The pandemic has ushered in a new way to look at how brands will compete in the future. As the customer increasingly focuses on the values of a brand as much as the value of a product or service they offer-companies too are evolving to deal with this new reality.

To discuss this and other issues, PRmoment and IBM India conducted a special session with Jen Knecht, VP, Clients, Markets & Industry Communications, IBM on her first visit to India.

Role of Partnership in the future of storytelling

Since the spin-off of Kyndryl from IBM, the change is reflected in the way IBM is approaching storytelling.

"So I think after the spinoff of Kyndryl, a big portion of our business, we shifted as a business in terms of our makeup, we were previously 70% services, business 30% software, we've now flipped that entirely. So first and foremost, the role of our teams was to bring clarity to what it is that we deliver and what it is that we stand for. So we had a pretty significant shift of the work that we did organizationally, from business unit focused to campaign-focused", stated Jen Knecht, IBM.

Taking the conversation forward Glen Thomas, vice president, of brand and communications at IBM Asia Pacific said, "We were always very focused on the notion of partnership, but the way we did that, I think was fundamentally different. I think the pandemic has moved us into an accelerated digital adoption. And I think that's changed how we go about telling stories, but it's also brought together out some of the CO dependencies that exist today that perhaps didn't exist in the same way previously."

Banding together across competition silos for great policy impact

Sharing a real-life example of how competitor firms can come together Aseem Sood, chairman of AMEC and CEO, of Impact Research & Measurement, shared, "I'm sure you would have seen these associations, wherein companies work together with competitors, to take issues to the government or the policymakers. I remember when I started working in the PR space, there used to be an association called 'All India Syringes and Needles Manufacturers Association', they bring up industry issues and talk to the government. In the telecom space, you have COAI, they are working together to frame messages. And I was surprised that some of these associations were born, because PR consultants advise the companies that you need to create an association like this and work together so that your messages are delivered to the stakeholders, and in this case, the policymakers."

To see the full discussion click below:

Also check out our previous Chai Talk on how Microsoft is developing a super-successful owned media  property through Microsoft stories. 

Chai Talk is produced by PRmoment in partnership with Weber Shandwick India.