Jackets: the new Indian obsession

I know for sure one thing you have discussed in the last few days - Narendra Modi’s jacket with his name used in the weave. The country has developed a renewed interest in jackets. Wearing suits and jackets used to be special occasion wear for our Dads worn for weddings or formal parties. Over the years the jacket has evolved, become more affordable, flexible and fashionable. It is has become part of a style statement worn by both men and women for formal, semi formal and also casual occasions.

A jacket adds color, style, formality, pizzazz to your outfit and makes you look sharper.

Whatever the kind of jacket - sports jacket, blazer, suit jacket or even a vest – the fit is what make or breaks the look. Large oversized jackets with big lapels are for grandfather’s closet. How does one know how to select a good jacket? 

Here are some pointers to give you that edge when you choose a jacket for yourself -

Fit: A well fitted jacket will be soft and draping at the hips and shoulders but brought in a bit at the waist and chest. You want the jacket to be stationary while you move. The fabric should not crease, tug or billow with movement.

Vents: The movement of the jacket is dependent on the venting - the presence and number of slits running upward from the base of the jacket. The double vented jacket is the one that offers the best and comfort fit that helps with movement.

Length: The bottom of a formal jacket should cover the bottom curve of the buttocks. This is largely for men. For women, it will depend on their body shape.

Sleeves: Ideally half inch of shirt cuff visible under the jacket sleeve.

Lapels: Lapels are the folded pieces of cloth that cover the chest. For a timeless jacket the lapels should be 3 inches to 3 ½ inches wide. Narrow lapels are more contemporary. Wider lapels are old school.

Getting the fit of the jacket right will enhance your body shape and overall image instantaneously. One can pair a jacket with crisp shirts or kurtas and well fitted dark jeans or trousers.

A wardrobe must have is a blazer which is a navy blue jacket that is cut more casually, has patch pockets and usually gold or silver buttons. For a more casual look, pair a blazer with jeans or chinos in a lighter colour. A suit jacket is to be worn with the suit only and is usually made of finer fabric.

Go ahead and add vests and jackets to your wardrobe. The colour, texture, pattern, fabric can be chosen according to the occasion (informal to formal), place and weather. Light cotton and Linen jackets are great for summers while blends work well for all seasons.

Check out interesting jacket looks on my pinterest boards http://bit.ly/1A7VLXU and http://bit.ly/1uyeEAO . If you have any questions around blazers or jackets do write in.

Introducing women at the workplace and socially

Do you believe in New Year resolutions? I do. One of my resolutions is to write more often and share my thoughts, ideas and experiences. And so I got down to doing just that a couple of days ago.

I was in a meeting earlier this week and when the introductions were being made, I sensed that there seemed to be an awkward moment of indecision (and fumbling) by a gentleman about how to introduce a lady to the seniors attending the meeting. Have you experienced anything similar sometime? We are all confused at some point on how to introduce a lady in the workplace. Should the lady be introduced first or the seniors or colleagues? What is appropriate? What about at a social gathering?

Let me share a few simple pointers to make things easier for all of us. Here goes...

The formal way to make all introductions is - 

Speak to the person you wish to honor first

What this means:

• Your boss or senior to be addressed first then a junior person in the company.
• Younger to older
• Clients are always to be addressed first. Then your boss or someone from your company.
• A woman will not be perceived as a competent professional if she acts or wants to be treated according to chivalry. A man who treats a female client or colleague in a chivalrous manner will be perceived as condescending.
• Socially it is appropriate to introduce a man to a woman. So a woman will be addressed first. 
• Within a work environment, consider only seniority and position of the person while making introductions.

Do add a point of common interest for both parties involved.  In a formal business meeting that would mean a brief background/role of the junior member being introduced to the senior. Socially too this ensures recall and the start of a conversation.

So go ahead and make those introductions with ease socially as well as at the workplace. My module on Business Etiquette covers this and more.

Have more questions or want to share some experiences? Feel free to comment below and I will respond.

What really is Image Management?

Whether we like it or not, whether we want to or not we communicate messages about ourselves. It is therefore a good idea to step back and take a look at ourselves, our perception, our image, what messages we subconsciously communicate to others around us. A conscious effort to ‘consider’ ourselves outside & inside will not only offer us insights but improve our relationships.

Is there a ‘real’ ‘core’ ‘true’ self? Or is it who we ‘think’ we are? Or is it actually our ‘self image’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-image), made up of childhood conditioning.

Self image is formed due to our experiences largely during our growing up years. A child is told about him/herself based on someone else’s compass or perception – parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and societal norms. The child forms an image of his/her personality and carries it through life. Reactions, behaviour, attitude, actions, self worth, self confidence stem from self image. For example, a person may be an introvert as a result of him/her being told in growing up years he/she is overweight or underweight or too tall or too short or not so good looking.

At some point in our lives we all decide to take a look at ourselves. The decision for internal introspection and the actions we take for it are itself a positive step towards awarding ourselves self worth. The paths we explore could involve studying a new philosophy, a religion, exploring deep meditation, taking on a guru, physically working out, adopting a new hobby or getting more adventurous and taking more risks. The moment we decide to invest in ourselves we value ourselves more. This becomes a turning point in our growth journey.

I’ve had several interesting discussions on Image Management with a variety of different responses. Some think it’s an outwardly change and there is no reason for presenting a different image than who we are. Its artificial and a less ‘intellectual’ activity.

Is it really an outwardly change? Think about it.

Like I mentioned earlier, we feel a ‘need’ to change. Once we’ve stopped blaming our circumstances, luck and others for not moving in life or for not having what others have, we start looking into ourselves. Initially reluctantly. We are hesitant to admit we need to be worked upon. We are hesitant to get out of our comfort zone. However, those who embrace internal growth & change, those who are more self aware, are the ones who are generally happier. Image Management is actually rediscovering, recognising and accepting who you are. It is being in sync with your personality and projecting who you really are.  There is no right or wrong. We are all different from each other.

Image Management is evaluating and enhancing our image and how others perceive us and therefore respond to us. It is about creating first impressions and more importantly an impactful presence. Image Enhancement includes an understanding of ourselves, our tastes, our likes & dislikes, our personality, our roles & goals. It includes improving appearance, body language, and etiquette. It is about presenting an authentic image of ourselves. The one you are most comfortable with.

We need to introspect before we understand our personality type. The clothes we choose to wear reflect our values. Our mannerisms & etiquette reflect the respect we have for ourselves and others. The colours we decide to wear reflect our mood. Our body language and tone of voice can make or break a situation. Everything about us gives out a signal that is received by people around us.

If you are fine with the way you are, great! If you feel the need to think about yourself more consciously then let go of your fears. See your life change. Go ahead, do it. Press Refresh.

How to make PR work?

It’s always tougher to maintain a relationship than start one. How does one keep it exciting enough for all parties involved to stay interested?  You have taken on a PR agency and/or have an in-house department. Its starts off well with good output initially.

Usually after a while PR exercises tend to lose steam. You take your PR agency/in-house department for granted. PR is an engaging exercise. The success of the agency/dept depends largely on the depth of involvement of the two parties. I’ve seen good PR agencies fail simply because their client servicing team is not spending enough time interacting with Business, Marketing and Sales teams.  It could be because they have too many clients to handle and therefore too little time for a client. On the other hand, clients also assume that PR will self-run and agency/dept will keep getting results out of thin air. It eventually doesn’t work out.

So what can you do to make it work?

For You

• Be sure you need/want PR in the first place, not because your competition or friends have a leading agency on board
• Stay committed and get your team’s ‘buy in’ to the concept. PR and its impact has to be understood by the teams in house first, else there will be no knowledge sharing.  I’ve this seen this several times, the last one being – a new sales team that had no clue of PR – was asked to manage the PR agency and include PR expenses in their sales budgets! Needless to say, the sales team soon decided they don’t need PR (for a growing brand)!
• Get your agency/department to spend time with your key people across teams educating them on PR
• Share business progress, challenges and achievements with your PR team lead from time to time. It will help formulate focussed and meaningful strategies.
• Stay focussed and involved in PR. You need not spend as much time later as you did in the beginning but one has to keep an eye on monthly plans, reports and success rate. It will help if you ask for these and review progress regularly so it’s not too late before you realise it’s gone off track.

For the PR Agency/Dept

• Push the client for inputs even if you feel guilty about taking their time away from other important work
• Do not wait for inputs/info. Go find it. Talk to key people in the organisation. Build relationships with them so there is an easy flow of information. It will be easier for you to spot opportunities and ideas where company personnel may not be able to.
• If you think there isn’t enough dough for PR, have an open chat with key people stating the challenges and find solutions. It also does help at times to take third party expert opinion. Stay connected/clued on to customers, media, competition regularly – you may be able get insightful ideas.

Only a long-term perspective and commitment makes PR really tick (this I say for both clients and agencies). This goes hand in hand with business goals. Short term targeted spurts are nice as long as they are in sync with long term objectives. After all, brands are not built in a day.

PR For Startups – How to start and stay visible in media

PR is about common-sense – give the target audience what they want and how they want it but you decide what information to give them. The key is to figure that out so it’s a win-win for everyone. You are a start-up ready to make your first announcement – what and how do you do it?   There are two options – either have someone handle it in-house or take-on a PR agency.

If you’ve decided to do this in-house you need to note the following – your target audience and therefore a media list i.e. what media do they use daily and geographies to be covered. Media list will also vary depending on your announcement. I recently helped a tech start-up make a funding announcement – the most important media – key financial & tech media – print and online. We decided to give exclusive interviews to a print business print daily and to one popular online media. It was then picked-up by lot of other media. Since it was also a US based company, we decided to give an exclusive to the most frequent site there as well. This was then later followed by some in-depth interviews in trade media. One can maintain visibility by regularly organising either – news releases, guest articles or interviews in media depending on the announcement and the target audience. In PR please remember there is no ‘one size fits all’ situation. Every situation even within your company will be unique and will be required to be handled differently.

If and when you are selecting a PR agency here are some pointers.

• Call for a PR pitch from at least 3 agencies after briefing them. Go through references from other entrepreneurs you may know.
• Choose the agency based on their past experience in your space (not necessarily top priority), your comfort level with the servicing team, team background, companies they have worked with, any references they can provide.
• Sign up for a long-term (12 months) contract with 1 month exit clause and a serious review every 3 months. That way you have their commitment and interest in working with you.
• Give a detailed brief and ask them to prepare a specific 3 month PR plan. You can usually get them to achieve this in almost half the time.
• Giving a Brief to the PR Agency – Company Background, Key people/spokespersons background, Geographies covered, specific Target Audience(most imp), Key Messages(most imp), Overall business objectives
• Target media and story angles will be suggested by the PR agency accordingly
• The PR Agency will send you a weekly/fortnightly report and a dossier of coverage. They will track/monitor direct coverage as well as competition and industry.

Here are some ways to evaluate a PR agency

• Coverage received can be evaluated quantitatively (in terms of value of article space if you had placed an ad) and qualitatively (if key message(s) have been covered in articles).
• Has Target Media been covered or has the agency covered mostly irrelevant media?
• A survey amongst target audience can also be conducted before/during/after the PR exercise

How to maintain visibility

• A Press Release every 3-4 weeks or so
• Keep company website updated
• Spokesperson profiling
• Guest articles
• Quotes in industry articles
• Speaking ops
• Media fam meetings
• Regular Newsletters to media, customers, potential customers

Once you gain familiarity with the process and media, it will get easier to gauge what works and what doesn’t. So get started.

  

PR for Startups: How to get the word around & build credibility

Being an entrepreneur is tough. I’ve been a part of and worked with several startups over the years and seen their sheer grit to get things done and see things through. During the early days and the growth phase, public relations exercises have made a tremendous difference to companies in building more credibility, standing out from competition and even attracting talent. PR helps lend that aura around a name.

One of the most important aspects of PR is to be honest about who you are, what you do and to highlight that. Once, I was called in to help build visibility for a mutual fund that was the black sheep of the industry when it started. They refused to pay distributor commissions and sold direct to the customer without levying entry loads, thereby saving on their expense ratio. SEBI, of course, eventually abolished entry loads charged by mutual funds. Since there were no advertising budgets, we used media relations as a tool to get our point across. We reached out to all journalists who wrote in that space and met with them. We did newsletters and guest articles that brought home the point of view of the mutual fund. We simply focussed on talking about what they did, why they did it and how the customer benefitted. Soon, the company was being quoted and talked about in most mutual fund articles. It was a small mutual fund standing up against industry giants. But everyone took notice.

No matter how small you are, you can still reach out and find that someone is watching and listening. Most startups have very little to spend on marketing. If you don’t have the budgets you can still manage your PR. Contrary to popular belief that PR means high visibility in media, public relations actually encompasses all of a company’s existing and potential audiences – customers, employees, investors and partners. All entrepreneurs dream of their name being splashed across the front page of leading dailies and magazines. Please remember that media/press is a tool, a medium to influence your larger goals.

What you will need is just one thing that is most scarce – time. You and the team need to sit down and chalk out a plan on what audiences you need to reach out to and how. If you don’t have the bandwidth, focus on what’s most important to you at the moment and make short-term plans. Focus on a few key outcomes that you want to achieve.

A few pointers include:

- Write down outcomes you want achieved for each of your target audiences in terms of perception and key messages

- What media would you need to reach out to them and how will you use these

- Timelines for the communication activity and who will lead them internally

- Contribute time, effort and patience

For example, one of the key messages for potential investors could be strong team background. For this, one medium could be press. You could do team profiling via guest articles by the team. Another medium could be events and in terms of speaking ops for your team. One could focus on these activities for a period of 3-6 months and then, use other media and tools.

It’s important to remember that PR is cheaper than advertising, has better credibility and all it costs is your time. PR is not just for the biggies. Startups can be seen and heard too. You can develop your own unique do-it-yourself formula and win.