 But this week quickly move on to the fifth keynote address of the day ladies and gentlemen Please put your hands together for mr. Atul ala waliya founding partner part first partners good afternoon and You know congratulations to the winners of 40 under 40 who are already here You know I personally went through a lot of entries and we saw some great work here Also my topic is very similar to the gentleman who's just spoken before so I hope I Can be different and raise different points here. So even I'm talking about the era of millenials in VR I think everybody here in this room will essentially be a millennial because you know you have to be between the age of 27 and 42 so I guess the topic is very relevant to the people here But you know as you go into and you are also I believe sitting right in the middle. So you had Gen Y Where you know you've taken certain values from there and there's Gen Z From which you are taking a whole lot of values now with all of this as you go into the next 20 to 25 years Which you have of your work experience How what are some of the challenges that I see that you need to address and certain trends that you need to stride on? So the first one that I'd like to talk about is the fact that India is finally shining India today is a shining star I think more than at any other point in time we can be proud to be Indians today I mean just look at it. We are the fastest growing economy in the world We are the fifth biggest economy in the world We are leading the G20 Summit right now. We are the IT and pharma hub of the year You know of the world We also have all the leading CEOs of global companies even prime ministers of countries are Indians it is India's era today and I think you are all very fortunate because you Have you are at a time when India is going global? And I think the big task that I would expect from the millenials here is that you have to help Indian PR also go global in a very big way It must mirror the advancements that India is making right now Is the level and the standards of PR that we are practicing? completely comparable to the ones in the world how many of our campaigns are really You know industry defining how many make it to the top 40 campaigns in the world I think there is a big way to For the Indian PR industry to go and I think this is a better time than any Other time if you're not able to capitalize this it will be a big failing So I basically would urge all of you to really work hard towards elevating Indian standards of PR Also, I believe that you know, I don't necessarily agree about PR being a Lot of media I Heard everybody and I would agree that while media is very key to what we do But I think it is time for us to elevate the function of PR itself and I think that unless we don't walk two tracks Besides the reputation building track We must work very aggressively on helping our organizations and clients business Because unless you don't help the business you are never going to be a top-level function We cannot remain a subsidiary function of marketing all our lives We have to be a CXO function for which you have to play a more elevated role It it cannot be that when you need me are to PR you need media PR agency co-bola Oh, or the PR person gets active you have to be there and believe you me I think good strategic communication is absolutely critical for business success And that is something that you have to prove and that if if that is something that you can prove to the senior management Then you know it will change the way PR is seen I think your Gen Y has worked very hard to take PR from the whining and Dining days to you know be taken more seriously but I believe there's a bigger role to play and I believe there's no better time than now and Especially for you to be even globally noticed for what you're doing So I believe that's the first thing the second one I believe everybody is talk or talked about is about climate change and the role that you need to play because we all know That the climate calamity is already here You know we've seen extreme Weather conditions we've seen supply chains which have got disrupted. We've seen businesses getting impacted I think this will be a major thing that Millenials will have to also work very closely to see that they are becoming becoming ambassadors of climate change So I think that's really the second thing that I would urge the millenials to focus on The third one, you know something that I've already mentioned is to elevate the role of PR Please do not restrict it to media. Please be part of important Conversations and chatter that is happening in the country in resurgent India So at first partners we tell all our clients, you know, we have a 3x philosophy That besides don't be blinkered about what your organization has to say Also look at what are the other conversations that are happening around what are some of the key chatter? what are some of the Governments biggest Priorities where do your clients have a major play in some of these priorities and therefore how can you do a more elevated? Kind of communication. How can your narrative be more elevated? We basically work at first partners on three different kind of narratives So one is the hard narrative which we believe is all organizational news So what is the organization doing? What is its vision? Etc. But more critically you have to have a more elevated Track, which is more about nation-building You cannot in today's day and time only talk about your company You have to talk about how are you influencing? important developments that are happening in the country and the third one is the soft part I believe soft power Has a lot of importance and we many times undermine it So and there are different routes for you to go into so soft power. You can use more supplements Hard you use more interviews Halo you use more of by lines and speakership opportunities So I think we need to work on multiple tracks but more important we need to get into elevated conversations and That is when PR is going to be taken more seriously and I think you people have the owners of really taking the PR industry to the next level and that is only going to happen if You get into more elevated conversations into conversations, which are important for the country and where your companies have a major play and I think the next one again is something that we've all touched upon is that you know for instance my Generation was more attuned to traditional media. Of course, we've tried to embrace digital as well But I think you have to embrace far more technologies You know as there's metaverse and many others and really be on top of all of them so that You know because you're not lacking on that. That's very critical and the last one. I believe is talent So if you really have to make a mark if the Indian PR industry so even our movies are making a mark So, you know, we've all seen How our our has done and stuff like that How is Indian PR industry going to take global center stage? It can Your the developments in your country is going to help you do that It's only up up to you now to up your ante and do that But for that you'll also need great support and great talent Where is that talent going to come from and you'll only be able to attract great talent If you do great work yourself Unless you don't elevate What we as a PR industry are doing we're doing a great job, but I believe that there's lots more to do You will not be able to attract the best talent So I think that's very critical really in our pursuit of taking PR to the next level Having seen some of the entries at 40 under 40. I think they are great. So I know we are in safe hands So I wish you all the best Best of luck and we all waiting. Thank you