In today’s volatile world of business, corporate reputation is delicately balanced between growth and responsibility, profits and sustainability, aggressive targets and sound governance. How then can it be built, nurtured, sustained, protected? How can better understanding of the stakeholders and influencers improve the actions that corporations need to take? How can practicing the science of public relations influence stakeholder perception? How does the explosion of social media and mobile communication change the way people make decisions?
Reputare is my attempt to explore and prompt a dialogue on this subject within the growing community of professionals in this arena. I invite you to participate in the conversation and share experience to make the discussion richer and deeper.
March 2nd, 2011Stirred or Shaken?
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Just how did Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s much awaited Union Budget for 2011-2012 leave India Inc. feeling in the end? With the FM announcing a 9 per cent growth, the budget saw the Minister send a clear signal – coalition politics was not going to thwart the focus on reforms.
The FM’s ability to deliver on promised reforms has been in question for a while. India Inc.’s top brass in a research conducted by PSB South Asia & Bloomberg TV poll identified corruption, governance, high inflation, poor performance on infrastructure, rising subsidies and high fiscal deficit as some of their biggest concerns.
While the FM recognized weeding out of corruption as a major challenge, the absence of any concrete steps is clearly a disappointment for those who were looking for some `action’.
We did see some reason for cheer though Click to Read More
December 10th, 2010Web 2.0 and the new Public Diplomacy
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I was invited to speak at a conference organised by The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India on “Public Diplomacy in the information Age” and my session was titled “Web 2.0 and the new Public Diplomacy”. I am happy to share my remarks at the conference.
The vastness of the subject conflicts with the paucity of time. It almost feels like trying to TWEET a 1000 word essay in 140 characters! No wonder, Twitter comes with a standard pack warning nowadays: Tweet at owners risk 
At the cusp of the telecom revolution in India, a company at the launch of its service, boldly proclaimed “GEOGRAPHY is HISTORY”. Ladies & Gentlemen Welcome to the REPUBLIC OF INTERNET. A nation without boundaries!
If Facebook was a nation, it would be the world’s third largest nation with 500 million users & growing. The Click to Read More
October 10th, 2010Announcement: Appointed as the CEO of Penn Schoen Berland (PSB)
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I am happy to announce to all of you that I have been asked by Burson-Marsteller to set up the South Asia operations of Penn Schoen Berland as its Chief Executive Officer with plans to launch operations early next year. This is a great opportunity to not only further leverage my experience in communication strategy but also expands my professional horizons into an areas which has been a passion consumer and stakeholder insights.
So Reputare also expands its scope of discussions from all things reputation to insights and communication strategy. Yes, I will continue to share my stories in various aspects of public relations, a noble profession and a powerful management tool.
Many of you who read the posts have reached out to me via twitter (@ashsingla), facebook and LinkedIn to wish me the best for the new opportunity. Click to Read More
August 30th, 2010The Great Kalmadi Show: You can Run but you cannot Hide
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Reputare has been silent for a while as I was very pre-occupied with getting our new home up and running after a disaster called a ‘goofy sub-contractor’ hit us. That’s now settled. Thank God. Thank you for your patience.
Well I am back and there can be no better time than this to learn from the “Great Kalmadi Show.”
Let me say up front, that I support the Games. I support them in-spite of the mess, the corruption, et all because it IS after all, about the athletes and their moment of glory. Can we afford to boycott them? This is the recognition, they work so hard for to achieve, rising above the system that is designed to discourage not encourage. So, I support the games because I care for our athletes.
I remember the song; we used to sing in school. “We shall overcome/ Ham honge kamyab ek din.” This is their moment, so lets cheer them to win for India.
Now to Mr. Kalmadi, a little birdie informed me that he has now hired another consultant to manage his public image and has already gone through two before that. Does he not realize that Click to Read More
February 22nd, 2010The Cinderella Makeover
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A dear friend of mine who runs a boutique reputation management firm sent me a thought-provoking article. She found it so interesting that she actually typed it and sent it out to her friends. To protect her privacy, I am going to keep her identity a secret.
Since she found it so beautiful, I thought I would share this with all of you as this piece breaks some ‘stereotypes’ and Reputare is all about understanding stereotypes as the heart of the discipline of public relations. It’s also a subject that would touch you in some way, someday..in the past or in the future.
Since this came typed to me, I claim no intellectual ownership of this content as my original creation. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have.
THE CINDERELLA MAKEOVER
Is there any space for fairytale romances in love and relationships today? Absolutely. Only the rules have changed ….
As women, we have all grown up with the “Once Upon a time” fairytale. You know the one : “Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a Click to Read More
