For years, public relations was largely associated with large corporations, celebrities and established brands. Smaller businesses often viewed PR as an expense they could consider only after achieving significant growth.
That perception is changing.
As businesses compete for attention in an increasingly crowded digital marketplace, visibility, credibility and reputation have become important business assets. For entrepreneurs and small businesses, having a strong product or service is no longer enough. Customers, investors, partners and even potential employees increasingly want to know who is behind a business and what others are saying about it.
With more than 15 years of experience across events and public relations, Vinu Hasan, Founder of Tie Up Events & PR, Chennai, has witnessed this transformation firsthand.
PR Is Moving Beyond Large Corporations
The traditional PR model often centred on securing publicity for major companies and prominent personalities. Today, the landscape is becoming considerably broader.
A startup, local entrepreneur, professional, retailer or small manufacturer may have a strong offering but limited visibility. For such businesses, building awareness and credibility can be critical to establishing a presence in competitive markets.
Large corporations may have dedicated communication teams and substantial agency budgets. Smaller businesses typically operate with far fewer resources.
That does not necessarily make their need for communication less important.
In many cases, establishing credibility early can help smaller businesses compete for attention alongside larger and more established players.
Social Media Creates Attention; PR Builds Credibility
Social media and public relations are sometimes treated as competing communication channels. Hasan views them differently.
Social platforms can help businesses generate reach, engagement and leads. PR, meanwhile, can complement those efforts through media coverage, interviews, podcasts, events and thought leadership.
Together, these channels can create a broader visibility ecosystem.
This matters because today’s consumers often research a business before making a decision. The digital footprint of an entrepreneur or company can influence how potential customers, investors, partners and employees perceive the organisation.
In this environment, visibility is no longer simply a marketing outcome. It can become part of a company’s overall brand value.
The Next Opportunity Could Be Small Businesses
One of the most significant developments in the Indian PR ecosystem is what Hasan describes as the democratisation of PR.
The focus is gradually moving away from communication strategies designed exclusively for large corporations. More entrepreneurs are beginning to recognise the value of telling their stories, building personal brands and developing consistent media visibility.
According to industry data cited by Hasan, startups accounted for 22% of PR clients in 2026, compared with 6% in 2022.
He believes the next major opportunity could lie even further down the business pyramid — among entrepreneurs and small businesses with annual turnover below ₹1 crore that have traditionally considered PR inaccessible or unnecessary.
These businesses may not require large agency structures. What they need is strategic guidance: understanding their story, identifying what is genuinely newsworthy and building visibility consistently.
Technology Will Transform PR, But Relationships Still Matter
Artificial intelligence is already influencing several areas of public relations, from research and content creation to media monitoring and audience analysis.
However, technology is unlikely to eliminate the human element of PR.
Identifying a potential media opportunity is one thing; understanding whether it is relevant, timely and strategically valuable is another.
Relationships, credibility, judgement and communication experience remain central to effective public relations.
For Hasan, technology can improve the efficiency of PR operations, but the industry’s foundation will continue to depend on people and relationships.
Events and PR Are Becoming One Ecosystem
The evolution of events is another example of how communication strategies are changing.
A product launch, conference, award ceremony, store opening or networking event no longer has to be treated as a single-day activity.
With the right communication strategy, one event can generate multiple forms of content and visibility — from media coverage and interviews to social media content, videos and podcasts.
This creates an opportunity to extend the commercial and communication value of an event well beyond the event itself.
As a result, PR and events are increasingly becoming interconnected rather than separate business functions.
The Future Is Integrated Visibility
The future of PR in India is likely to involve a combination of multiple communication channels rather than reliance on one traditional medium.
Media, social media, influencers, podcasts, events, video, personal branding, SEO and technology can work together to create a more comprehensive visibility strategy.
The fundamental question businesses ask is also changing.
It is no longer simply:
“Can you get me publicity?”
The more relevant question is:
“Can you help people discover me, believe me and remember me?”
That shift captures the changing role of public relations.
Making PR More Accessible to Entrepreneurs
For Vinu Hasan, the broader opportunity lies in making strategic PR available to businesses before they reach the stage where they can afford large communication teams.
An entrepreneur who has built a valuable product or service still needs an audience to discover it.
In a competitive market, being good at what you do and being known for what you do are increasingly connected.
The future of PR, therefore, may not simply belong to the largest brands with the biggest communication budgets. It could increasingly belong to businesses that understand the value of consistent storytelling, credible visibility and strategic reputation-building from an earlier stage.
For Hasan and Tie Up Events & PR, that represents a broader vision of what public relations can deliver: not publicity for publicity’s sake, but communication that helps businesses become discoverable, credible and memorable.
— Vinu Hasan
Founder, Tie Up Events & PR, Chennai
