10-Year Wait for Peak PR Growth in India, Jaideep Shergill, Pitchfork Partners on the PRmoment India Podcast

Today on the PRmoment India podcast, we have Jaideep Shergill, founding partner at Pitchfork Partners on what it takes to grow a PR firm in India and whether Indian PR Founders 2.0 are outperforming the OG PR Founders.

As the firm turned 10 in January 2025, Jaideep talks about his journey from being one of the youngest CEOs' in the business at MSLGROUP India to his current role. Jaideep discusses market dynamics, talent acquisition issues, and the importance of strong financial management, highlighting potential growth sectors, particularly among Indian family businesses.

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Listen in.

Here is a summary of the main points discussed:

( At 4 Minutes) Are Generation 2.0 PR Founders Outperforming the OG PR Founders 

Jaideep says, "I don't think that the second generation is outperforming the first generation. I don't think that's the case because, from what I gather, India contributes probably one and a half per cent of the revenue globally to the PR industry. The US is 50%, I think. Asia overall is 15 or 16% or something, and India is 1.5% total. So if you're talking about a market which has the second largest number, or probably now the largest number of consumers in the world, and we contribute only 1.5% to our industry, that just shows you how far we are from any sort of growth peak."

(At 6 Minutes) Consolidation Trends and the Indian PR Market's Place:

• There is a trend toward consolidation in the industry, but Shergil sees limited traditional acquisitions by global holding companies in India.
• Jaideep feels “The global holding companies are not making as many acquisitions, I think people will have to figure out other ways to consolidate. If you see a lot of the acquisitions now, they're usually happening in the digital space."

( At 10 Minutes) Importance of Longevity and Financial Management

Jaideep points out, "Many firms focus on bringing in business at low costs, which is not sustainable. We are a service business. So we don't have PE firms and VC firms giving us millions of dollars to burn. So we have to make the money work better."

Jaideep shares his tips to make the money work better.

(At 14 minutes) Target Sectors

• Shergil identifies established Indian family-owned companies as a significant growth area for independent PR firms.
• He cautions against over-reliance on startups due to their high failure rate and budget limitations.