MSLGROUP releases India findings of report on “The Future of Business Citizenship”, focusing on what millennials want at #PRAXIS2014

The India findings of MSLGROUP’s latest report titled, “The Future of Business Citizenship”, drawn from interactions with 8,000 millennials in 17 countries including India, shows that over 90% of millennials interviewed in India want businesses to be involved in solving issues that matter to society.

Providing important communication cues for brand building for this important demographic in India, the report also shows that the top 5 issues that millennials want business to get involved with are economy, environment, health, international affairs and educations.What is more, they are more than willing to get involved themselves in volunteering to work with these issues.

Commenting on the India results, Amrit Ahuja, Client Engagement Director, B2B % Technology , MSL Group Asia, told PRmoment India that , “ she was surprised at this result”, as she did not expect the millennials to be that concerned with working on community issues. Says Amrit, “ The millennials today want to work with a brand that has a purpose. It is not just about the money they earn but about what they can do to work to make both their world and their community a better place. In a way this is a second revolution that  is happening in India after our Independence movement.”

Millennials and a PR career

These sentiments were echoed in the opening session at #PRAXIS2014 that focused on millennials and a PR career. Speakers at the panel that included Roli Agarwal from Google, Singapore, Neha Mathur Rastogi, WordsWork and Karan Bhujbal, 20:20 MSL, focused on what motivates the millennials today. Panellists agreed that millennials today want to do purposeful work and the flexibility to build their own future – something that PR employers will need to consider while hiring.

Picture: Karthik Nambiar, SIMC

 Karan said that , “ It’s like the movie ‘ Catch me if you Can’- PR gives you the opportunity to be anything, a communicator, a brand storyteller.”

Neha Rastogi advised millennials in PR to deep dive into a speciality and build domain expertise to drive their careers.

Case Studies : Phillips LED Lights

The second day also included co-presentations by agency and clients. Phillips and their agency Avian Media made a presentation on Phillips effort to popularize their LED lights range via the #MumbaiInaNewLight campaign. This campaign placed The Gateway of India at the centre of the campaign and LED sales in Mumbai witnessed 30% faster growth as compared to other cities.The recall of the campaign was at 59%.

Avian Media and Phillips presenting the #MumbaiInaNewLight campaign 

The campaign included social media tools for the campaign. Moushumi Dutt, Head of Corporate Communications, Phillips said that Phillips was initially exploring traditional channels but Avian Media advised using social as well. Moushumi said that this enabled them as a client to ,” See PR in a new light.”

PR agency Simulations campaign with Apollo hospital used innovative techniques like Pink Golf tournaments and awareness drives at Garba events to drive awareness about cancer screening for all socio –economic groups. This and other activities including workshops with teachers at school increased footfalls for cancer screenings by 85%.

Growth in mid-sized PR firms

Speaking on consultancies of the future, Paul Holmes, from ‘The Holmes Report’ said that PR is yet to see the kind of growth that shakes up the top ten in a sector that is seen in other industries. Paul said that  the top ten consultancies are growing at 3-5 % globally, while mid -sized PR firms are growing at 12- 20% -this is expected to change equations how PR consultancies stack up within the next 5 years.