PR with Love

Who: Farzana Baduel

Where: London, UK

What: MD of CURZON PR

Farzana Baduel is founder and managing director of Curzon Pr, a boutique strategic communications and public affairs consultancy working across sectors in growth markets, Curzon PR’s areas of expertise include arts and culture and government relations. I met Farzana during my last trip to London. We had long lunch near her office on the Hanover street, Mayfair. After this meeting I back to Paris full of inspired ideas. Here are some highlights from our talks.

Yana B.: Dear Farzana, please tell us about Curzon PR and what differentiates it from other agencies?

Farzana B.: Curzon PR is a strategic public relations and digital communications agency. We work across arts, culture, business and policy in growth markets. We’re different from other agencies because of the sophistication of our strategic campaigns. We carefully formulate strong, calculated strategies in consultation with our clients. One of our greatest strengths, which distinguish us from other agencies, is our far-reaching connections across arts and culture, business, politics and media internationally.

Yana B.: What were your favorite campaigns of recent years? What was the strategy behind these?

Farzana B.: One of my favourite campaigns was the work we did with the Oscar-winning humanitarian, Dr Mohammad Jawad. He’s an incredible man whose work with acid-burns victims in Pakistan is heart-wrenching and inspirational. The film about his work, Saving Face, won Pakistan’s first Oscar. We worked with Dr Jawad to promote his humanitarian work, our strategy was to publicise his inspiring works with acid burns victims in Pakistan. Our campaign and his humanitarian work led to real changes on the ground in Pakistan. As a result of the coverage we achieved there was an increase in international awareness which brought in legislative changes in Pakistan to prosecute the perpetrators of acid crimes. We gained excellent coverage in the world’s leading publications including The Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Times of India, Al Jazeera and the BBC. An increase in funding was also reported by acid burn victim foundations internationally and Dr Jawad became a Guest Lecturer at Stanford University School of Medicine, along with receiving a number of government and medical awards.

Yana B.: What emerging trend in communications most excites you and why?

Farzana B.: The changing digital communications landscape is the most exciting trend at the moment. It’s transforming the face of communications campaigns. We’re no longer solely reliant on newspapers and glossy magazines as a means of spreading ideas and sharing messages. These are still crucial elements of any communications campaign but the possibility and the international reach that digital campaigns offer knows no bounds. Brands are now engaging with their audiences online. Digital communications has given brands a new audience and a reach they could never have imagined a decade ago. Most importantly, digital communications campaigns are instantaneous. They have real-time effects that bolster campaigns and boost the reach of our messages.

Yana B.: How have both social media and digital technology played a role in blurring the lines between culture and media strategies?

Farzana B.: The real change has been through imagery. Every two minutes we take more pictures than all of humanity in the 19th century. Image is king in modern communications campaigns and social media applications like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter provide a platform to share these images like never before. Digital technology has truly reinvented the ways in which we share information and build interest. Images are crucial as they delicately blur the line between culture and media strategies, by engaging users and providing visually stimulating content around the clock. This technology has meant that an internet user in Australia can view pieces in an art gallery in New York. A photograph or a painting is art but by sharing this on social media it can become part of a wider campaign and strategy, targeting every online internet user worldwide.

Yana B.: What types of results can be achieved through this?

Farzana B.: The possibilities are truly endless. One of our clients is a leading Mayfair and Knightsbridge art gallery, Gallery Elena Shchukina. We received excellent coverage in the press for one of their recent exhibitions of photographic images by the artist Allan Forsyth. This was supported by a great amount of online interest through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. In fact, a visitor to the exhibition even contacted us on Instagram to sing her praises for his pieces whilst sharing images to her followers. This kind of interaction helps build interest and also ensures that we can engage a wider audience; the kind that traditional newspapers and magazines could only dream of.

Yana B.: Fashion brands have been at the forefront of using influential bloggers, Pinterest, and Tumblr to interact with consumers. What should culture brands be looking to next to engage viewers?

Farzana B.: Culture brands don’t need to go down quite the same route as fashion because part of the charm of culture and art lies in it being a very personal experience. The key factor is in getting people to the exhibitions and events and then allowing them to create their own reactions and concepts. In order to engage with this I think culture brands need to maintain healthy social media campaigns (as all brands should) and accessible, user-friendly websites. This trend increases visual content including videos and images which has led to the birth of social networks like Pinterest, Vine and Instagram. The real future is going to be in using partnerships with other brands to increase user engagement and build interest. I think cross-branding and partnership is the future for all engagement, not just cultural.

Yana B.: As previously Vice Chair of Business Relations for the British Conservative Party, you have most likely been involved in the politics battle. What brought you out of this experience in your cultural projects?

Farzana B.: I have always been exceptionally interested in cultural projects, even during my time working with the British Conservative Party. I loved being a part of politics but culture has always been where my passion lies. It was a completely natural step for me to move into arts and culture PR and one which I am glad I made. Curzon PR has coordinated some excellent campaigns – both political and cultural and my experience in the Conservative Party has provided me with a greater understanding and awareness of wider cultural and political structures for some of our most successful and high profile communications campaigns.

Yana B.: How does creativity turn to business profit? Could you share with us your successful creative industry management?

Farzana B.: Creativity is one of the most important things we offer at Curzon PR but creativity itself isn’t enough. This has to be harnessed and condensed into an effective strategic communications plan. In order to do this we work through several phases of creativity. There are brainstorms and strategy meetings which we then convert into concept documents and tangible ideas. These are finessed by the team until we effectively translate a creative idea into a detailed, calculated plan that can produce remarkable results. Our creativity gives birth to the idea; our expertise nurtures it into a successful communications campaign.

Yana B.: Curzon supported the annual Festival Maslenitsa in UK. Are you satisfied with the results? Do you have any projects in Russia now?

Farzana B.: Our work with Festival Maslenitsa produced top-tier coverage for the event including Euronews and BBC. It also had an incredible impact on cultural cooperation. By creating these platforms for cross-cultural projects we increased peer-to-peer and government-to-government activity, which not only boosts economies but also deepens cultural understanding between nations. We’re currently working with Read Russia, an initiative celebrating and promoting Russian literature and Russian book culture across the world.Read Russia will have a stand at the London Book Fair in April this year and they will also be hosting the Read Russia Literary Festival in locations around London from 7-11 April. It’s an exciting project that is all about establishing a cultural dialogue through literature! It is projects exactly like these that can build cultural bridges between nations and deepen understanding and cooperation on an international level.

Yana B.: Kiev International Biennale is one of your projects as well. What can you say about cooperation with Ukrainian art institutions and with Ukrainian culture community?

Farzana B.: Kiev International Biennale was one of my favourite projects. It brought to life the true meaning of cultural diplomacy. By working with Ukranian art institutions and the culture community in the country, we were able to ensure high level coverage in international publications and showed the international community the incredibly talented works of some of Ukraine’s best known artists. Campaigns like these display just how effective a strategic communications campaign can be in promoting a country as a leading arts and culture destination, not only increasing tourism but also the country’s standing on the international stage. Curzon PR worked in close collaboration with Russian Art Week in the UK.

Yana B.: This is yesr of the UK-Russia year of culture. Are you engaged in some activities?

Farzana B.: Read Russia is at the heart of the UK-Russia Year of Culture as literature is such a prominent part of a country’s culture. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are some of the most well-known Russian authors in Britain and are often at the top of people’s reading lists.Promoting Russian literature is also about promoting Russian culture and by increasing awareness of Russia’s most notable classic and contemporary authors we can also deepen understanding of the country’s cultural heritage in the UK.

Yana B.: As I know Curzon PR has excellent relationships with regional, national and international press. Could tell more about your partners?

Farzana B.: Maintaining good relationships is essential to any successful PR company and understanding the needs of journalists is crucial for creating a successful media relations campaign. Curzon PR provides content for a number of magazines, both digital and print. I am also editor at large for Epicurean Life Magazine, one of London’s well-established luxury magazines.The creation of strong, relevant content strengthens our work and ensures we build and maintain positive relationships within the media. You have a large geography of projects worldwide.

Yana B.: What do you consider to be the main challenge of the creative economy, what services are in demand and what still needs to be developed?

Farzana B.: Creative industries contribute significantly to the world economy. Here in the UK, the creative industries are strong and well-nurtured because they are viewed as an important contributor to the UK economy and its soft power on the world stage. Other countries are developing their creative industries and still need support from government, corporates and philanthropists to provide a platform for their creative talents.The high growth area in the creative industries is technology. This brings in stellar profits and game-changing products that transform the lives of people all over the world. It’s really inspirational.I think the area that still needs to be developed is the construction of a strong educational outreach program to communicate to young people that the creative industries is a viable vocation for tomorrow’s generation.The creative economy will only keep growing and innovating with strong, intelligent and creative people ready to take the helm.

Yana B.: Where do you go for inspiration?

Farzana B.: Here! The team at Curzon PR inspires me every single day. They are a wonderful group of people who come from all around the world – Australia, India and Argentina to name a few. Their expertise across arts, culture and business is unparalleled. In a recent interview with the BBC, I spoke about diversity in the media. Only in the most diverse workplaces can inspiration flourish. Curzon PR is part of a scheme that secures internships in creative industries for ethnic minorities; we currently have one intern with us and are in the process of hiring a second from the government-backed scheme, Creative Access. It is truly inspiring to work with such a diverse group of people, all of whom have worked incredibly hard to get where they are. They are intelligent, creative and driven people who inspire me at every turn.

Yana B.: What creative person do you most admire?

Farzana B.: Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing. He is an incredible man and is known as one of the world’s leading creative educationalists and a global philanthropist. He transformed communications beyond simple campaigns and into a new world of possibility through the unity of philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics. He built a university, helped Nelson Mandela to formulate a winning campaign for the African congress and created the global humanitarian appeal to rebuild a badly ruined Bosnia-Herzegovina. My admiration for Lim Kok Wing has been the greatest motivation for my own business and philanthropic endeavors.

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