How a PR spin made Campa Cola residents' fight more effective

Residents standing at the gates with their hands folded and some carrying out pujas evoked strong reactions. This was all part of a carefully planned strategy by a public relations firm.

Many were moved by the sight of residents standing at the gates with their hands folded, some carrying out pujas, others shouting slogans to save their homes at Campa Cola compound from the demolition squad.

News of residents being kicked out of their illegal houses, while the builders and civic officials responsible for the mess were left untouched, evoked strong reactions from across the city.

This was all part of a carefully planned strategy by a public relations firm helping the residents ‘Design content focussed on emotional stories of senior citizens; continuous feed of headlines to the media; summon media to the compound for a first-hand feel; develop relevant and impactful content on regular basis’ — these were just a few of the pointers found in the public relations plan prepared by Concept PR.

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While the involvement of the firm has never been a secret, the level of planning has been showcased as an example of the firm’s PR skills on

This, too, was part of the PR strategy, wherein the firm would project that politicians were voluntarily being a part of the protests — ‘encourage voluntary participation of elected representatives’.

It also spelled out how the media was to be used: ‘ensuring media spotlight at critical junctures like residents move Supreme Court seeking more time/resident groups seek legal remedies’.

The firm, on its website, also highlighted the ‘impact’ of the campaign.

Among its achievements is the Supreme Court’s November order where it stayed the demolition after claiming that it was ‘disturbed’ by the images.

How a PR spin made Campa Cola residents' fight more effective