Without the right data backing, marketing and comms industries are simply groping in the dark: Misbah from Monofys

From interning at a solicitor’s firm in London to working as a crime-beat journalist, Misbah had been interacting way before she joined communications. She currently is the founder and CEO of Monofys. Read her entire story:

1.     Give us a little bit of the backstory about how you came to the field?

A: Post completion of my academics in Media Studies, Law, Critical Thinking, and English Literature from Leyton Sixth Form in the United Kingdom, I moved back to India and kick-started my career as a journalist with a daily newspaper, moving on to a business magazine and then eventually transitioning to PR on a full-fledged basis. It has been 15 years since I have been a part of the communications industry now.

2. What was your first interaction/experience with data? 

A: As a journalist, data is of pivotal importance. One of my initial encounters with data was while interning at a solicitor’s firm in London where I was part of the documentation team and administrative processes. Data maintenance was a major task then, unlike today, and required large-scale manual clipping for long-term preservation. Also, later on, while working as a crime-beat journalist, I was tasked with a story on the number of deaths caused by mobile usage while driving or crossing the road. I had to rely entirely on data from the local corporation and civic departments, to create a graph of how many unfortunate incidents have occurred due to this habit in the last three years along with the demographics of the deceased.

3. How did you start using data/metrics in delivering your campaigns? Can you share a few anecdotes? 

A: Having transitioned to PR, I realized that there are some very efficient data-capturing tools that accentuate the messaging of my client’s brand campaign. One such episode I would like to quote here would be that of working on the media outreach program for India’s first-ever DEBT ETF instrument by Edelweiss Mutual Funds. Data was the spine of the entire media messaging board as understanding the media appetite for covering the campaign at intermediate stages was crucial. The entire project was divided into timed stages commencing in 2019 and leading up to 2020. There were times when we had to pull back some coverage because of government approvals, ensure systematic data points for media consumption and release appropriate infographics. It was a learning curve and an enriching experience for me, which was made substantial because of the data. Another would be Health Cover Plan by SBI General Insurance amongst several other examples. This campaign required specific metrics in place to filter out the right kind of publications and editions to serve this category of news.

4. Did you come across any challenges in communications and did you feel data helped you in any way to solve the problem?

A: It would be unfair to cite a specific example here as I doubt there are any media campaigns that can fulfill their end goal if not for the incorporation of data in their strategy and approach. I begin my media initiations largely based on extensive research and data. This holds all the more true for financial PR which I have been a part of, which requires finetuning in terms of communication by means of data.

I will mention a campaign I had worked on for SBI General Insurance which was an on-ground activity about social connect. Apart from working on the press activity, I was also engaged in conducting FB Live sessions for the brand public from ground zero. At the end of the month-long campaign, it was the social media outreach backed by data that was taken into consideration along with the news media coverage (which is largely defined by AVE and SOV) that really made the entire effort a milestone event both for the client and for me.

5. What is the most important metric/data point for you as a comms person?

A: I will refer here to the tremendous support data offers to PR professionals like myself when it comes to bifurcating, evaluating, and quantifying client work in terms of spokesperson mentions in industry stories, positive brand mentions in authored articles, total outreach of a specific campaign, types of different journalists and beats covered to optimize a particular piece of development. So, these would be my top favorites regarding the most critical metrics for me.

6. What tools are your best / fav to help you in data insights?

A: Meltwater and Cirrus have been fairly reliable in measuring the success of a media and social media campaign for my clients over the years.

7. How do you see data in comms and marketing evolve in the coming days?

A: Marketing in today’s time and in the near future is increasingly becoming dependent on data in order to be personalized and targeted in its approach. Without the right data backing, marketing and comms industries are simply groping in the dark. Gone are the days of ad-hoc marketing campaigns, and hence data evolution will come with the inclusion of AI and big data in its implementation of marketing analytics.

As per a Forbes report from 2020, it’s predicted that by 2025, more than 150 trillion gigabytes of data will need analysis. For the marketing and comms industry, this translates into the need for sophisticated tools to be put into place for advanced data analysis.

Rather than producing generic, mundane campaigns, present and future times require polished data metrics for brands to be able to create tailored, targeted messaging that speaks to customers on almost an individual level.

8. Which is the favorite campaign that you were part of?

A: The NEPRA waste management film I had prepared along with my team while working under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan – Gujarat Chapter. The film captured and highlighted the notable work being done by the organization and the actual volume of waste management being carried out in the city, thereby playing a role in environmental conservation.

9. Is there any metric you wished you had access to?

A: Being able to verify the veracity of any news I come across like Alt News does for national political coverage.

10.  Would you like to share your two cents for the budding comms professionals?

A: Be in control of what it is that you want to achieve from your professional and personal spheres. Once you have a fair amount of clarity on your overall goal, rewire yourself to focus on the job at hand. Don’t dwell on long-term goals, rather pay attention to what is it that you are intending to bring to the table – how you can add your zest and spark to the present assignment. You may not necessarily be appreciated or even be right, but that is secondary and should not hold you back from experimenting with creativity and putting your best foot forward in each project.

Live in the now. Jobs come and go, clients come and go, bosses come and go – what remains is how much you have enjoyed being a part of the work you are investing your precious time and energy in – a feeling which will stay with you for the rest of your life.