Page 56 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

professionals will need to consider all some time now, because they are cations teams. Executives say that, on
aspects of their clients' social and digi- more within reach. More and more average, 49% of the reputation of their
tal footprint, with the development of brands are realizing the importance of company is attributable to their CEO's
short form videos for social media, or connecting with micro influencers who reputation. Companies risk losing 22%
podcasts for online interviews. Backed have developed dialogue, rapport, and of business when potential customers
by the right metrics, content will need trust with an intimate audience group. find one negative article on the first
page of their search results, and 70%
to match the right platform to ensure This type of authenticity breeds trust,
a broad outreach. Social platforms will which in turn can result in leads and po- of potential customers with four or
more negatives.
play a make-or-break role in the suc- tential sales. Micro influencers are also
cess of many brands in 2020. As com- willing to align with brands as long- Communicators in 2020 will be tasked
panies continue to prioritize thought term partner to ensure successful out- with gatekeeping and culture-testing
leadership to influence purchasing de- come-based campaigns. to prevent incidents like hashtag cam-
cisions, sales and marketing teams paigns on social media and other
need to wake up, and see the value in 6. Crisis communication and online media, which push for boycotts
this practice. It's time to make content reputation management will of brands and keep brands true to their
a priority. mission statements and consumer ex-
be on the radar : pectations. This will mean more and
We can expect to see more in-house more companies will need support to
5. 2020 will be the year of mi-
roles dedicated exclusively to corpo- roll their communications effectively,
cro influencers : rate reputation management as part and streng then their reputation and
Micro influencers have been a focus for of an organizations broader communi- brand voice. T

Lower berths: MP HC asks Rlys to give preference to senior

citizens, pregnant women over VVIPs

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked Railways to consider tweaking the allotment criteria for lower berths to
give preference to pregnant women and senior citizens over VVIPs like ministers, judges of High Court and Supreme
Court or government officials. A division bench comprising Justices Sanjay Yadav and Atul Sreedharan were hearing a
suo motu PIL after a fellow judge faced inconvenience on an official trip from Gwalior to Jabalpur onboard Hazrat
Nizamuddin Jabalpur Superfast Express.
The court’s order of July 27 stated, “The respondent (railways) while answering the issue of granting lower berths to
senior citizens has stated that in the priority list of the railways, the VVIPs like ministers, Supreme Court/High Court
judges etc, fall very high and they have to be first allotted the lower berths. After the VVIPs are accommodated,
priorities are given to pregnant women and senior citizens.”
“However, as regards to berth allotment is considered, the respondent Indian Railway is requested to re-prioritising
the berth allotment by giving the highest priority to pregnant women, then to senior citizens and thereafter VVIPs,”
the court has said. While giving priority to VVIPs for reservation is understood as they travel at a short notice, but for
allotment of a lower berth, priority for VVIP is unpragmatic, the court said.

The court also noted that Railway authorities had the coaches are being designed in a manner that “in future it shall
be convenient for every person to climb to the upper berth also, however, some inconvenience while travelling is
inevitable and therefore regretted”.
The court suggested that to avoid accidents, Railways should put some light or sound on each coach to signal passen-
gers standing on the platform. It also said the apps or website of Railways should show seats or berths allotted to
passengers when reservations are done, like airlines. The court further said halt timings of trains at intermediate
stations should be increased from two to five minutes or the numbers of doors in a coach should be increased or
widened to facilitate smooth movement of passengers.

56 PR COMMUNICATION AGE January - June 2020