CHENNAI : In 1969, the speaker at the inaugural session of the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) spoke about `Traditional Communication' while members dined on braised sea bass.

That is what the speaker's son, Nabarun Ghose, remembers of the occasion nearly four decades ago. On Friday, Mr. Ghose spoke to the PRSI about a topic befitting the dawn of the new millennium, where speed is everything: Electronic Public Relations: Building and Assessing Profitable Relationships on the Net.

Mr. Ghose, who is professor of marketing and global business at Tiffin University, Ohio, made the point that that public relations today has to reckon with three factors— globalisation, relationships and electronic communications.

He quoted what U.S. President George Bush said about globalisation — "Here to stay, learn to live with it."

In the 21st century, relationships with customers and clients overshadow price or anything else, he said, citing the example of the Tata Group, which has relied on Larsen and Toubro for its supplies, because of the excellent relations between the two.

He dwelt at length on electronic communications, which he said are about instant gratification. Mr. Ghose identified the eRelationship opportunities available today: cultural, interpersonal, technical and multi-dimensional.

Cultural differences had to make allowance for different interpretations of language by different cultures. Therefore, a website needed to have country-specific links. Interpersonal opportunities could be addressed by automated personalised responses, frequent updates on the website and personalised letters.

Technical opportunities, for example, lay in designing secure websites (passing on viruses to your clients' computers isn't good PR). On multi-dimensional opportunities, he remarked that everyone over 85 in the U.S. gets a personally signed card from President Bush. Mr. Ghose's point: Do not discount the value of a handwritten note.

The professor spoke about the necessity to assess electronic public relations, and how this could be done: through monitoring the click rate, frequent promotions to build brand equity in people's minds and a close watch on the business return rates of the current strategy.

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