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Head Communication & Sustainability, Nutrition and Special Projects at Hindustan Unilever Limited
Let’s Get Inspired
In Conversation with Deepa Dey
– Preeti Juneja
Q. What motivated you to pursue a career in PR? Tell us your story.
My career in comms was totally unplanned, and the decision to join PR was also sudden. In fact, when I joined, I was not even aware of the discipline and what it entails.
After doing my Masters in English, I was keen to pursue journalism and was working as a stringer with The Economic Times in Calcutta while doing my MPhil. The need to be self-reliant pushed me to join Amrita Bazaar Patrika as a part of their relaunch team. Soon, I learned that The Statesman was hiring, and I applied and was among the four people selected. At this juncture, I got a call from a headhunter who told me about the opening at The Park Hotels.
I went for the interview and was offered the job – someone decided to take a punt on a newbie, and there I was! And here I am!
Q In your view, how is PR and Digital Marketing related?
I prefer to look at this question differently. Instead of looking at it from the input side, which is what this question is trying to do, I prefer to look at it from the other side – what is the best route for the message to land well with the stakeholder? It is best to start with what the expectation is from the comms outreach – is it product/service uptake, awareness generation, or issue management? Once that is defined, the route to take there will be easy.
For a startup that wants to focus on product uptake, it is best to use digital platforms to do performance marketing and not worry about large format stories in pink paper. But for a company that wants to bring about policy changes to support business growth, large format stories and edit pieces are critical. Insta reels may not necessarily help in that space. It is always better to clearly articulate what “win” looks like before choosing the pathway towards it.
Q. What are the best practices for posting news on social media?
News in today’s world is emerging from smart devices connected to the ubiquitous network. Everyone is documenting the world around and sharing this. Various social media platforms that we use are, inadvertently, becoming aggregators of these contents. Algorithms are pushing content to us, and we are all living in a bubble. In a world like this, companies and brands have limited options for “posting” news.
The current focus should be to shape the ‘views’ – through a set of outreaches including media and influencer engagement. These would include direct contact programmes, information dissemination through company own assets, compassionate & efficient consumer care, authentic engagement with shareholders / regulators etc.
Q. Do you have a role model within your industry who has inspired you? How has that person influenced and inspired you?
A day that I don’t learn, is a day wasted. I am privileged to have had many inspiring bosses, peers, and agency partners. With my deepest gratitude I share a few names – this is just a sampler – the menu is very large.
We should be grateful to have had excellent role models in Prema Sagar, Madan Bahl and Dilip Cherian who have paved the way for us. Among my peers I have deep respect for Meenu Handa, Senjam Rajshekhar, Rachana Panda, Leslie McGibbon, Helen Wailes, Parul Kumar, Phil Thompson, Maria Potter, Bernadette Murdoch, Colin DSilva, Minari Shah, for the stature and strategy that they have infused into PR in India and overseas. For Nitin Mantri, Rakesh Thukral, Amit Mishra, Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Aseem Sood and Vandana Sandhir – I hold a special place in my journey – they have been dear friends and astute professionals.
I am deeply honoured to have worked (and partied!) with Natasha Pal, Vijay Chako, Zeenat Khan, Sangita Kuriakose, Rikhil Seth, Dolly Tayal, Atul Sharma, Divya Bakshi, Kuheli Roy, Sakshi Mathur, Sindhu Manivannan, Sashikant Someshwar, Tarundeep Singh, Rupa Nair, Tanya DeSousa, Shaoli Das, Kinshuk Gupta, Divya Bahri and my all my ‘Dare Devils’ from Airtel. These are great professionals, and they are my people.
My biggest champion and teacher in the profession has been also my ‘life’ coach – Nikhil Dey – I learn from him every day in so many ways. And I must mention one other!
Q. What advice would you offer to young individuals interested in joining this profession?
- The sweet spot is the one between Content & Context. Understand the latter. Train yourself to raise the bar of the former.
- Be brave, and mighty forces will come to your aid. Always be kind. Lead with empathy.
- Work smart. Party Hard. Cause nothing is promised. Not even a day.
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Do you have a question for Deepa Dey ? Write to us at contact.dwindia@gmail.com
About Author
Deepa Dey
Deepa Dey, an integrated communication, sustainability, and advocacy professional with over 30 years of experience, started her career as a journalist with a pink paper in Kolkata while pursuing her Master’s in English Literature.
Deepa’s career has spanned diverse industries, from infrastructure to consumer healthcare, showcasing her adaptability and versatility. She has held leadership positions at renowned companies such as The Park, SpiceJet, Airtel, GSK, and HUL.
In addition to communication, she has worked on Online Reputation Management, Advocacy, CSR / sustainability, Culture building and large-scale change management for industry-defining M&As (GSK-Novartis; GSK-Pfizer, GSK-Unilever). She is a practising Mental Health Champion and an LGBTQI+ ally at her current organisation. In addition to this, she is passionate about mentoring and has been actively mentoring organisations and individual mentees for over four years.
She also received many industry awards, including the Maestro Award – 2023 (E4M), Lifetime Achievement Award -2022 (E4M), and the Top Comms Professionals in India (Reputation Today – 2017, 2020) & Exchange4Media (2022).
Deepa has also served as a Jury member for national & international awards, including Sabre (Holmes Report / Provoke); Fulcrum (Reputation Today), PR Week Asia (HK); AMEC (Barcelona), Haymarket Campaign Asia Agency of the Year Award (HK) & Women leading Change Awards 2019 / 2021/2022(Singapore); Jury Chair – Women’s Achiever’s Award (E4M). She has also been a keynote speaker at Global and national summits, including AMEC Global Summit, ET Strategic Summit, Praxis, exchange4media, and PR Moment. Sabre Awards.
A postgraduate in English, she loves to write, read, travel and cook. She is married and with a son. She aims to “open doors” to new ideas, connections, and learning.
16th July 2024
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Inspiring Women
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