NAME IN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, SOARING ABOVE THE REST TO PROVIDE THE BEST

Brand Talkeez conceptualizes strategies that can take a brand off-the-ground, grow and establish while bridging the gap between what is promised and what is delivered.

Today, Public Relations has completely changed from what it was earlier, networking, influencing people and working openly with different industry forums, has completely transformed the way PR Agencies used to work, in the last decade.

Delhi based Brand Talkeez, a Global Strategic Public Relations Marketing Communications, and Leadership Training is one such firm that found its genesis in 2017 as the brainchild of seasoned communication leader Saloni Sood Mehra. It is a young results-driven and client-focused agency having a proven track record of achieving client objectives through established deliverables and continuous monitoring of results and impact.

This dynamic champion of public relations partners with companies as an extension of their marketing communications team while building long term relationships; the proactive approach of the team in sharing industry trends, predicting issues, research, exploring industry opportunities sets them a step ahead of others. Brand Talkeez works closely with business, trade and feature journalists to create a global landscape in clients' media campaigns. It has a mixed bag of clients from lifestyle, fitness, real estate, FMCG to a diversified tech company into mobility, artificial intelligence and digital commerce.

THE FLAG BEARER

A prolific and outstanding leader with over a decade and a half experience in public relations and corporate communications, Saloni Sood has led the Brand Talkeez's strategic thrust to create multiple drivers of growth that created a significant and growing contribution to the firm and industry at large.

She worked in the Public Relations consultancies for over a decade and then, as Corporate Communications Head for DLF Ltd. She has also worked as an Editor-In-Chief for a lifestyle magazine, High5.

An alumnus of IIMC, Saloni is well-skilled in Corporate Communications, Brand Management, Content Creation, Crisis Communications, Marketing Strategy, and Event Management. She is a well-known academician with leading Mass Communication institutes in India.

Saloni has a successful track record of entering new markets and placing them on growth. To know more about Saloni, her journey and Brand Talkeez, we sat down with the leading lady.

Here are the edited excerpts.

TCM: What are your service essentials, what does your PR firm offer?

Saloni: Brand Talkeez is a marketing communications agency providing holistic communication solutions to brands globally. Our domain expertise is in public relations, crisis communication, digital marketing, content marketing, brand marketing, leadership training, and public affairs.

We provide customized communication solutions to brands from defining brands to perception audits, designing message framework to stakeholder mapping, thought leadership to media training, spinning story ideas to creating content and exploring speaker opportunities to crafting influencer programs.

TCM: How do you decide the best way of reaching the end-user, what's your preferred medium?

Saloni: The approach for reaching the end-user is governed by our ability to understand their needs and suggesting appropriate strategies to meet marketing and communication objectives. We adopt an integrated approach of leveraging social media, client testimonials and crafting influencer programs to reach out to our stakeholders.  Moreover, we also work with opinion leaders, bloggers who share their experiences and connect with target audience on various social handles; Instagram, Facebook or tweet messages to their followers.

TCM: How and why did you decide to initiate the company? How does it sit within the entrepreneurial ecosystem of India today?

Saloni: Having worked on both sides of the table- as a client as well as leading an agency; I built an appreciation for the functioning of different operating paradigms. I also realized the gap between client and agency's ways of working. To tackle the gap between the promised deliverables to actual deliverables and measure impact of PR, the foundation of Brand Talkeez was taken.

TCM: What problem does your firm solve that the business cannot by itself?

Saloni: I always believe that our clients are equally and perhaps more capable of solving issues, after all, they are the one who creates the brand in the first place.

Being said that, we enhance this value proposition by providing external perspective and assist in adopting industry best practices and aligning with new trends with guidance from market experts; such practices if initiated by clients directly may be time-consuming and driven by internal factors; our prime role is to integrate internal and external market forces. 

TCM: What are the challenges that your company faces in the present scenario?

Saloni: Entrepreneurship brings its own set of unique challenges and would like to mention a few:

VUCA World – As our Clients deal with dramatic business scenarios – scenarios which are Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous, our challenge is to be proactive and be nimble and agile to contribute towards our success.

Changing demographics – With an influx of millennial in the workforce, the eruption of social media options and the creation of multiple avenues leads to the complexity of choosing the right marketing medium to reach out to the masses.

Human Assets – Hiring the right talent which can integrate traditional public relation practices with the new asks like content, brand, and digital marketing is a challenging task.

TCM: What is your current business model for a strategically designed PR service?

Saloni: Our business model is based on business results driven by the Client's marketing and communication strategy. At Brand Talkeez, we focus on multiple milestones concerning brand life cycle, brand positioning in context to reputation management, crisis communication, thought leadership & profiling to name a few.  

TCM: With such a fast-growing team, how do you make sure everybody stays motivated and how do you support the corporate culture?

Saloni: We adopt a participative approach among employees and strive to create an environment that promotes trust and collaboration. Our culture enables open and transparent communication which helps us act as one collective unit, sharing our successes and failures.

TCM: How has the journey been for the company so far?

Saloni: The journey has been exciting with an enriching experience and building networks. In this short span of time, our ability to create value for our clients has been the most valued aspect.

The entrepreneurial journey is a roller-coaster ride that teaches you a lot. In my journey, I have learnt to be quick, adopt and move fast.

TCM: What's on the cards for your PR firm?

Saloni: In the last two years, Brand Talkeez has grown amazingly in Delhi NCR. Now, we are planning to expand our network and open offices in Mumbai and Bangalore. In addition, we are also creating a platform for PR practitioners, influencers, and media enthusiasts to provide engagement strategies for government, corporates and NGOs.

TCM: What advice can you give entrepreneurs who want to venture into the same domain in the future?

Saloni: There are some basic principles of Public Relations that every entrepreneur should follow;

• Simple thumb rule applies first to create your own brand before you can create a brand for others.
• Be creative in research, presenting, defining the strategy to sharing the impact of the campaign.

• Entrepreneurs need to offer more than just the 'traditional press pitch'.

• Nurture your curiosity; if you are curious, your ideas will likely inspire the same, forming the basis for a great conversation. Good PR begins with great conversation!!

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal – Henry Ford