Celebrity or talent management is seeing a host of new entrants -- a few well-known names and others rank newcomers. The reason: celebrity endorsements in India amount to roughly Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) per annum. Predictably, Bollywood and cricket stars have the lion's share of this.

But can the new players survive in an already cluttered market?

Perhaps they can. It is an industry where you do not require heavy investment or infrastructure to start operating. The right contacts and a basic inroad is enough for a start. You can work with a handphone and a laptop. The true millennium professional. You sign up some known names and a few smart exposures, and you are on your way to stardom.

Many consider network and smarts as substitute for talent and expertise. Look back and you would find almost all new age business going through the same cycle. Entry barriers being low, a large number of players enter. Slowly there is a muddle and a shake up.

Satish Reddy, founder Scribes Inc., feels “ celebrity management is about insight. No degree of legacy assures you of results. Our success arises out of our fundamental understanding of the business and from our ability to handle a celebrity like a corporate brand. Method would win.”

At the end, it is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you...

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Startled? Unbelievable!! Is it so?

All marketers intend to engage customers and clients in a distinctive manner. Advertisements though, since it is self sponsored, do not strengthen the bonds of trust. Media generated buzz goes a long way in the direction.

Stories. Its all about stories which are believable. The hunt for such nuggets is the eternal pursuit of PR professionals. Restraint and ethics are the essential guidelines. We cannot bypass ethical values for sensationalism. Revelations build news. There is news in everything. Every company or an individual breeds news. It is up to us as PR professionals to pick on the right bit, and to validate such news with facts. We connect to public sentiment with the essence of revelation. “

In almost every act of our lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind. As goes the famous line: with great power lies great responsibility. So be judicious in approach and discreet in choice...

(Mr. Satish Reddy, a renowned PR professional and also the founder of Scribes Inc.)