PR expert Shuga Nauryzbayeva: how to build communications in the Kazakhstani market

PR expert Shuga Nauryzbayeva: how to build communications in the Kazakhstani market

Shuga Nauryzbayeva chose the path to media and PR after a successful career in pedagogy. She devoted 15 years of her life to the profession of a history teacher: she taught at school and college, has grown to the position of deputy director, and then began a new career as an office manager at a small regional TV channel. Today, Shuga Alzhanovna is an expert in the field of communications, head of PR projects at the Remark reputation agency. We talked with her about life lessons, media and communications.

Shuga Alzhanovna, do you consider yourself a risky person? How does it feel to end your career at the peak and change direction?

- The desire for risk is not one of my traits. I am quite patient, restrained person, but when I feel that I have given more to a situation or a case than I could, I can make a cardinal decision at one moment. I came to pedagogy, as it is fashionable to say now, consciously. When I could not get into the history department after school, I went to work as a nanny in a kindergarten. The following year, after my second attempt, I was accepted into university. I have never regretted my teaching career, in which I went through all the steps: from a kindergarten nanny, to a college teacher, then to a deputy director. This profession is full of creativity, love for your work, and responsibility. People call me a perfectionist, and I guess it is true. I like to get to the bottom of a problem, starting with the basics. So, the new professional path from the position of office manager of the TV channel did not scare me at all. On the contrary, it hardened me as a professional.

Please tell us, how did you become a PR specialist for Channel 7?

- My colleague signed up for an interview for the position of office manager of the Era TV channel, and having changed her mind about going, she offered me. My resume surprised the HR manager, but of course I was hired. One day I was asked to write the ethical code of the TV channel. I wrote it and there were many sevens in it – "7 points", "7 stages", "7 rules" and so on. Everyone liked the text, and the director asked conspiratorially: "Why do you have sevens everywhere, do you know something?" I replied that I just love this figure, and Kazakhs consider it sacred. Then I found out this was the time when the issue of Channel 7 on the basis of Era TV was being discussed. That is how my intuition worked (laughs). At the stage of the channel's formation, work was in full swing, there were constant brainstorming sessions. A PR director liked a couple of my recommendations, and he invited me to work together. Then there was self-education, there were very talented PR specialists next to me, who have now become brilliant specialists. It is much more difficult to work in the mass media PR than in the PR of any other organization, because you have all the media as competitors, and you need to make sure that they post your material. We had a strong team at the “Seven”. I am very grateful for this experience.

Did your pedagogical background help you in PR?

- Yes, indeed! I was very lucky to work with gifted children at the Kazakh-Turkish Lyceum, at that time this network of schools was just opening. In such schools, talented children motivate teachers, you can’t relax and work according to a template there. There are 20 people in the class, and for each one you need to choose an individual communication style in order to reveal his personality and abilities, because in the future all these children should become leaders in their field. When I was teaching in college, I paid attention to the specifics of professions. Telling a story to future lawyers is one thing, but to designers is quite another. In general, I am lucky with start-ups. Wherever I went, all the projects started from scratch.

- Recent surveys show that many of your PR colleagues are tired of the profession. Do you share this feeling with them? Do you understand why they burn out in PR?

- The risks of burnout are high for everyone who works with information anyhow. The world of digital, huge streams of information in social networks keep us in suspense almost around the clock. So, burnout is quite a familiar condition for me. We must understand that there will be no other way. You need to learn to be media literate, quickly navigate the flow of information, find only the important things in it, and skip the unimportant ones.

I would draw attention to another reason for burnout, it is intolerance to any negativity, even the most insignificant, from top managers whether it is the public sector or private business, my colleagues often talk about this. The instruction to keep the media field "sterile" exhausts PR specialists. This is how professional and emotional resources are depleted. As a result, instead of thinking through proactive actions, the specialist spends time and effort on neutralizing minor negativity, which did not pose a particular threat to the reputation of the brand or personality.

I think that such a high sensitivity to negativity is dictated by the sterility of the media field. When you were engaged in PR at the NCE Atameken at the dawn of its formation, I remember how you had to defend from criticism almost daily.

- Indeed, it was a difficult time. The journalists did not spare us (laughs). Add to this the heated discussions on Facebook, the lack of monitoring systems. At first, I had to do all the work manually. But it is important that the leadership of the chamber provided great support and trust to our team. Even when there were staff cuts, the PR department remained the same. Initially, we set the task of being open and honest with our audience, and the management supported us in this. It is very difficult to work observing this principle, but it gives positive results.

I do not remember that we divided journalists into friends and foes or were biased against any of them. We were jokingly saying: "we always answer "YES!" to media inquiries and requests from producers. The professionally built communication of the press service with the media always gives advantages, we monitored the information field daily and could quickly initiate topics ourselves.

The main purpose of the press is to receive information and disseminate it. I have great respect for journalists and always help them fulfill this important mission. Moreover, I believe that an overabundance of positive information in the media field is just as harmful as constant negativity. Balance is important, and this balance is provided by journalists, their honest, bold materials that help to objectively assess reality and constructively solve problems, rather than disguise them.

Now journalists have quite difficult relations with government officials, some restrictions are imposed in parliament, and reporters even staged protests. How do you understand the reasons for this situation?

- I am sorry that communications are so disrupted, because in the end, society which does not receive enough information about the issues on the agenda and bills suffers. We often observe how speakers who are absolutely not ready to speak or communicate with the press are brought into the public field. But any problem has a way out, now the market for reputation marketing services is so developed that a group of professionals can train a potential speaker in a short time to interact with the press, ways to effectively interview. There is nothing wrong with using the services of such specialists. As for journalists, I think some of them should reconsider their communication style, behave more professionally and formulate questions. In any case, mutual reproaches will not solve the problem. I am sorry when behind this nervousness in communications, the essence of issues that really affect the lives of Kazakhstanis is lost.

I know that you are very concerned about the issue of PR and marketing qazaqsha. At professional forums and conferences, people constantly talk about the demand for professional communications in the state language, but the transition from words to deeds seems to have slowed down.

- People making decisions in our country use Russian to a greater extent. This is a fact. They are comfortable working in this format, although in recent years there have been some progress towards Kazakh language. On the other hand, Kazakh-speaking audience is growing very fast. Not taking this trend into account or treating it lightly is a big mistake, both in political and in commercial PR.

Once, one businessman showed me his production, a pastille in a package. It was an excellent natural product made from various fruits. A fruit was painted on the bright packaging and it said "apple", "plum", "apricot". I said, "If you write "alma" or "orik" on the package, will customers not buy your pastille? What if you issue it in Kazakh? Without pathos, this will be your contribution to learning the state language, and it does not require any expenses.

I recently received seasonings from Georgia. The packaging in a foreign language says only that the product is made in Georgia, everything else is in the state language. This is an example of a competent approach to the linguistic identity of a product. Georgia understands the value of its language and culture, and tries to preserve it even in commercial export-oriented products. And here in Kazakhstan, unfortunately, many companies miss this opportunity, not realizing that using the state language can become a competitive advantage.

The Kazakh-speaking audience is growing, and it is important for them to see their cultural heritage in the products they buy, in the communication links they establish with them. It's not just about language, it's about respect for your audience and country. The sooner business understands this, the more successful it will be in integrating into the modern market. It is pleasant how embassies of different countries build their communication models in Kazakh language, this is an indicator of high professionalism, a real desire to communicate with the audience, to receive a positive response.

Do you feel jealous when foreign PR specialists come to the market?

- Absolutely not. Any competition stimulates development. The only thing I want to point out is that we should not devalue local professionals. A foreign PR specialist is probably a great professional in his country. But what does he know about the specifics of the Kazakhstani audience, does he understand its language, cultural characteristics, preferences, and potential conflict zones? In fact, PR should not just be a universal set of tools, but subtly adapted to the local context. A foreign specialist can bring new ideas and approaches, but without a deep understanding of the mentality and local nuances, his methods may be ineffective, sometimes even negative. As local professionals, we have this knowledge and can work with the audience point-by-point, avoiding mistakes and misunderstandings. Therefore, blindly trusting external experience is a big mistake.

You have been working in PR for many years. Do you think about the next changes?

– Career change during life is becoming not only the norm, but also the trend of the future. I always try to go beyond the usual, to explore new niches, to study, to cooperate with strong professionals. In 15 years in PR, I have managed to understand one thing: change is not just an opportunity, it is a necessity for growth. Now I'm really thinking about where to go next. Perhaps it will be a return to study. Education provides a fresh perspective, new ideas, and a deeper understanding of processes. In PR, as in life, it is important never to stop learning. In general, I want something new.