While going through the obituaries pouring in for an advertising legend who recently passed, I came across the sad news of the passing away of another legend, the grand old man of Indian PR, Anthony BM Good, OBE. It was a small, quiet article, almost hidden in the noise of media news, so much like the man himself.
Mr. Good, often considered the “father of Indian PR” was a British Indophile who set up India’s first independent PR consultancy, Good Relations India Ltd (GRI), way back in 1988. This was at a time when most people didn’t understand (many still don’t) what PR was all about. I started my PR career with GRI, and it was here that I learnt the foundations of this profession from Mr. Good himself.
By the time he set up GRI, he was already an established PR and Business consultant. He had set up his PR firm, Good Consultancy in the UK in 1960. He set up the agency to show that PR was not a byproduct of advertising, but a profession, a calling and a profitable business in its own right. It did not come free with advertising. Good Consultancy was the first PR consultancy to get listed on the London stock exchange. A visionary, Mr. Good believed in specializations in PR as early as the 1960s. His firm had specialist departments like Corporate, Financial, Public Affairs, and even advertising, which was there to support PR.
He laid out the basic principles for the profession, many of which are still being followed. They are propagated by the early entrants to PR, like myself and the current leaders of Indian PR, many of whom are former GRI executives.
I still remember a morning at GRI where he taught us our first lesson, “PR is not a white washing job.” While he didn’t use the over hyped word, authenticity, he did stress on honesty in communication and turning away clients of disrepute. “Never lie to a client, never cheat a client and never do PR for crooks or people you don’t believe in” and “if you seek to create a reputation for others, ensure yours is pure.”
Another unforgettable lesson was “PR is not about getting space in media but about being an adviser.” He therefore stressed on the importance of a good understanding about the client and his industry. He believed, “the PR adviser should be at par with the legal adviser.” He inculcated in us a love for reading newspapers. All important newspapers should be read much before the client wakes up, was his constant say. And for PR to be effective, you have to create newsworthy stories.
Under Mr. Good’s stewardship, GRI did pioneering work and paved the way for the industry to follow. Going far beyond media relations, the firm undertook rich, diverse and varied projects. An all-India corporate attire program to change the image of a bank, market intelligence for another, newsletters and brochures for several, public affairs, internal communications, crisis communications, parties, launches, promotions - we did it all. And much before the onset of the current crop of PR firms.
Even though I left GRI after a decade there, I kept meeting Mr. Good over the years; always still finding him kind, soft spoken and generous. He once even invited me and some colleagues from GRI to stay at his beautiful home at Kensington, London, where we discovered his lovely match box collection.
I last met Mr. Good about three years ago when I happened to bump into him on the streets of London, doing what PR folk love to do, collecting newspapers. By then his name had been involved in the Cox n King’s scandal. He spoke about his innocence and hurt at being embroiled in it. It was sad to see a person of such stature, who has helped protect and build the reputation of so many large organizations and personalities, so helpless when his own had been affected.
Mr. Good’s death closes a part of Indian PR history. While we now focus on areas like AI and data, his legacy and lessons on ethics, relationships, connections, conversations, credibility will never go out of fashion.
