We are in the last month of our PGDM Program and the whole of this month SCoRe hosted leaders from across geographies. Our 6th commencement speech was addressed by Abhinav Kumar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer – Global Markets, TCS. He began with a study done by Microsoft Canada about the attention span of an audience. It is the same as a goldfish. And with time human attention has reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Abhinav explains future to why is this a great time to be in the PR Profession with his 7 doors opportunity theory –

1. Social First Era – 70% of the population has a smartphone and 50% of the population will be there on social media by this year. Many agencies and brands have strengthened their digital strategies

2. Narrative Economics – this is the first economist have started to acknowledge the role of a communication professional play in the global economy

3. CEO Activism – It is a tough time to be a CEO, with the economy declining. CEOs are expected to focus on social issues

4. Stakeholder Capitalism – For a communication professional it is necessary to proactively manage the message that companies are delivering and to manage the areas which are open to criticism and activism.

5. Ecosystem Play – No business can go alone. It has started to matter that what ecosystem you are a part of. Often companies create alliances with their competitors also to create an industry ecosystem.

6. Owned Media – companies are building their own websites and social media profiles. Using these platforms to create unique content for your business.

7. Rise of fake news – With the rise of fake news, the job of communication professionals also becomes tough to manage and eliminate news from all the platforms that it has reached. These are some of the points he shared with us which will surely help us in our professional journey ahead.

He then talked about his journey at TCS and shared some of his learning with us which are as follows:

 Always say yes
 Think like the business
 You are in the business of stories
 Never hesitate to thing BIG
 Humanise, create an experience, and engage emotionally
 Prioritise ruthlessly
 You are only as good as your team

He also shared with us secrets to being a great PR agency where he mentioned that an agency should build interest in the client’s business and should be curious to know how they function. He also talked about that a PR agency should actively give ideas and suggestions to their clients. He closed the session by wishing us all the best for our future endeavors.

–  Snigdha Parasrampuria

Snigdha Parasrampuria is a part of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She completed her winter internship with Genesis BCW, Mumbai.

She was born in Kolkata. She has completed her bachelor’s in Media Science. She also takes great interest in photography and dancing. She has 11 months of work experience in FICCI FLO. She is a believer, a selfless person always wanting to help those in need.

She can be reached out on Twitter as @snigdhaa288 and on LinkedIn as Snigdha Parasrampuria