CorpComm in Overdrive

Shefali Khalsa, Head - Brand and Marketing at SBI General Insurance & Flovie Martins, Head, Corporate Communications at Future Generali India Life Insurance Co, discuss the corporate communication & PR trends in the insurance industry:

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Ravi Lalwani: How has the corporate communication / PR role changed in the last 12 months in your organization?

Shefali Khalsa: The environment in which we operate has undergone rapid changes including the media landscape. Traditional print media was once ruler, but now social and digital platforms are fast becoming consumers’ top choice for media and information intake. The changes in the work environment have added layers of intricacy to the communicator’s role.

Corporate communications now play a more critical role in developing and implementing strategies to control the narratives and manage the truthtrust-transparency paradigm. It has now become more and more aggressive and layered. In the current context of virtual normal, everything is in urgent demand. Digitization has scaled up the working standards resulting in the best coordination and cohesiveness. Taking cognizance of the current scenario, the need now is to interact daily with internal and external stakeholders.

Communication patterns are changing today. For instance, earned media is not limited to journalists but also extended to employees, influencers, bloggers and thirdparty affiliates.