Q&A with Sonal Bisht, Head of Corporate Communications EMEA, Poly
We recently caught up with Sonal Bisht, Head of Corporate Communications at Poly. Sonal gives her thoughts on the value of PR and how to work effectively with agency partners.
What is your role at Poly and what does it entail?
I am the regional corporate communications lead for Poly’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Everything external and internal communications falls within my team’s remit. We are a geographically dispersed, diverse team of communications professionals. We advocate for the same technology that we use to collaborate over borders, the same technology that was born from the legacy of Plantronics and Polycom – Poly.
What does Poly do?
Poly brings people together when they physically can’t be in the same location. Hybrid working has been our mantra for quite some time. In fact, our legacy dates back to the first moon landings, when Neil Armstrong was “working remotely” from the moon. The headset used that day was a Plantronics MS50 headset, which brought the famous first words back from the moon to earth. Poly’s audio and video collaboration tools allow people to work and connect with each other from any location. Today, hybrid work is being used widely by most organisations but there are lessons to be learnt. One thing the pandemic taught us is that we still crave human connections, no matter the distance. This type of connection wouldn’t be possible today without Poly or our competitors.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing PR professionals today?
I see two major challenges facing our profession. The first is that the corporate world doesn’t always understand the importance of PR. So we have to do a lot of work to show that they wouldn’t survive without PR as a major part of their business strategy.
The second is the overengineered way of defining communications strategy versus public relations Strategy is one that has been on my mind for a few years now. PR is powerful. PR defines the message. PR is creative. This message gets absorbed into the ethos of the business paving the path to conduct business. However, the industry vision is truncated by what media wants and neglects to talk about what is on the customers’ minds. We need to break the silos and elevate ourselves above the KPIs and media targets.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for PR professionals today?
This is a touchy topic for many pros out there, but I think that the blurring of lines between traditional media versus new media is an opportunity. It is all about relationships and yes, businesses need advertising £s to survive, but they also require fresh content. The combined strategy for the two has a larger impact than the individual pieces. We need to start thinking creatively to challenge traditional thinking, and show the business what can be achieved by taking a holistic approach to both.
What role can product reviews play in the customer buying process?
A product reviews programme can be daunting and put in the same bucket as requiring technology expertise. However, we often forget that products are ultimately being used by end users, and even if they are experts, they will not all be at the same level of expertise everywhere. I believe that you could run a fantastic programme if you pay attention to the unique customer personas and get creative with how you pitch opportunities. If you don’t, you might face a few challenges and fail to secure the reviews that could play a major part in a customer’s buying process.
How does Spark differ from other agencies you have worked with and how has the thought leadership activity they’ve driven help Poly stand out from its competitors?
The Spark Communications team has been absolutely legendary and a real ideas machine for our team. It all started with a great piece on the “confessions of a hybrid worker”. I must admit that being sceptical is part of my role, and there were moments where I was on the verge of completely re-thinking the story. But the entire Spark team is really professional and has a culture of dealing with news patiently, as well as having clarity on goals, which is extremely important for the business.
What do you look for in a PR agency?
An agency partner must have the ability to transform unlinked thoughts into a desirable piece of content that resonates with all external and internal audiences. This is because we are all working toward one goal – understanding the industry pain points so we can collectively innovate together. Simplifying this is the main challenge and this is where having a fractional agency versus an excellent agency like Spark can make all the difference.
What do you think PR agencies often get wrong?
Having a fantastic agency on board means that you get every opportunity to discuss and preview your plans together, or be creative and brainstorm future campaigns. What some agencies get wrong is when they treat their clients as customers, when they should be working together as an extension of their in-house teams.
What would your advice be to other PR professionals to help them get the most from PR?
The learning process is key, no matter what stage of career you are at. If you are too busy to learn, you first need to learn a thing or two about prioritising correctly. The main thing is to find a balance between your work tasks and learning time. Find the sweet spot by signing on for new jobs. Remember one thing – “opportunity” means something “new”. Ask for mentorship and spend time in learning how to complete a new task.