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<ul><li><keyword id="23599" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cry">CRY</keyword>'s campaign is aimed at building awareness on the importance of India’s girls completing their secondary education and the positive correlation it can have on the inclusive socio-economic growth of the country.</li><li>The campaign has been launched in collaboration with <keyword id="10059988" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lintas-live">Lintas Live</keyword>.</li><li>The campaign idea is rooted in the hard data from a recent McKinsey Gender Parity Study (2018) that clearly states that employment of girl child can add $770 billion to India’s GDP.</li></ul>CRY (<keyword id="6514873" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="child-rights-and-you">Child Rights and You</keyword>) launched a national campaign titled #PooriPadhaiDeshKiBhalai to build awareness on the importance of India’s girls completing their secondary education and the positive correlation it can have on the inclusive socio-economic growth of the country. The campaign has been launched in collaboration with Lintas Live and seeks to inspire India’s citizens to come together and pledge their support for the cause. As a part of this film, Lintas Live partnered with Absolute Productions to deliver this heartwarming film, set against the backdrop of rural heartland of the country, where the protagonist – a young girl – innocently leads a potential investor to hark upon the real investment potential of the country. The ‘Big Impact’ of investing in the idea of supporting every girl to complete her secondary education is validated by stark statistics recounted by an educationist who enumerates the long-term economic benefits that this could bring to the country. <div type="Youtube" id="BTAKHhHHdOw" title="CRY | #PooriPadhaiDeshKiBhalai" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BTAKHhHHdOw/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Speaking about the campaign, <keyword id="10055924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sarvesh-raikar">Sarvesh Raikar</keyword>, Creative Head, Lintas Live said, “Several films and PSAs around education, especially on girl-child education, have been done before. Our challenge was how do we make our message stand out? How do we shine a spotlight on the importance of completing secondary education? Which is why, we took the route of showing it as an investment and actually demonstrate the returns - with hard-hitting numbers. The fact that the campaign has been launched in March further made the theme sharper – as that's when investments are top of the mind for the country." Commenting on the initiative, <keyword id="1087789" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Puja-Marwaha">Puja Marwaha</keyword>, CEO, CRY said, “In the four decade-long journey of CRY, ensuring education for the girl-child – especially the ones living in remotest of places and within marginalised communities – has always been very close to our heart and at the top of our programme agenda on the ground.” “We do hope that the campaign #PooriPadhaiDeshKiBhalai, and the way the film captures the essence of the core issue of girl-child education with an imaginative articulation, will be able to mirror the largeness of our mission and purpose. The campaign intends to bring to light the importance of secondary education for the girls and table the positive potential that such investment will bring to the country’s socio-economic growth. We urge people from all walks of life to come forward, take note and support the cause,” Puja added. Speaking about the campaign, <keyword id="3345614" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ameer-Ismail">Ameer Ismail</keyword>, President, Lintas Live said, “We are truly honoured to partner with CRY for promoting a true cause that impact lives and I am so proud of the team that has worked on this with passion. This campaign is a true reflection of our creative capabilities at Lintas Live with digital – first amplifications at the very heart of its execution.” The storytelling is simple, easy and straight from the heart, as the film aims to narrate one of the starkest socio-economic realities of the country. Keeping in mind the fact that around 38 per cent of girls in India, between 15 to 18 years, are out of school (RGI Census 2016 &amp; UDISE data 2016-17) and that the drop-out rates for girls increase dramatically from 4.30 per cent in primary schools to 17.01 per cent in secondary school (UDISE 2018-19), the film looks at secondary education of girls as the most potent of investments towards a brighter future and a robust economy. The campaign idea is rooted in the hard data from a recent McKinsey Gender Parity Study (2018) that clearly states that employment of girl child can add $770 billion to India’s GDP. The film concludes with a plea to invest in the future of the nation by investing in the secondary education of the girl child and help harness the economic strength of the nation’s latent potential.

CRY's latest campaign focuses on the importance of girls completing their secondary education and its direct correlation to the country's growth

The MullenLowe Lintas Group launches Lintas Live

<ul><li>MullenLowe Lintas Group has today announced the launch of its digital-first creative <keyword id="86164" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PR">PR</keyword> agency Lintas Live in India. </li><li>In an industry-first move, by a PR agency, Lintas Live has appointed <keyword id="10055924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sarvesh-raikar">Sarvesh Raikar</keyword> as its Creative Head.</li><li>We talk to <keyword id="3345614" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ameer-Ismail">Ameer Ismail</keyword>, (current) President GolinOpinion and <keyword id="2965478" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Virat-Tandon">Virat Tandon</keyword>, Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group about what this transformation really means and why it was necessary.</li></ul>With an aim of transforming GolinOpinion into a digital-first, creative PR agency, <keyword id="9880212" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-mullenlowe-lintas-group">the MullenLowe Lintas Group</keyword> has rebranded GolinOpinion as Lintas Live. Owing to the fact that consumers are spending more and more time online and the Digital medium has become a critical medium in a brand’s journey of brand-building, this newly launched PR and Communication agency’s framework will now be powered by data-led insights and LIVE storytelling across digital and conventional platforms. To also do justice to its promise of transforming into a PR agency that is led by creative thought, in an industry-first move, MullenLowe Lintas Group has also announced the appointment of Sarvesh Raikar as its Creative Head. The agency that was founded in 1990 has over the years had a rich roster of clients that include Seiko, Etihad Airways, Tata Starbucks, Sony Pictures Networks and Porsche. This transformation move comes at a time when how brands communicate and consumers behave is evolving on an everyday-basis. The aim of the agency is to catch the pulse of every trending and topical conversation happening online, and using creativity to make brands a part of the trends. To understand what this rebranding would entail and how things will change while also remaining the same, we caught up with Ameer Ismail, (current) President GolinOpinion and Virat Tandon, Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group. They shed some light on how the rebranding and restructuring will transform not just the way they work as an agency but also will help them come up with relevant communication to help brands in their brand-building journey. Excerpts: Q) How did the idea of this transition to Lintas Live come into being and why was it necessary? VT: We had started this conversation even before Covid. Firstly, we wanted to create a digital-first PR offering and secondly, we have a global play in PR as MullenLowe in the US, Europe and Singapore and we wanted to bring that model into the country. We have been working on this transition for the last 4 months now and we are happy to share that we’re going to launch a digital-first and also a creative-first PR offering. It’s a bold move, but it is something that the market needs right now. What also makes it special is that the last 6 months we have been seeing a lot more digital adoption by marketers and therefore it was the perfect time for us to launch this. AI: I have seen the world of PR change quite significantly. If you look at the reality of news today, consumption and sharing of information is all in real-time and that’s the genesis of our thinking that we needed to re-organize and reorient ourselves in this new reality. Q) What exactly does a digital-first and creative first agency mean? VT: There was a time when opinions were made on news media itself. That time has really changed now. Today people in the networked platforms with opinions, who are leading conversations, really matter for corporates and brands. Therefore, a lot of opinions are being created and shared online. The other part is, there is so much data available online that can really inform your PR strategy. That is something we are keen to tap into. The other bit is as a creative agency, our PR offering is a standalone company but as a DNA, we bring to the category a creative might which we feel is becoming increasingly relevant even in the PR space and we wanted to leverage that and bring a big creative punch into our work and campaigns. Sarvesh Raikar, a very senior creative head at Lowe Lintas who is already running a big team that does the global creative work on Lifebuoy and various other mandates, will be coming on board in addition to that role, as the creative head for the new company. AI: Our new name Lintas Live reflects that in today’s environment. Today, everything about brands, be it an individual or a corporate brand, or a brand that you as a consumer go out looking for, needs live conversations. Today, the landscape has changed drastically. People are no longer exclusively dependent on a certain channel for news. They consume news through social platforms and portals and so many other repositories of information that this kind of intervention from an agency is the most important criteria in this new world that we’re living in. That reality got fuelled increasingly more after the pandemic hit us. We have seen information and data that suggests it’s going to continue for sometime and we are not going to lose our dependency on this kind of information that we need to consumer. And information leads to choice and in that mix, the relevance and abundance of data and how you use it to carve out insights is extremely critical. From a PR and storytelling point of view, it can give you a rich base of information that will help you carve out your PR strategy for clients and that will be a visible differentiator as we move forward. And if you look at it from a future play, it’s the predictive capabilities of AI and machine learning that will give you a chance to see conversations and trends and then decide how to place your brand conversations there. Q) The restructuring will also mean the way you work will see a transformation. How are you driving this change within the organization? VT: We’ve seen this coming and there is a fair bit of distance we have already travelled in the way we work today. The team has already been working on some campaigns following this line of thought and that gave us a lot of confidence. We were in a very good place to concretize this offering. The only new piece we are bringing in now is a creative lead and a little later, a digital lead. We have some capability in data and digital but we will strengthen that further. AI: Our day-to-day working will change. We are restructuring some part of the group into what we call live communities that will help in adding value to what we are currently doing. This will be different from a PR agency structure and offering but the core of what we do will remain the same. We’re still committed to impactful storytelling for clients and brand-building for them through earned media and whatever else that we do. We anyway have a very strong social media team and ecosystem that is part of our PR offering which we launched a number of years ago. Within that there are creative people and content colleagues. All we intend to do is to power this much further to reflect the kind of promise and offering that we have planned. Q) You speak about forming live communities within the agency. Can you tell us more? AI: Our transformation also means we are reorganizing our team members into live communities. We will have 3 communities who we are calling Trendspotters, Creative Architects and Newjackers. Trendspotters are a team of people who extremely enthusiastic about the digital universe. They will scan this universe for relevant news and conversations, track what is trending and capture relevant topics in client reports. These days, if there is a trending conversation, it gets picked up by news media and gets cascaded on to TV too. We are looking for opportunities like these through our trendspotting team that can be relevant for our clients. Once they capture that news or information, they pass it on to the second group, the creative architects who will understand where the opportunities lie and start churning out content relevant to that particular trend or insight that can in turn be flipped back to the client for approval and that can go out as information in interesting formats. And this second community is the one that will be powered by Sarvesh and some additional people who will get new kind of competencies to deliver that promise. The last community is that of the newsjackers. This is the team that will take this content developed by creative architects to journalists or bloggers or any other mediums that is best suited to get conversations going on the brand. These three communities will interplay to really enrich and bring alive our vision. Q) Going ahead, as this transformed PR agency, what will the key focus areas of Lintas Live be? AI: We have had a long and successful journey. The business was launched by the agency in the 90’s. We have had a long tenure where we’ve worked with clients across every imaginable sector. We enjoy fantastic relationships with them even today. If you look at the future play of what we intent to do, it’s bucketed under corporate brands and brand PR. Those are the 2 areas of focus which will continue to be important to us as we grow our business. VT: Delivery-wise, we’re looking at the traditional PR which is media training and relations etc but also further strengthening our influencer practice, social media as well as our content business. We have added the ‘live’ in our name because we are living in a digital, always-on, connected ecosystem which therefore leads to opportunities for brands and corporates every minute. We want to be there with our finger on the pulse and be able to act on those opportunities to help our clients. Watch the video here: <div type="Video" msid="78511805" hostid="261" title="The MullenLowe Lintas Group launches Lintas Live" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=78511805"></div>

As MullenLowe Lintas Group rebrands GolinOpinion to Lintas Live, Ameer Ismail and Virat Tandon tell us everything that will change, and everything that won’t

<ul><li><keyword id="36730" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-Police">Mumbai Police</keyword>’s latest campaign, #MainBhiMumbaiPolice, is an initiative by Lowe Lintas and GolinOpinion to support the force by reminding citizens to take the necessary precautions for the well-being of their family and our country. </li><li>We reached out to Sagar Kapoor, CCO, Lowe Lintas and Ameer Ismail, President, GolinOpinion to get behind the scenes, understand the challenges of making an advertisement amid a nationwide lockdown and the idea behind the campaign. </li></ul>The world is living history right now. With majority of the world in a lockdown, we are living in unprecedented times. And Mumbai, an otherwise fast-paced-city that never sleeps has suddenly come to a halt. The busy streets, crowded trains and daily hustle-bustle has poofed with the advent of COVID-19. Mumbai Police has stepped up, as always, to help the city navigate through challenges, whether its on-ground or on social media. The government body is using its wit and humour on social media to break the tension in the air and resonate with today's youth. They have used the quirkiest ways possible to urge them to be sensible, alert and safe. From various pop culture references to turning board games into quirky posts, our Mumbai Police has used it all. It's latest campaign #MainBhiMumbaiPolice, in a stern voice, aims to tell Mumbaikars to become responsible and follow the task of self-policing. The initiative is a tribute to Mumbai Police’s efforts on-ground, who combat the deadly virus ensuring our safety and well-being. It urges citizens to consider themselves an extension of the force by taking on the highly responsible task of self-policing; thus ensuring that their family members stay inside their homes and keep everyone away from any risk of infection. The campaign has been further amplified by well-known celebrities like Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Neena Gupta, Rahul Bose and many more on their respective social media platforms. We reached out to Lowe Lintas and GolinOpinion, the agencies behind #MainBhiMumbaiPolice to understand what kind of response did they receive for their campaign, here is what they said: <div type="Video" msid="75669432" hostid="261" title="Meet the agency behind Mumbai Police’s latest campaign" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=75669432"></div>

Meet the agency behind Mumbai Police’s latest campaign

Male, <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> on Sunday reiterated its commitment to the <keyword id="6354908" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="maldives">Maldives</keyword>' security and signed a $50 million defense Line of <keyword id="598290" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit-agreement">Credit agreement</keyword> with it to boost the maritime capabilities of the strategic island nation. The USD 50 million credit line agreement for defense projects was signed between the Finance Ministry of Maldives and the Export Import <keyword id="6355303" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bank-of-india">Bank of India</keyword>. The signing of the agreement took place after <keyword id="43920" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="External-affairs">External Affairs</keyword> Minister S Jaishankar held talks with Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Didi, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer, Minister of <keyword id="10801437" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-development-fayyaz-ismail">Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail</keyword> and Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam. Jaishnakar, who is here on a two-day visit, held a "cordial meeting" with the Defense Minister. "Useful exchange on our defense cooperation. India will always be a reliable security partner for the Maldives," Jaishankar tweeted. "Glad to sign with Defense Minister @MariyaDidi the UTF Harbour Project agreement. Will strengthen Maldivian Coast Guard capability and facilitate regional HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) efforts. Partners in development, partners in security," he said. Didi said it was a great pleasure to welcome Jaishankar. "From time immemorial Defense Cooperation has been a key element of the sisterly relationship that exists between India and the Maldives. The Coast Guard Harbour &amp; Dockyard at SIFAVARU will mark another significant milestone," she tweeted. Jaishankar also witnessed the signing of a project execution contract for the construction of roads in Addu, the second-largest urban area in the Maldives in terms of population. "Underscores the importance of connectivity in our Maldives partnership," he tweeted. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/nurecas-100-crore-ipo-heres-how-to-check-share-allotment-status/articleshow/81135236.cms">Nureca’s ₹100 crore IPO: Here’s how to check share allotment status</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/travel/article/exploring-the-unreal-beauty-of-the-andaman-islands/articleshow/81126293.cms">Exploring the unreal beauty of the Andaman Islands</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-may-require-twitter-facebook-and-others-to-remove-unlawful-content-within-36-hours/articleshow/81104740.cms">India may require Twitter, Facebook and others to remove unlawful content within 36 hours</a>

India signs $50 million defense LoC agreement to boost maritime capabilities of Maldives

<ul><li>With the increasing number of Covid-19 cases every day, it is becoming extremely difficult for a lot of people to stay calm and keep working.</li><li>A lot of companies have upgraded their policies to help their employees navigate through this tough period and to push them to take care of their <keyword id="6354774" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mental-health">mental health</keyword>.</li><li>However, a few PR agencies have done something remarkable during these testing times -- they have given their employees wellness day-offs.</li></ul>At a time when almost everyone seems to have lost someone amongst their family or friends, for many of us, continuing to lead a normal life has become extremely difficult. Add to it the stress of working from home which has taken a toll on our collective mental health. While we are used to working from home by now, this year feels different; it has been a lot of change far too quickly and it is almost too much to process which has resulted in us not been able to assess the mental health impact of it. We are spending a lot more time on social media reading about someone’s death or helping out people arrange an oxygen cylinder or an ICU bed. Despite feeling anxious about contracting the virus, employees are going the extra mile to concentrate at work. They are also facing the blues of working in isolation, pressure to overperform in a dismal atmosphere, lack of job assurance and security, and some of them, even salary cuts. All of this combined has led to mental fatigue and burnout. As per WHO, burnout is characterised by three key factors: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy, and so many of us have been experiencing most of this in our daily lives. And those who were already battling with clinical mental illness such as OCD, anxiety, depression, or autism—have found their stress levels kicking through the roof and struggles intensified. According to Microsoft's Work Trend Index report in October 2020, which surveyed over 6,000 employees across eight countries, India had the second-highest percentage of workers facing increased burnout in Asia at 29%. India also came out on top with over 41% of workers citing the lack of separation between work and personal life as negatively impacting their well-being, resulting in increased stress levels. The year 2020 taught us the value of having the mind-space to deal with the unexpected. To allow their employees to spend more time with their loved ones during one of the worst calamities India has faced in recent times, Public Relation Agencies are setting examples for others by giving them a wellness break. This move is a brilliant reminder to prioritise a culture of well-being at the workplace at a time when we are all feeling lost, dejected, demotivated, and exhausted. Here are a few PR agencies that have implemented a wellness programme in the past few days: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Edelman:" text="Edelman:">Edelman:</cmsannotation> Edelman has moved to a 4-day work week for an entire month. Rakesh Thukral, Communications and Public Affairs Professional and Managing Director of Edelman shared agency’s wellness plan on LinkedIn. He wrote, “To ensure the wellbeing of our colleagues, and to enable them to support their loved ones who need attention and care, we will be moving to a 4-day work week through May 2021. Every Friday in May has been announced as a self-care day. This will allow them some downtime from work to support their families, but also plan for early vaccination. I am sure our client partners will support us in this effort.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="MSL:" text="MSL:">MSL:</cmsannotation> In the light of rising COVID cases, MSL has declared a 4-day breather for its employees. Monica Miglani, Group Head, MSL India shared on social media, “From colleagues who are suffering themselves or have family members infected or even employees who are just feeling pathetic with whatever is happening around, this downtime is for them to support whosoever needs their help or just legit take a breather so that we all can fight this second wave more fiercely. I am using this time to get all my family members, helpers tested who have shown symptoms in the last few days.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Lintas Live:" text="Lintas Live:">Lintas Live:</cmsannotation> Another PR agency helping its employees tackle burnout is Lintas Live. The entire month of May is going to be a 4-day working week for its employees. Telling us more about agency's wellness days off, Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live, Shared, "We have always had a culture of caring and taking care of our employees is a part of our agency DNA. We have given support to our teams in many ways and encouraged team members to share the load and take over tasks when someone has been facing difficulty and needs to spend time with loved ones and family members. Whether it is our Lintas Employees Welfare Trust that stepped up and delivered a Covid Care package in late 2020 that included financial assistance and counsellor support for those who need to cope or now our decision to have a 4 day week so that each employee can take time to take care of themselves, we have always kept our employees welfare front and center." <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Perfect Relations:" text="Perfect Relations:">Perfect Relations:</cmsannotation> Perfect Relations has announced a leave of 5 days for its team in a bid to combat burnout and be there with their families. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> In today’s testing times, these agencies have reminded us the importance of compassion, empathy and building the right working environment for employees. Here’s hoping more agencies and companies take a cue from this.

Indian PR agencies are helping employees tackle burnout and take care of their mental health by reducing working days in May

<ul><li>The year 2020 has been an unprecedented one, but it's been a great teacher. </li><li>And as we inch closer to 2021, we at Ad and Media Insider, want to enter it with a few learnings from 2020 that will help us navigate 2021 better.</li><li>In our latest series, we look at different industries to understand what was 2020 like for them and to crystal gaze into the upcoming year, and identify some of the trends that will set the tone for 2021. </li><li>In our first story, we discuss how Public Relation firms are helping Indian companies navigate the coronavirus pandemic and some of the trends that would take the centre stage in 2021. </li></ul>2020 is coming to a close and what a year it has been! It’s been a year full of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, good and bad PR stunts. As brands stepped back from overt selling and their communication focused on making consumers feel more comfortable with the changing environment due to COVID-19, they finally started understanding the importance of Public Relations. The industry has finally taken on newfound importance and is in a position to spearhead brand creativity rather than being consigned a supporting role. During the COVID-induced lockdown, CEOs of all companies were scrambling as they tried to manage internal damages and address their stakeholders’ concerns. However, 2020 has given brands an opportunity to prove that they are doing good by their employees and society. Marketing campaigns had to be done with genuine sincerity, compassion and humanity but treading that line between genuine and opportunistic has been a difficult task and many brands turned to their Public Relations firms to navigate the challenges. Throughout 2020, the headlines were dominated with COVID-19 coverage and the media industry was hungry for positive stories. Brands that managed to offer a light-hearted story that felt genuine, were recognised in the industry and won their consumer trust by being in the news, which is where public relations came into play. At a time when how companies treat their employees could affect their ability to attract and retain stakeholders and a slightest miscommunication could damage their public image for years, PR will play a key role in 2021. So, while 2020 was PR’s year to shine and 2021, as experts predict, will be when PR flourishes. We reached out to experts to understand what kind of role will PR play in 2021. Here is what they said: <keyword id="2606" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dilip-Cherian">Dilip Cherian</keyword>, Consulting Partner and Founder, Perfect Relations: <div type="image" title="Dilip-Cherian1" msid="79956585" hostid="261"></div> Among the many big changes expected in the world of Corporates in the coming year, is the new recognition of the power of dynamic messaging. This is a complex business but simply put, it's the ability to listen and respond on multiple platforms simultaneously. Static messaging will gradually wither away and more dynamic messaging will instead dominate. Voice may be the new surprise entrant. Modulated, translated and if needed enhanced, watch for how this changes, communication techniques this next year. <keyword id="644283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Archana-Jain">Archana Jain</keyword>, Managing Director, PR Pundit: <div type="image" title="Archana Jain - Horizontal" msid="79956641" hostid="261"></div> No one knows what a post-Covid-19 world might look like, but what companies, brands and institutions have done to support jobs, communities and societies in rebounding successfully, will be with us for quite some time. The time has come to make capitalism better. Companies, brands and institutions of all kinds must connect with their communities through truthful, authentic human acts. PR in 2021 will have to guide organisations to exhibit authenticity, help articulate and manifest the purpose of the organisations as an extension of their values, and then communicate this to both internal and external audiences. Purpose-driven customer playbook has to be adopted to demonstrate true purpose. Brands are going to be left behind if they don’t have purpose. Thus we have to broaden our definition of what makes the world better. We have to put a human face on campaigns that leverage cultural flashpoints to form an emotional connection with consumers. It is an opportunity for companies to take action that matters — to help solve real societal challenges." Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live, MullenLowe Lintas Group: <div type="image" title="Ameer Ismail" msid="79956668" hostid="261"></div> REIMAGINE AND COLLABORATE The PR agency ecosystem has been in need of a significant evolution for some time in order to keep up with rapidly changing realities. There has been a complete shift in the media landscape and the pandemic has further accelerated this change, especially the move to everything digital. More consumers are searching for information and sharing opinions online than ever before. Shifts we had imagined happening over a period of years have panned out over months! Even though the ecosystem has known about these big changes, this sudden shift in momentum has caught many in the PR agency off guard. All this has made the need for reimagining PR agency models even more critical. There have been so many attempts to get this right for PR firms but this year was the first time many management teams and leaders in the industry have had a chance to actually think this through and some have taken bold action. This is giving rise to innovations that weren’t even imagined before. We already are seeing such wonderful hybrid work models emerge as completely new opportunities for employees; this is just the beginning. The next big issue is the scramble of PR agencies to be everything, and to expand offering with allied competencies like creative, experiential and social media capabilities. Agencies can be good at what they do, not at everything they would like to do! Therefore, in my view, new collaborative models will emerge fueling a more consolidated agency ecosystem of partnerships that will be centered around client needs and consumer truths. <keyword id="3573569" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Akshaara-Lalwani">Akshaara Lalwani</keyword>, CEO &amp; Founder, Communicate India: <div type="image" title="Akshaara Lalwani, Founder, Communicate India pic 1" msid="79956676" hostid="261"></div> “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity,” said Albert Einstein and this year has taught us just that if nothing else. As the world went through rapid modifications, we identified the need to better understand the evolving milieu of clients and markets across sectors. Throughout history, the crisis has caused paradigm shifts and galvanized new innovations to suit the new order. In such situations, it is critical to have a young and proactive workforce that is agile, talented and willing to go the extra mile. With a strong understanding of traditional media one also needs to adapt to new age media and strategy to deal with the constantly changing competitor landscape. Market intelligence is imperative to build and sustain client relations especially in a world where one needs to navigate uncharted waters like social distancing and remote working. Tarunjeet Rattan- Managing Partner, Nucleus PR: <div type="image" title="Tarunjeet Pr" msid="79956683" hostid="261"></div> The PESO (Paid-Earned-Shared-Owned) model has been whispered about in the shadows for the last couple of years. With the current state of the media industry, this work and business model of working will come out of the fringes and take prominence. PR professionals will have to upskill and evolve with the model if they don’t want to finish familiar. Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications: <div type="image" title="Sonam Shah - horizontal" msid="79956698" hostid="261"></div> The year 2020 has surely seen an upward trend in the demand for PR services and clients too have started realizing the value of earned media and the long-term benefits of having a sustainable PR strategy in place. This demand is definitely going to continue in 2021 and one of the key trends I foresee is the importance of Focused PR. With the media landscape evolving drastically, and the consumption patterns of news changing rapidly, agencies will have to come up with a Focused PR approach to provide value of money to clients. Since ROI is not easily measured in Public Relations services, and budgets are stringent, following a Focused PR strategy will be a win-win for both sides. Having a Focused PR strategy implies two things: Concentrating on building thought-leadership and expertise in the respective field and/or concentrating on any campaign and getting media coverage around it. Transparency and clarity will be very important and PR agencies will have to come up with time-bound solutions, with a focus on long-term strategy.

Public Relation trends to look out for in 2021

<ul><li>2021, a year full of controversies saw brands turning to <keyword id="255227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-relations" source="Orion">Public Relations</keyword> and Communications experts to save their reputation and regain consumer trust.</li><li>We look back at how PR evolved in 2021 and catch up with a few experts to discuss the trends that lie ahead.</li></ul>This year, we witnessed many brands become a victim of the boycott culture on social media and each of them adopted a different Public Relations and Communications strategy; while some decided to give in to the pressure, pulled off campaigns and maintained a low profile to cushion the blow, a few others stood their ground and fought back. Gone are the days where a brand could hope for social media controversies to die a natural death and wait for consumers to move on. Now, a small tweet can snowball into a boycott trend and a little bad PR move can cause a company’s stocks to plummet drastically or lead to a huge amount of audience permanently boycotting a brand. At the same time, some experts also advise that brands should not feed the trolls. So, in a year that saw numerous controversies, Public Relations and Communications experts proved their prominence yet again. They acted as the brand's anchor when needed and also helped them reach the shore successfully through tumultuous seas. During the initial stage of the lockdown, <keyword id="562730" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-agencies" source="Orion">PR agencies</keyword> had to think on their feet, engage with editorial media to help brands share their side of the story with interesting nuggets, offer positive stories, work on personalised pitches, ensure internal and external stakeholders were updated frequently with utmost honesty and transparency. PR experts also pushed brands to connect with their communities on a personal level through truthful, authentic human acts. The crisis also caused paradigm shifts in the industry and digital PR took the center stage. Experts were required to monitor trends in real-time, find various consumer touchpoints through social listening and offer predictive analysis. As we move forward, PR agencies are working towards expanding their offerings with allied competencies like creative, experiential and social media capabilities. They have also been helping brands to find the right balance between profit, people and the environment. So, the future of PR is in strong storytelling in the digital world. The future is also unpredictable and PR professionals can’t rely on annual calendars anymore. With the news cycle changing every day, PR experts are required to be more flexible and agile. We reached out to experts to look back at 2021, discuss a few trends that lie ahead in 2022 and understand what kind of role will PR play next year. Here’s what they had to say: Archana Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="12776689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pr-pundit" source="Orion">PR Pundit</keyword> The sway of top celebrities has diminished as was the case back in the days. With the advent of digital and social media, people have begun to trust recommendations from peers far more. Audiences find authentic content or recommendations by actual consumers to be more honest and believable than other forms of promotions and advertising by brands. This is reason enough for brands to actively nurture a community of advocates. PR will be required to work with brands to shape and foster a community of brand advocates. A set of loyal and vocal customers who can help humanise the brand in addition to boosting brand appeal &amp; trust, promoting its products &amp; services to new cohorts, providing invaluable user-generated content (UGC), word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media chatter. Community-led storytelling is more acceptable and authentic rather than a direct brand-led communication. Community advocacy will need to be consciously harnessed and not left to chance. 2022 will see many more brands structure a meaningful brand advocacy strategy. Ameer Ismail, President, <keyword id="10059988" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lintas-live" source="Orion">Lintas Live</keyword> My biggest takeaway from 2021 is that agency brands and professionals have learned to be resilient and this is based on the multitude of challenges everyone has faced. Smart PR agencies have managed to reinvent themselves with offerings that are built for new realities and collectively have made sure that the relevance of PR is as strong as ever. While a move to everything digital will continue and a lot has been spoken and written about that, I feel that ‘collaboration and consolidation’ will be one the most important trends in that will emerge in 2022. This will be fueled by a few factors, first, resources will be deployed judiciously and talent will continue to be in short supply, the churn agencies have been experiencing at mid and junior levels will continue in 2022. This will lead to a need for agencies to find collaborative ways to deliver on client briefs and they will tap the vast pool of independent talent and specialized agencies and we will see newer collaborative models emerge. Second, clients will be in a hurry to get solutions from agency partners that can get their brands back in the mindspace of consumers and other target audiences. They will want to deal with fewer, better established partners which will lead to a need for consolidation. Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, <keyword id="8878758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="genesis-bcw" source="Orion">Genesis BCW</keyword> If there is one word that will be at the centre of everything in 2022, it is ‘people’. With the world—India included—teetering between recovery and anxiety around ever-evolving COVID variants, people will need to be communicated with, engaged, assuaged, motivated, retained, developed, and more. These people include every stakeholder a company has—customers/consumers, employees, partners, the government, the community at large. And public relations is the only marketing discipline that touches all of them. Digital will continue to be the medium of choice, and within that, metaverse will be flavour of the year. While the Indian industry still has some distance to cover in that, there is curiosity about this next big thing. No matter what the medium though, the message will have to be aligned to the company’s purpose. And delivered creatively, with authenticity. Akshaara Lalwani, Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="3573568" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="communicate-india" source="Orion">Communicate India</keyword> Over the past decade, PR has been moving away from traditional business models towards a more holistic and integrated approach. Whether it is the shift from pure media relations to content or the migration from print to digital, there is a marked change in the way the PR landscape functions. In 2022, this trend will further solidify its presence. There will also be a blurring of demarcation lines between PR, marketing and advertising, digital and offline, eventually leading to PR &amp; Communication professionals to further value the importance of integrated communications. Agility and the ability to pivot will thus be key attributes that will enable the industry to thrive. Also, since the protracted fight against the pandemic still continues, companies and organisations need to prioritise responsible communication over all else. We live in a world where the spread of disinformation and misinformation is not uncommon, hence, agencies need to be able to work in tandem with their clients to help them steer a middle course between capitalistic desires and ethical communication. Mayank Sen, Co-founder, Moe's Art For the longest time, ‘content’ has been the flavour of the season. At first, it began as an accessory, gradually ruling as a king on a kingdom. In 2020, content and its marketing became an undeniable powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. The evergreen axiom of marketing – ‘delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time’ – took a redefined meaning. And for the times to come, the fundamental aspect of the content ecosystem will be founded on a framework of a performance driven-model, driven by contextual marketing. Within the emerging framework, data and technology will take a strong precedence. The industry will focus on delivering optimal consumer experience while capitalising on the opportunities in hand. Attention will be paid to provide more personalised and relevant content. Measuring the performance will make sure that the experience is scalable. It will present a continuous assessment of how the content is performing, and from that perspective, make decisions on what to do with the content in the future. Measuring success, building a cohesive brand story, and fostering a transparent, interactive consumer loyalty will be the ‘WIN-WIN’ strategy for the year to come! Asif Upadhye, Director and The Dark Knight at <a href="http://www.sprd.co.in/">SPRD</a> If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything, it’s that moving forward at a snail’s pace is undoubtedly the quickest way to get left behind. While pre-pandemic, the public relations and communications industry was already making significant strides in technology by analyzing data to craft a better customer experience, the pace of digital adoption and the advent of a digital-first PR approach have been accelerated. From my own experience, a key ingredient across PR strategies, content marketing, corporate communications, and media coverage that will rule the PR roost in 2022 is the crucial need to customize bespoke services and products, every step of the way. From unified communications (UC) that are employee-centric to personalizing media pitches, customization sits at the heart of nearly every PR and communications trend. Customers are growing tired of the ‘media universe’ and now look for frameworks based on behavioral and business insights that truly put their needs front and center. Eventually, this is what will separate the mediocre brands from the greats. Case in point, the State of PR 2021 report points to the fact that flexibility, agility and attention to detail when it comes to personalizing something as simple as a pitch email is 96% more likely to grab a journalist’s eyeballs, rather than sending out a generic email blast. While consumer habits and employee working patterns that have been developed over the past year and a half are likely to continue well into 2022, hyper-personalization will bear fruit and result in more contextualized communication and inevitably greater conversions.” <keyword id="10618036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tarunjeet-rattan" source="Orion">Tarunjeet Rattan</keyword>, Managing Partner, <keyword id="12776690" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nucleus-pr" source="Orion">Nucleus PR</keyword> There are three very distinct trends that we will see in the coming year: <ul><li>While the models of working and mediums will undergo a change, what will remain strong is the need for strong storytelling. What will change however is the degree of authenticity in storytelling. It will take a hard turn towards stark reality …almost raw. Consumers want to know why the brand matters, why they should care about it and what is the brand impact? How are you adding value to the life of the consumer? Authentic storytelling will win over aesthetics.</li><li>The role of the founding or leadership team will become even more crucial. One cannot hide behind a faceless brand persona or logo anymore. You will have to put yourself out there to create a strong, credible and believable story about your brand that brings out its authenticity. This also brings in a lot more accountability that brands will have to guard their reputation on. Consumers want to pick up brands that walk the talk. You cannot be a CEO that promotes mental health and fire your agency on twitter. You cannot be talking about environmental sustainability and create a toxic work culture for humans. It just won’t fly anymore.</li><li>Community Building will take Center Stage. We saw a strong glimpse of this across 2020 and 2021. This will gain more ground in the coming year where communities around a brand vision will be created and drive conversation around a challenge.</li></ul>Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications 2021 saw high demand in PR, especially in the area of influencer marketing. Brands, big and small, capitalised on this rising trend in the first half of the year. But, once the ASCI guidelines came into place from June 2021, there was a downward slip observed in the engagement. Instagram algorithms underwent a great uphaul as influencers had to win against AI algorithms. This phase again got brands and companies to focus on creating news and building brand recall. While demand has been high for PR, there have been some apprehensions also noticed when it comes to being out in the open/media. The second half of this year, saw print media come back, as newspaper circulation started, and people started reading it like before. This behavioural change instigated a need to be present in Print media, via editorial articles, and this will be the biggest trend in 2022. The need to present in Print media. Print media has always been a factor in bringing in trust and authenticity and clients do require to build that kind of strong trust within their stakeholders to continue businesses in a post-pandemic phase.

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