Saluting creativity in communication!

Celebrating communication, creativity and communities formed the crux of the event. #PRAXIS5 did set a record of sorts, with more than 500 people hustling, bustling through the venue and sessions laid out clockwork precision, for the two-day annual event. And, people were hooked!

It was indeed, a meeting point for an august congregation of PR and corporate communication professionals, including some global consultancy leaders. The meeting place was significant too – the mist-swept landscape of Aamby Valley. The sprawling grounds, misty hilltop – this quintessentially hillside getaway was a perfect setting for the action that was planned over the weekend. And, it was a welcome change for a heat-and-dust infested Delhiite like me!

Yes, it was leveraging your professional network with interactive, happy times. There were two bands that regaled the crowd at the winding-up sessions – Indian Jam Project and Voctronica who really played to the gallery.

With the theme: “Reputation is Everything”, the topics discussed touched on Creativity, Digital, Storytelling, Technology, Real-Time Marketing and even Middle India.

Yes, PRomise Foundation rolled the super event PRAXIS 2016, which clocked the biggest dimensions since its inception, five years ago. And, the impressions left behind are many. After checking out with some participants, some of who were award-winners too, here are some significant takeaways.

Samir Kapur, VP and Brand Head, Ad Factors PR, Delhi lists some of the takeaways. Reputation is everything; it is of utmost importance. Content is King and Queen and everything! Integration of platforms has started happening – Print, Digital and AV; the new CCO has to take all platforms into consideration.

On a win-win wicket, Parekhit Bhattacharjee, Business Lead, North-StepUp and Associate Director, Consumer Technology, Genesis Burson-Marsteller who won the ABC Young Professional Award was vocal in marking out his takeaways. Integration is key to any successful campaign. Virtual Reality, if used well, will take brand engagement to the next level. Creativity is the key to successful communication: it kills or builds brand campaigns.

There were two takeaways as far as Meena Vaidyanathan, Director, n i i t i Consulting Pvt Ltd, is concerned. Firstly, she feels PRAXIS is a great forum to meet people from the marketing/PR community. Given that most of the PR fraternity is also managing CSR and sustainability, we found a lot of common interests to exchange notes on in a wonderful informal setting. And, secondly, the topics were great and the participation was fabulous, but I felt that the platform could be a lot more useful if there could be some hands-on workshops on the side around topics like measurement, reporting, compliance, etc she adds.

Exclaiming that they had a phenomenal time, Shoebahmed Shaikh, Director, South, Ideosphere Consulting insists that they gained a Global Viewpoint on everything. As the communications business in India develops, we can do well to learn from more advanced markets to accelerate the Indian growth story. The PRCAI survey on the PR business showed real benchmarking.

“It was my first time at PRAXIS”, said Aashima Malik, Senior Consulting Associate, Genesis Burson Marsteller, “and my first takeaway from PRAXIS is that as communicators, we have to keep creativity at the core of every campaign and every story we tell”. We have to find newer ways to build and share compelling stories!

Today, PR as a business has elevated the game, and includes a larger canvas, says Praachi Kapse, Senior Account Manager- Zeno Group, Pune. What she got out of PRAXIS was that as communication thinkers, we provide counsel for a larger more strategic storytelling that includes company owned content, marketing partnerships, Virtual Reality, millennials and influencer marketing. Plus she noticed, there should be no paddling to mediocrity, you have to know the millennial’s pulse and lastly, both new age media and traditional media are important. At PRAXIS it was interesting to discuss ideas and thoughts around the same, and was good to see how PR practitioners are embracing the change and leading it, she said.

Shree Lahiri

Shree is the Senior Editor at Reputation Today and hopes to move from one focus area to another in the editions that will be released this year. Having worked in Corporate Communications teams, she has experience of advertising, public relations, investor and employee communications, after which she moved to the other side – journalism. She enjoys writing and believes the power of the pen is indeed mighty. Covering the entertainment beat and the media business, she has been involved in a wide range of activities that have thrown open storytelling opportunities.

She can be reached at: @shree_la on twitter