Swati Bhattacharya, Storyteller and Marketing Communications Strategy Professional
Swati Bhattacharya is a storyteller and marketing communication professional. Coming with experience in sorting crisis management, she also devotes her time to CSR. She is honorary regional director at CASI (CSR & Sustainability Institute), a global certification body for CSR and sustainability. She talks about the changing phase of Marketing communications and the increasing focus of corporates in CSR.
Podcast
Overview
Marketing takes business products or services to the customer and helps maintain good relations. Especially, during times of crisis, which any business organisation is bound to be in due to several factors, the right approach to marketing communication help in sustaining the relations with the stakeholders. With the advent of the Internet and social media, the range of scope of MarCom has undoubtedly increased, but it sticks to its core value of disseminating the right information.
Today, we have Ms. Swati Bhattacharya, a leading MarCom professional who shares her insight on keeping business afloat in today’s time.
About Swati Bhattacharya
Swati Bhattacharya is a storyteller and marketing communication professional. Coming with experience in sorting crisis management, she also devotes her time to CSR. She is honorary regional director at CASI (CSR & Sustainability Institute), a global certification body for CSR and sustainability. She talks about the changing phase of Marketing communications and the increasing focus of corporates in CSR.
DISCUSSION
Swati starts her discussion by explaining the core value of marketing communications, understanding and sticking to the core value a business and its employees relate to. She feels it is important to make information personalised to have more impact. Believing in “less is more”, she advises on refraining from sending out too much information.
Swati explains the meaning of crisis, “Any company which has or has been perceived of doing something wrong.”
She gives an interesting example of how a fast-food restaurant in the US got into crisis when beef was found in vegetarian fries. Through the case study, Swati focuses on different ways of handling the crisis, especially by directly involving the customers.
Impact of Social Media
Swati laughs at how social media always keep communication professionals on their toes. She says, “Bad news gets immediately blown up, so one needs to always have a crisis plan in place.”
She explains how an organisation is deemed to be guilty if they don’t put out a statement or engage with stakeholders within minutes and hours.
Thoughts on CSR & ESG Norms
Swati is a passionate CSR leader. She has done several international CSR projects in the field of STEM education, women empowerment, and children’s meals.
She emphasizes the importance of having a 360-degree approach towards a project, than looking at it from one eye.
Swati shares the increasing willingness of corporates in following the ESG norms. She explains, “Companies have realised the importance of ESG norms to be sustainable and for long-term growth. They even look at their supply chain and do no business with anyone who is not following the norms.”
She talks passionately about how millennials and Gen Z are focusing on sustainable development.
More about Swati
Swati also speaks positively about how corporates are now lending support systems to women especially in the age of upbringing of the children. She says, “Studies have proven that women have better EQ and are better leaders. The situation in India is better than before, as a lot of good companies are now handholding women in managing home and work together.”
Profile
A senior communications, advocacy and public relations executive with 25+ years of experience in high profile, large, multi-national and Indian capital-intensive organizations. A strong company spokesperson and experienced crisis manager who has re-built and re-energized troubled communications organizations. Highly impactful and competent in designing and executing successful government engagement strategies; providing regulatory advice to the organizations; maintaining and managing corporate communication strategies and management positioning.
• Expertise in strengthening both internal and external communication, reputation and thought leadership of the organization.
• Persuasive Storyteller with extensive experience in providing integrated solutions, process improvements, branding, digital marketing, policy advocacy, and partnering business in execution of business plans and achieving profitable growth.
• Competent in maintaining excellent working relationships with stakeholders, & internal teams to achieve business objectives.
• Proficiently assisting organizations in dealing with the regulatory challenges & in mitigating organizational & commercial risks.
• Accomplishing stakeholders mapping & network building by developing relationships with Government Officials and Regulatory Authorities to support development of a regulatory framework for highly regulated industries.
• Possessing an innate passion for tackling big challenges spanning Engineering, Auto, Technology, FMCG, and Retail sectors.
