PR 2020 The Dawn of the Augmented Influence

PR 2020
The Dawn of the
Augmented Influence

ABOUT PEOPLE'S INSIGHTS
People’s Insights is a collection of inspiring
initiatives, insights and foresights shared by MSL’s
SPRINTers – our global team of planners,
researchers and insights experts.
People’s Insights covers the latest trends in
engagement on both the consumer and corporate
side. Our original insights and foresights – from
experts at MSL and beyond – are shared in our
insights reports. We share these online, on our
social platforms, and distribute freely to inspire
more engaging campaigns.
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FOREWORD
Acquiring and analyzing data, studying human
behavior and incorporating immersive tech into the
communication mix are all equally important – a
combination of these will lead the way for increased
visibility and engagement, and help establish
relevance. The future of PR is bright – with
technology, there are newer and better ways to
create meaningful stories, be a part of the ongoing
conversation, and be pioneers of innovation. The
opportunities are there – we just need to be able to
identify them and leverage them at the right time.
In this publication, we feature the voices of experts
from MSL, Publicis and beyond, who examine the
importance of influence, data, human science, and
machines. We take a look at new findings about how
the human brain reacts to different kinds of content,
its preference for earned influence, how combining
advertising, PR and paid media can help generate
greater business impact, and the role immersive tech
plays in the process.
We would like to offer our gratitude to all our
contributors for their invaluable insights and
co-operation toward the creation of this report.
Cordially,
The pace of change in media today is rapid and
ever-evolving. Media and its components have
undergone a transformation, resulting in a new era
of marketing communications. Media consumption
habits have changed, what constitutes media has
been redefined, and the advent of social media has
transformed and enhanced the relationship between
the public and those communicating with them.
Technology, which facilitates these changes, is itself
at the cusp of a revolution – everything is moving
toward the virtual and the augmented. Technology is
fast becoming a necessary part of people's everyday
lives – and its cultural significance is growing
exponentially. The beneficiaries of technology make
up a wide spectrum; while it creates business
opportunities for organizations and provides
entertainment and education to millions, access to
technology can also often mean the difference
between life and death for those fleeing from
persecution, as we've lately seen. From bringing
people together for an augmented reality game to
aiding healthcare providers with the necessary
insights to save lives, the impact of technology – and
increasingly, immersive tech – is far-reaching and
profound.
Technologies like big data and immersive tech are
paving the way for nuanced communications – and
those in the business of communications need to
evolve their methods and get ahead of the curve.
Immersive tech can transform the consumer
experience, right from the awareness stage to the
buying stage. The focus of retailers like our client
Home Depot on developing consumer-friendly
virtual experiences like their Project Color app, is a
step toward integrating the virtual and the real.
Guillaume Herbette
CEO, Global, MSL

INDEX
PR 2020
Understanding the Disruptors,
the Technologies, and the Possibilities
Rishad Tobaccowala
Strategy and Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe
Marrying People and Data for the Storytelling
of the Future
Stephan Beringer
Global Head, Data, Technology & Innovation,
Publicis Media
Augmented Influence: Powered by Data
Erin Lanuti
Chief Influence Officer, MSL
Your Brain on Digital Content: A Neuroscience
Study Explains the Impact of Marketing & PR
Spencer Gerrol
CEO and Founder, SPARK Neuro
Augmented Influence, Broader Impact,
Unmatched Results
Pascal Beucler
Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer,
Global, MSL
PR 2020
06
16
24
30
38

The New Digital Newsroom with Data,
Automation, and More
Amrit Ahuja
Managing Director, 2020MSL, India
Transforming the Patient Experience
with Immersive Tech
Jim Weinrebe
Health Practice Leader, MSL North America
Immersive Tech Meets Sustainability
Sheila McLean
NA Citizenship and Sustainability Practice Director,
MSL
China’s Live-streaming Trend: Paving the Way
for Increased Engagement
Glenn Osaki, President, Asia, Shanghai, China, MSL
Liki Qin, Regional Senior Manager, Asia, MSL
Redefining the Boundaries: How Technology
Will Help Communicators Usher in Limitless
Consumerism
Daphne Hoytt
Senior Vice President, MSL Atlanta
NA Consumer Practice Director
PR 2020
48
54
58
62
68
The Next in Augmented Relationships
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research and Insights, MSL
74

Pascal Beucler holds BAs in History and Language
Sciences, a master's degree in Linguistics and a
post graduate degree in Semio-Linguistics. In 1987
he joined Intelligences, a subsidiary of Publicis,
and in 1992 he became the Managing Director. In
1994 he was promoted to Partner at Publicis
Consultants, and then to General Manager of Carré
Noir in 2001. Pascal is an Associate Professor at
CELSA (Paris IV Sorbonne) and a visiting
professor at HEC - one of France's top business
colleges. He has conducted research and
published articles on various topics and in
particular on the relationship between text and
image. In 2005 Pascal was named Vice-President
of Publicis Consultants | Worldwide, in charge of
Brand Strategy and development of its
international network.
Pascal Beucler
Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer,
Global, MSL
@pbeucler
PR 2020

AUGMENTED INFLUENCE,
BROADER IMPACT,
UNMATCHED RESULTS
Data and analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and
automation, immersive technologies (VR, AR, MR):
these are not buzz words or trends, but major
realities, based on technological disruptions which
are impacting all industries, including ours.
We need to understand what’s ahead of us, in
order to better help our clients embrace the now
and the next.
7Augmented Influence, Broader Impact, Unmatched ResultsPR 2020

The technology itself continues to
evolve, bringing new waves of
advances in robotics, analytics and
artificial intelligence (AI), and
especially machine learning.
PR 2020
“
“

As the McKinsey Global Institute
recently it:
“Rapid technological advances
in digitization and data and
analytics have been reshaping
the business landscape,
supercharging performance, and
enabling the emergence of new
business innovations and new
forms of competition. At the
same time, the technology itself
highlighted
continues to evolve, bringing
new waves of advances in
robotics, analytics, and artificial
intelligence (AI), and especially
machine learning. Together they
amount to a step change in
technical capabilities that could
have profound implications for
business, for the economy, and
more broadly, for society.”
ä More, deeper, better data-
based insights, allowing
quicker decision-making and
faster implementation:
Augmented Insights
ä Immersive technologies
which amplify the emotional
resonance of a message:
Augmented Emotions
ä The revolution of cognitive
computing systems which
learn, adapt and interact with
people in natural language:
Augmented Intelligence
That's what we mean with
Augmented Influence and the
future of PR.

Augmented Insights
Big data is becoming easier to
capture, cheaper to store,
simpler to process and act upon.
As insideBIGDATA ,
“human- and machine-generated
data is experiencing an overall
10x faster growth rate than
traditional business data, and
machine data is increasing
even more rapidly at 50x the
growth rate.”
We’ve known for long that
insights drive essential value,
when based on deeply grounded
data. This is what we call data-
driven insights and foresights,
the precious currency for today
and tomorrow, in the age of
Affinity Marketing.
The challenge lies in our
ability to:
ä identify in real time what
really matters to our clients’
audience, out of the ever-
growing amount of data
we’re able to capture
observes
ä come up with the best value
proposition: when is the right
moment, in the appropriate
context, with the relevant
content, to make it happen?
as the IoT keeps multiplying
interfaces and interactions
between people and brands:
possibilities are boundless,
whether for designing the best
possible engagement
opportunities, optimizing a
customer journey, capturing
trends in real-time, better
predicting behaviors, carving
personalized communication.
Whether for marketing and
communication, e-commerce
or retail, product development
and activation, Augmented
Insights mean higher
effectiveness, personalized
impact and results.
It is critical to grasp the big
data and machine learning
developments ahead of us,
PR 2020

Augmented Emotions
some recent and massive
strategic movements in the area,
particularly on the West Coast,
demonstrate just that:
Google, for instance, offered a
glimpse of how it sees the future
at its annual Developers
Conference recently: it clearly
involves a lot of blending
between real and virtual worlds.
Like other tech giants, Google is
investing heavily in what is, for
brands, a big chunk of their
future: emotionally engaging
customer experience.
Emotional resonance is what’s
moving people these days.
Simulation
boosts simulation, in the best
possible way.
Whether it is virtual, augmented
or mixed reality, at the end of
the day, real, deep emotion, will
triumph. The power and
effectiveness of emotion in
communications has already
been proven. That’s what makes
these immersive experiences
“Empathy Machines”, as our
colleague Rishad Tobaccowala
so aptly calls them.
Whether sensorimotor,
cognitive, spatial, psychological,
sensory, used for a consumer
marketing project, for employee
engagement or for an
experiential event, immersive
technologies are everywhere,
and they change everything
for us, opening different ways
to communicate, engage and
share our stories.
Should we need more evidence
of the game-changing power of
immersive technologies,
designing a future where the
virtual and real worlds blur,
Google home, the
voice recognition
streaming device
from Google

Augmented Intelligence
Another huge transformation is boosted by a
series of breakthroughs in the AI sector, from
neural networks to Graphic Processing Units
(GPUs). What was used for cool video games or
for man vs machine shows is now bringing data
and algorithms to the next level at the speed of
light, preparing another series of shifts in terms
of customer relationship management.
Brands and other actors across sectors have
already dived deep into the study of Artificial
Intelligence :
ä Global marketing website
partnership with social media analytics company
how brands are investing
in artificial intelligence.
ä Forrester investment in artificial
intelligence Will Grow 300% in 2017. Businesses
that use artificial intelligence (AI), big data and
the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to
uncover new business insights “will steal $1.2
trillion per annum from their less informed
peers by 2020.”
The Drum
Sysomos, exploring
predicts
, in
is
Data, immersive tech and artificial intelligence
are deeply interconnected. Bots are boosted by
deep machine learning, and Immersive Techs are
transforming the way we interact. AI actually is
what unlocks insights from big data.
300%
in 2017
Artificial
Intelligence
Will Grow
SOURCE: FORRESTER
PR 2020

We stand for helping our clients
creatively engage with people
and communities, raise their
voice and be heard in the always-
on conversation. What’s new is
that chatbots are becoming a key
part of this conversation: not
using your finger to click or
touch, but just interacting in your
natural language makes a huge
difference. Apple's HomeKit,
Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s
Alexa, Facebook’s Jarvis,
Orange’s Djingo and many other
digital personal assistants are
opening a brand new era.
This is where Cognitive
Computing is deeply
transformational: it helps
machines understand us, and
engage with us. In other words,
understanding natural
language puts AI at the heart
of human interactions and
communications.
Augmented
Influence stands exactly
where Intelligence, Emotion
& Technology meet, and it
expands at the speed of light
And the learning curve may have
no limits, as machines can
generate and evaluate evidence-
based hypothesis, learning more
and more, better and better,
from what we select and what
we answer.
We also acknowledge that
better understanding and
measuring how people interact
with online content is crucial.
Neurosciences and psychology
are here to help.
To conclude, I’d say again that
our industry is at a turning point,
and that all options are open so
far – the least tempting and the
most exciting. But there is no
doubt that the way in which
we can create value from the
equation of our times -
BQ
(IQ, EQ + TQ) - will largely
decide the outcome.
(“Bloody Quick”).
Image Source:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=wZyqW0t2HUU

PR 2020
Businesses, for the most part, are adept at dealing with disruptions
efficiently, although with the pace at which technology is progressing,
navigating this increasingly complex world can be challenging and
overwhelming. What do businesses prepare themselves for in the
future, and how can they make the most of the opportunities
advancing technology presents? We speak to four experts to get
their perspective on what’s coming next in terms of tech disruptions,
and how they believe this will impact the work we do.

16
UNDERSTANDING
THE DISRUPTORS,
THE TECHNOLOGIES,
AND THE POSSIBILITIES
Rishad Tobaccowala,
Strategy and Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe
MARRYING PEOPLE AND
DATA FOR THE STORYTELLING
OF THE FUTURE
Stephan Beringer, Global Head, Data,
Technology & Innovation, Publicis Media
AUGMENTED INFLUENCE:
POWERED BY DATA
Erin Lanuti, Chief Influence Officer, MSL
YOUR BRAIN ON DIGITAL CONTENT:
A NEUROSCIENCE STUDY EXPLAINS THE
IMPACT OF MARKETING & PR
Spencer Gerrol, CEO and Founder, SPARK Neuro
24
30
38

A close advisor to Maurice Lévy, a
thought-leader and a very respected
expert in the digital transformation
area, is the
Strategy and Growth Officer and a
Member of the Board at Publicis
Groupe. Rishad previously was also
Chairman of DigitasLBi and Razorfish,
two Publicis Groupe’s global firms with
over 10,000 employees around the
world focussed on marketing and
business transformation.
Rishad Tobaccowala
Rishad Tobaccowala
Strategy and Growth Officer,
Publicis Groupe
@rishad
PR 2020

So you have new algorithms, lot
of storage and technology, and
lot of data. And all of these are
very cheap and accessible to
the cloud.
What that basically is doing, is
it’s allowing increasingly new
forms of interface. We originally
saw the visual graphic interface
like MAC, Windows, and now
we’re seeing the interface of
touch, the interface of voice.
And that’s only the beginning.
At the Facebook F8 Conference,
there was a conversation about
how our minds could type, and
Facebook is working on that
idea. All of these new interfaces
make it much more natural for
us to communicate and engage
in new ways.
New interfaces
for broader
interactions
PR 2020
New interfaces make
it much more natural
for us to communicate
and engage in new
ways.”
“

Mixed Reality isn’t as popular
yet, but there are companies
who’re exploring mixed reality –
basically have things from the
real world and virtual world
interact together.
The case with Augmented
Reality is that you have the real
world, and then you sort of
superimpose it on different
things. And the nice thing about
augmented reality, is you can
connect with people and you
can feel the real world.
augmented reality is almost like
having real-time superpowers.
2
3
Welcome to the age of
“Empathy Machines”
Virtual Reality is everywhere:
even film festivals are talking VR
– last April, the Tribeca Film
Festival, for the first time this
year, has launched virtual reality
movies. With virtual reality, you
act on your own – you’re
transporting yourself mentally to
a place by yourself (no friends,
no interaction with the outside
world) but it also lets you
experience it, almost like you’re
there. So in many ways, it is an
empathy machine.
1
All this processing power and mobile
technology is aligned for three types
of immersive experiences:
virtual reality, augmented reality
and mixed reality
19Understanding the Disruptors, the Technologies, and the PossibilitiesPR 2020

Towards the
next level for
Engagement
and Storytelling
The interesting thing for
immersive experiences, is that
it will allow people to
communicate in new ways,
it will allow our clients to engage
in new ways, and it will allow us
to tell stories in new ways.
And increasingly, this shift is
going to be led first with
photographs, then video, and
eventually other forms of media.
Now with AI – there’s a lot of
potential here. There are
multiple things being done
in the AI space, but the two
biggest and most exciting
developments in AI at the
moment are predictive
modeling and virtual agents.
ä
Netflix,
for instance, uses predictive
modeling quite well. When
you watch Netflix, your
recommendations are
customized via predictive
modeling: your viewing
history is compared to that of
other people with similar
viewing habits, which makes
it possible to create
customized
recommendations for you.
Predictive modeling is truly
one of the best things AI has
made possible.
ä As for virtual agents like
chatbots – they will also bring
about a new kind of
interface, which will
essentially be man vs.
machine. Instead of talking to
a live person, you interact
with a machine that
anticipates what you want.
Predictive modeling will
make it easier than ever to
anticipate what people want
before they want it.
predictive modeling and
virtual agents, together with
dynamic content, are going to
be game changing.
Clearly,
PR 2020

There are lots of candidates, but
only big players will win.
It’s going to be beyond GAFA,
but there will be a limitation, and
the reason is, both big data and
AI require lots and lots of data,
and it requires lots and lots of
investment. To employ AI
scientists and data scientists is
an extremely expensive
undertaking. So I anticipate that
in addition to GAFA, others
who’re likely to be big players
will be Microsoft and IBM – IBM,
with its Watson and machine
learning, looks extremely
promising.
Coming out of China, we
anticipate Alibaba, Baidu and
Tencent and then potentially
new players like Magic Leap, if
they succeed. So when it comes
down to it, you need lots of data,
investment, and long timelines.
The total investment in R&D,
for instance, that GAFA +
Microsoft makes is greater than
the revenue of all the holding
companies. To challenge that
will be a herculean task for other
small players.
A tough, Darwinian
and costly
competition ahead

Machines are also in
themselves going to
be influencers
because they're
talking to you, they're
recommending things
to you, and they're
responding to you.
PR 2020

With other things,
If you collaborate with say, five of them,
and predict what will appeal to them, you can create very
interesting content.
There are a few things that one has to expect I think in the
PR world:
Influencer marketing will transform, as well:
with time, you’ll be able to identify which individuals are likely
to be most influential.
Accelerating the move from Public
Relations to People Relations
ä The first question is: how are
people going to react when
they interact with an agent
for a company that’s partly a
machine and partly a person?
The idea of how employees
today behave is very different
for a PR company. So what
happens when some of your
employees are machines?
ä Secondly, these machines
are also in themselves going
to be influencers because
they’re talking to you, they’re
recommending things to you,
and they’re responding to
you. So how do we have
influential programs that
are built around machines
as well?
ä Lastly, in PR, one of the key
things we’re trying to do is
obviously gaining advocacy,
and changing thoughts and
opinions. The ability to show
how a company is helping
people, how a company is
changing the environment,
and instead of just talking
about it, actually immersing
people will be of immense
help in being influential and
changing opinions.

PR 2020
Stephan Beringer, global head of data, tech
and innovation at Publicis Media, leads the
development and delivery of technologies
and solutions that enable Publicis Media’s
clients to do data-driven marketing.
Stephan Beringer
Global Head, Data, Technology & Innovation,
Publicis Media
@StephanBeringer

The single biggest asset a brand can
have is the ability to build and curate
strong relationships with any
consumer in the world. Brands that
achieve this, will have an enviable
competitive advantage; because if
you are able to connect to consumers
better than others, you will be able to
anticipate what your customers will
desire tomorrow, shape your offer
and engagement strategy
accordingly and understand your
strengths and opportunities.
MARRYING
PEOPLE AND
DATA FOR THE
STORYTELLING
OF THE FUTURE
25Marrying People and Data for the Storytelling of the FuturePR 2020

This is where big data comes in.
Bringing it all together, relative
to each brand’s attributes and
unifying it around an individual,
is the Holy Grail.
The multitude of data signals
that brands need to process
are vastly different; be that
customer, transactional,
behavioral, or competitive.
At Publicis Media, we leverage
data from owned assets and
third party data, to provide
clients with a deeper
understanding of consumers
from device usage, to content
affinity, purchase behavior and
TV viewership. We use machine
learning, NLP and AI techniques
to uncover the relationship
between cookies, devices to
actual people, and to understand
and predict their behaviors. This
consumer view powers all
communications decision
making throughout the
consumer journey — online and
offline media, messaging and
experiences.
When we talk about
technologies such as virtual
reality, augmented reality and
artificial intelligence, these are
all input, processing, or output
layers that are ultimately
connected around the person.
Consumer centricity is the core
concept. When it comes to the
future, that’s really the
underlying philosophy.
The individual, the driving force behind
emerging technologies
PR 2020

Shaping the future of communications with big data
27Marrying People and Data for the Storytelling of the Future
Big data is essential to success
in marketing and business. For
our clients today, the challenges
are many:
ä unprecedented competition
from new entrants, start-ups
and disruptors
ä churn and change as the
predominant constant in
consumers’ behavior
ä a continuous influx of
consumer data signals
ä cost pressures, more so than
ever before
Big data helps us answer
most of this. From a business
standpoint, from a strategic
standpoint, and from an
addressability standpoint,
big data will essentially:
ä help brands identify those
individuals who will deliver
the most value to them
ä enable brands to identify the
opportunity wherever they
have it
ä and when that opportunity
arrives, brands will be able to
anticipate behavior, and
determine what strategy,
content and message to
move forward with
Big data and its analysis makes it
possible to engage with different
parts of the audience with
customized approaches,
If you don’t
leverage data at scale, you’re
not getting anywhere.
without
too much overlap and repetition.
It may sound like a wild idea
today, but we will move towards
a future where individuals within
audience segments will, for
instance, resonate with specific
imagery identified, generated
and sourced solely on the basis
of big data. This is where we will
be in around three years’ time.
So it wouldn’t be far-fetched to
say that at the foundational
level, big data is the only
way brands can address the
rising challenges.
PR 2020

PR will always be about building
relationships with people. And
now, technologies are enabling
us to get closer to the consumer,
more intimately than we could
ever have imagined. We’re
leveraging the exact same
architecture as before, only with
the direct help of technology.
Another interesting aspect is
how this will transform media
relations. The relationship we’ve
been relying on for ages is the
relationship between the media
and their audiences or their
readership. We now have direct
access to the audience and an
increasing number of channels
through which to reach them.
With the multitude of ways
to analyze the insights these
channels offer up, we can steer
and compile content and fully
automate the process.
The possibilities are just so
much greater.
Enabling evolved people
relations with technology
This, I think, is the direction
where PR or the communications
industry is headed, because
I believe you now have the ability
to engage with consumers in
ways you were just not able
to in the past.
PR 2020
The relationship we’ve
been relying on for ages
is the relationship
between the media and
their audiences or their
readership. We now have
direct access to the
audience and an
increasing number of
channels to reach them by.”
“

The one thing that I think we will
eventually pay more attention to
is the increasing use of virtual
assistants and bots. Bots will
have a very drastic impact on
our use of search, our unified
relationships and interactions
with brands, and on commerce.
In fact we are moving from an
era of e-commerce, where you
would go to a platform to
purchase something, to the age
Preparing for the rise of the machines
of ‘me-commerce’, where
everything surrounds you in
anticipation of your needs.
The question arises of where,
if at all, we draw the line. While
bots will make life easier for us
by taking up and mastering
many of our rudimentary tasks,
we need to question how that is
going to impact the way we
interact with each other and
with brands? Machines will talk
to machines, people will engage
with bots, and interact with
their peers in a manner that will,
increasingly, be determined
by algorithms. I think it’s
exceedingly important for us, to
have a strategy to intercept or
interrupt this process, because
at some point, we may get
excluded – and that will be a
challenge for which we must
be prepared.
29Marrying People and Data for the Storytelling of the FuturePR 2020

With over 20 years' experience developing and
executing integrated campaigns, Erin works across
all industry verticals and channels. She is currently
managing MSL's new and revolutionary tool,
Conversation to Commerce (C2C), jointly
developed with Publicis under the supervision
of Arthur Sadoun.
Erin Lanuti
Chief Influence Officer,
MSL
@ErinLanuti
PR 2020

Influence, the power to affect or change
perception and behavior and what we have for
75 years called public relations has grown into a
$15 billion dollar business.
and it can be delivered across a
dizzying array of ever-evolving channels. For all
of its promise, the true potential of influence has
yet to be realized due to several factors which
have plagued its growth – scale, targeting and
ROI measurement – for years.
Two years ago Publicis Groupe put a cross
functional team together to find a solution that
could overcome the barriers between the
disciplines, allowing us to finally harness
influence's full potential to drive brand lift and
sales. We learned that by borrowing practices
from outside of PR, we could effectively address
three core areas – data, distribution and impact
– and, in fact, achieve our objectives.
Today's influence
comes in many forms from journalists and
consumers to analysts and experts to celebrities
and activists,
PR 2020 31Augmented Influence: Powered by Data
AUGMENTED
INFLUENCE:
POWERED BY DATA

PR 2020
Data –
Getting it right
Big data today is such a cliché,
everyone is talking about it and
companies are spending a
fortune trying to obtain it and
work it. Sadly, most companies
have not democratized their
data enabling stakeholders to
have access across all
disciplines. This is a mistake, as
providing open access garners
significantly better insights and
actions. But even democratizing
the data is a bit of 'tablestakes',
as the most progressive
marketers are developing/have
developed unique IDs for their
consumers, tracking them across
devices to better understand
their habits and preferences.
What this means for influence is
that
Specific
media habits, what and when
they watch TV and videos,
where, when and what they post
and what they buy, are just a few
of the many things that we will
see on a customer level.
we will be able to identify
our actual customers in a far
more granular way.

“
PR 2020 33Augmented Influence: Powered by Data
Big data today is such a
cliché, everyone is
talking about it and
companies are spending
a fortune trying to
obtain it and work it.”
From here we can identify and
segment our actual customers
and build influencer maps to
determine who the most
relevant and engaging will be
and across what desired
channels and devices.
Whether we pay to secure
an influencer to deliver this
desired message or pitch and
secure organic coverage from
influencers or publishers,
this data-driven approach
ensures the content will have
optimal impact.

PR 2020
Scale & Targeting
Influence
Once we possess relevant,
engaging content we now need
to work across the marketing
eco-system to determine all of
the places to utilize it and then
build a plan to further scale and
target it.
I don't know about you, but I
believe there is a bias in
marketing that surrounds public
relations and specifically
influence. Many marketers
believe we need influence and
spend money on it, but don't
give it the funding or additional
support it needs to reach its
business-building potential.
Perhaps it's because the size of
traditional PR budgets were
always a small percentage of the
advertising spend. Or perhaps,
old traditions die hard, and
marketers still want to utilize
traditional approaches to
deliver results.
But our data proves that the
game has changed and so has
the opportunity.
We also need
to use data-driven media
targeting to ensure precision
accuracy in getting our message
to the right person, at the right
time, on the right device,
whether this be through
programmatic distribution or via
other paid media approaches.
Once the content is delivered,
working in partnership with the
paid media and creative teams,
we need to ensure that our
target customer has properly
sequenced messaging. This
sequencing needs to cut across
all paid platforms as well as
owned and shopper. In essence,
by leveraging influence in this
way, we are helping people we
know are already in the
consideration mindset for a
product or service by providing
them with credible and relevant
3rd party content to accelerate
their purchase decision.
Harnessing
influence should be treated like
performance content and
utilized in creative, owned and
shopper channels.

35Augmented Influence: Powered by DataPR 2020
Influence is more engaging,
effective and efficient. Why
wouldn't you include it
across all channels?”
“
In the past, we would identify
influencers or publishers based
on reach and target audience
segments. We would then
arrange limited amplification
many times as one-off buys
done via public relations to a
target audience segment.
We need to
move beyond simple one-off
social or native amplification to
an always-on eco-system-wide
approach that utilizes big data
and is not just connected but
integrated into the overall media
buy strategy. We now have a
mountain of data to show that
influence-driven creative yields
better brand lift and sales and
Public relations of the future
needs to utilize this new data-
driven influence model to
leverage influence's impact in an
end-to-end model.
it delivers improved media
efficiency. The bottom line:
The answer is, it is hard to do.
Even the most progressive
marketers fall back to tried and
true tactics in a system that is
heavily driven by performance.
Risk-taking, even calculated
risk-taking is often frowned
upon. To break this cycle, brands
need data in their regions and
categories to prove without a
doubt this will work before
investing. Even with the data,
influence is more engaging,
effective and efficient. Why
wouldn't you include it across
all channels?
it requires a new way of working
across paid, creative, data,
digital, earned and shopper
functions. This is compounded
by agencies and their silos.
We've seen that our partners
who lean-in and break down the
silos and allow influence to flow
freely across their marketing
elements are garnering
significantly better engagement,
brand lift and sales.

Impact and Implications
Impact can be looked at in two
ways:
ä First, impact is about
measurement. Through
analytics and data metrics
commonly used in other
communications disciplines,
we are now able to measure
influence, especially its
contributions to sales and
brand lift in ways that PR
professionals have rarely
done.
ä Secondly, the results of our
trials and tests around the
world prove without a doubt
how important this approach
will be to the future of public
relations. Data-driven
influence is more effective
and efficient.
We also explored the science
behind this, commissioning a
neuro-science study to
understand:
ä how people engage with
online content in real time, in
terms of attention and
emotion
ä how different types of online
content affect people
subconsciously
ä how our
Conversation2Commerce
platforms performs in
delivering engagement and
subconscious influence
Around the world, we've tested
this approach with the world's
largest marketers and have seen:
ä Articles and influencer
content consistently delivers
2x the brand lift of brand ads
ä Earned content ads deliver
on average +130% more
engagement at a double-
digit cost per click reduction
ä Using influence on
e-commerce platforms yields
double digit sales increases
as well as clicks
Earned content ads
deliver on average
+130%more engagement
PR 2020

37Augmented Influence: Powered by DataPR 2020
The study examined banner ads,
earned content ads, articles,
brand videos and influencer
videos and revealed that:
ä After browsing people chose
to buy items associated with
the brand ads 13% of the time
compared 26% for a brand
video, 70% for an influencer
video and 45% for an article
ä People spent 2x the amount
of time looking at earned
content ads vs. brand ads
ä Our earned content ads
were the ONLY content type
that consistently improved
brand lift for brands that
were already liked and
worked even better on
brands that weren’t
ä Our Conversation2Commerce
methodology increased
purchase certainty by over 4x
These data demonstrates
beyond a doubt the power of
influence to drive brand lift and
sales. Even more importantly, it
shows that this approach is
highly scalable and can be
scaled at a media efficiency vs.
current approaches. You can see
why we strongly believe that
public relations in 2020 will be
vastly different than it is today,
utilizing advanced data and
measurement and take a
position at the heart of the
marketing mix.
People spent
the amount of
time looking at
earned content
Our C2C
methodology
Increased
purchase
certainty by over

As CEO of SPARK, Spencer leads a firm that
studies how people think, feel, decide, and act.
SPARK then uses that research to build websites,
apps, and campaigns that are intuitive, engaging,
and persuasive. In 2014, SPARK was named one of
the 50 best places to work in the nation's capital
by Washingtonian Magazine. SPARK was also
honored at the White House as one of the top 100
US companies started by young entrepreneurs.
Spencer is a highly sought-after speaker on the
topic of human behavior and technology. He's
been a featured presenter at TEDx, the White
House, the United Nations, and Google. Spencer
was also named a Global Shaper by the World
Economic Forum and received the 2012
Under30 CEO Award.
Spencer Gerrol
CEO and Founder, SPARK Neuro
@SpencerGerrol
PR 2020

When working to optimize marketing and public
relations, brands have long struggled to
understand the true impact of different types of
media. Print, online publications, social media,
television, and digital ads, to name a few, all form
part of an overarching marketing strategy.
However, the details of how each form of content
affects consumers is somewhat of an enigma.
Traditional research can give us conflicting
information. People say one thing in focus groups,
have a different response in surveys, post another
opinion on social media, and click something else
altogether. The most reliable metric would be
actual purchases; however, linking a transaction to
a single source of influence proves difficult.
PR 2020 39Your Brain on Digital Content: A Neuroscience Study Explains the Impact of Marketing & PR
YOUR BRAIN ON
DIGITAL CONTENT:
A NEUROSCIENCE
STUDY EXPLAINS
THE IMPACT OF
MARKETING & PR

PR 2020
The biases of traditional
research are partly to blame.
Imagine a focus group, for
example, in which eight people
sit in a room and are presented
with a new marketing campaign.
A charismatic person with
strong leadership skills (and
stronger opinions) is quickly
deemed popular; he sways the
crowd (i.e. group think). Another
person disagrees with the group
but doesn't say so for fear of
being judged (i.e. social
desirability bias).
A third person with high
emotional intelligence picks up
on the undisclosed opinion of
the moderator and aims to
please (i.e. experimenter bias).
Meanwhile, the researcher has a
preconceived notion and
inadvertently hears just what
they want to (confirmation bias).
Because of these biases, the
data does not truly measure the
effectiveness of the campaign
nor reliably guide it.
Surveys often benefit from larger
sample sizes but have a different
set of biases. Case in point, this
past year the presidential polls
(one of the biggest, most tightly
controlled, and most expensive
set of surveys) were dead
wrong. Enough said.
The Problem:
Traditional
Measurement in a
Modern World

The Holy Grail:
Attention and Emotion
A tree falls in the woods and no
one is there to hear it. Did it
make a sound?
The age-old adage teaches us
an important lesson about
marketing:
Your content is presented, but
people tune it out. Did your
content exist? Yes, it did, but
without attracting attention its
impact certainly wasn't felt.
Here's another riddle for you.
What do you always have, only
sometimes notice, and have a
hard time conveying? Answer:
Emotion. Emotion by nature is
part of a subconscious process
that is constantly pushing and
pulling us despite the fact that
we aren't always aware of it and
often struggle to articulate it.
If people
are not tuned in to your
message, they won't be affected
by it and are unlikely to
remember it; and
Attention and emotion are the
Holy Grail in marketing.
if your content
doesn't make people feel
something, it will have a
limited effect.
However, attention and emotion
are among the hardest things
to measure.
Attention is often measured by
clicks, impressions, page-views,
and television ratings; but these
methods have their weaknesses.
Just because an ad displayed or
aired does not mean people
noticed it; and even if they did
see it, that does not mean they
paid attention to the message.
Emotion is measured even more
subjectively. Most commonly,
surveys, focus groups and other
“self-report” research methods
are employed to understand
feelings, beliefs, and attitudes.
But despite the fact that
emotions affect everything we
do, people simply aren't
continuously aware of their
emotions. Introspection is hard,
even harder to articulate, and
surveys aren't conducive to
getting deep nor specific
enough answers.
PR 2020 41Your Brain on Digital Content: A Neuroscience Study Explains the Impact of Marketing & PR

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
PR 2020
The Solution:
Neuroscience meets Marketing
Neuroscience involves studying
the brain and nervous system
and holds the key to more
accurately measuring attention
and emotion.
exists to create
practical applications out of the
scientific methods that are
otherwise stuck in the “ivory
tower”. Our team of
neuroscientists read brain
SPARK Neuro
activity and other neurological
responses to quantify to what
degree people are engaged in
content, their emotional
experience, and how that
translates into decisions.
Our data, which is processed
through complex algorithms that
makes sense of thousands of
data points per second, has
been shown to predict
marketing effectiveness.
Higher scores using our metrics
correlate with more sharing and
liking in social media, improved
brand affinity, and increased
purchase intent. In other words,
when people's attention is
captivated and when their
emotions are effectively stirred,
they like brands more and are
more likely to buy.
60 SECONDS
TIME

The Study:
Read, Watch… Buy?
43Your Brain on Digital Content: A Neuroscience Study Explains the Impact of Marketing & PRPR 2020
MSL sponsored an experiment to
learn how the brain engages
with and reacts to different
forms of content.
In April 2017, 50 millennial
women were recruited to browse
a controlled set of online
content while hooked up to
various biometric devices.
What content?
Experiment participants
independently browsed
Refinery29 as well as a
competitor site. During the
research sessions, the women
were exposed to digital banner
ads, earned articles, and brand
videos. The videos were largely
professionally produced
instructional videos that
featured specific products.
In addition to these content
forms, we also put a new type of
content to the test. MSL, as part
of its
initiative, developed a
hybrid between digital
advertising and earned content,
known as earned content units
(ECUs). While occupying the
same space as banner ads, ECUs
are styled differently and feature
earned content instead of
regular product ads.
Conversation2Commerce
(C2C)
All content fit into the health
and beauty category and all
participants were recruited for
an interest in beauty content.
Participants were not aware of
what was being studied so as
not to bias their interactions.
While the site content was
naturalistically presented and
subjects decided what to spend
time on, content was also tightly
controlled to ensure a
repeatable experimental design.
Select ads and content were
presented in random order to
washout the biases of order
effects.
What biometrics?
We used
Electroencephalography (EEG)
to measure brain activity,
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)
to measure skin conductance,
Eye Tracking to quantify visual
attention, as well as
computerized micro-Facial
Expression Encoding to capture
every smile and smirk.
This combination of biometric
signals gives us deep insights
into the Holy Grail—is content
captivating people? How much?
And exactly when (down to
the second)?
What other metrics?
In order to further understand
the impact of these various
forms of content, we also
measured for the effects on
branding and buying through
pre- and post-exposure surveys.
Unlike traditional surveys,
however, our unique method
looks into the subconscious
decision making process, like
measuring changes to
reaction times as well as
minor movements of the
mouse trajectory.

The Results:
How Content Performs
26%
Brand videos
purchase intent
45%
Earned articles increased
purchase intent
13%
Purchase intent
Digital banner ads
PR 2020
This study shed light on the
details of how people consume
different types of content,
including how it engaged their
attention and emotions and how
this translated into real-world
purchasing decisions.
Digital banner ads set the
baseline at 13% for purchase
intent. Brand videos doubled the
purchase intent compared to
digital ads, achieving 26%.
Meanwhile earned articles
increased purchase intent to
45% or 3.5 X more than
digital ads.
Eye tracking results
demonstrated that participants
also looked at MSL’s and Publicis
Media’s new form of hybrid
digital advertising, “earned
content units” (ECUs), for twice
as long as traditional banner ads
(.8 seconds vs. .4 seconds). This
was particularly interesting given
the units are the same size, but
are purposely less designed than
traditional digital brand ads.
Participants spent 10 X the
amount of time engaging with
earned articles than traditional
digital brand ads (.4 seconds vs.
4.69 seconds).
Metrics for brand lift showed a
different trend than purchase
intent. Digital ads only
contributed a 1.4% brand lift.
Unlike for purchase intent,
earned articles did not majorly
affect perceptions of a brand,
only increasing affinity to 1.6%,
which although slight was still a
statistically significant difference
compared to digital ads.

45Your Brain on Digital Content: A Neuroscience Study Explains the Impact of Marketing & PRPR 2020
Eye tracking results
demonstrated that
participants also looked at
MSL’s and Publicis Media’s
new form of hybrid digital
advertising, earned content
units, for twice as long as
traditional banner.”
Brand videos did an even better
job of reinforcing brand love,
promoting a 3.6% brand lift.
This finding revealed a subtle
but important distinction. Videos
generated stronger emotions in
connection with brands and
effectively influenced
perceptions of the products
being featured. Meanwhile,
articles were considered more
credible, ultimately contributing
to more purchasing. While brand
perception and purchasing are
unequivocally connected, subtle
differences were clearly present
in the data.
Even though articles were better
for purchase intent, however,
videos showed an interesting
persuasion dynamic. For
participants that already
showed strong preference
for a particular product, the
video did a more effective job
of pushing them over the edge
to buy. Emotions are a key part
of decision-making and
sometimes the greater
emotional boost of a video is
all it takes to officially convert.

PR 2020
While the tech revolution is impacting all aspects of communications,
its impact is vastly different for the different areas in which we
operate. In this section, experts from our leading practices and
sectors discuss how tech has and is changing the landscape of
communications, and how they're adapting to this change in their
varying expertise and diverse markets.

48
THE NEW DIGITAL NEWSROOM WITH DATA,
AUTOMATION, AND MORE
Amrit Ahuja, Managing Director, 2020MSL, India
TRANSFORMING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE
WITH IMMERSIVE TECH
Jim Weinrebe, Health Practice Leader, MSL North America
IMMERSIVE TECH MEETS SUSTAINABILITY
Sheila McLean, NA Citizenship and Sustainability Practice Director, MSL
CHINA'S LIVE-STREAMING TREND: PAVING THE
WAY FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT
Glenn Osaki, President, Asia, Shanghai, China, MSL
Liki Qin, Regional Senior Manager, Asia, MSL
REDEFINING THE BOUNDARIES: HOW
TECHNOLOGY WILL HELP COMMUNICATORS
USHER IN LIMITLESS CONSUMERISM
Daphne Hoytt, Senior Vice President, MSL Atlanta
54
58
62
68

Amrit is the Managing Director for 2020MSL, India.
Over her 22-year career, Amrit has developed a
track record of building visibility, valuation and
brand equity for a wide variety of clients. She has
expertise in building markets for technology
products and services, and has consulted several
technology brands, from commuting to internet to
the share economy space. She has worked on the
philanthropy chapters of each of these clients, and
in her personal capacity, she consults and drives
several women-centric forums and communities.
She is also serving as a jury member at the Cannes
Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2017.
Amrit Ahuja
Managing Director 2020MSL,
Delhi, India
@amritahuja
PR 2020

Today, with massive disruption and transformation,
the media industry, like others, is fast adapting and
responding to changes. The content landscape in
particular, is evolving at a rapid pace, and news
consumption patterns have witnessed a complete
overhaul, driven by developments in
communication technology, convergence of
media, mobile technology and evolving consumer
needs. No wonder then, that the newspaper
industry is already embracing this change
wishfully, and early adopters are at various stages
of their transition towards a “Digital Newsroom”.
News outlets around the world are pivoting their
newsroom strategy to reflect this change.
THE NEW DIGITAL
NEWSROOM WITH
DATA, AUTOMATION,
AND MORE
49The New Digital Newsroom with Data, Automation, and MorePR 2020

Trends such as big data,
artificial Intelligence,
automation and virtual reality
have shaken up the news
industry in recent years, and are
now finally making inroads to
the newsroom, bringing
immediacy, productivity,
transparency, immersive
experiences and a lot more.
Newsrooms today have
dedicated data teams, churning
out data-driven stories and
acting as data hubs for
multimedia newsrooms.
Computer Assisted Reporting or
Augmented journalism is helping
reporters analyse public
sentiment and crunch through
data. And sooner than later,
humans and robots will
collaborate and extract more
value from data to deliver news
effectively, with the help of
algorithms and artificial
intelligence. Earlier this year in
January the first robot produced
article was published in China.
However, data, robot and
artificial intelligence will only tell
half the story and
Robots will not be able to do
face to face meetings. Imagine
the difference, for instance, in
the automated bot’s reporting of
the Indian cricket team’s World
Cup win versus a human
narration of the same; a bot will
hardly be able to communicate
the euphoria of this victory!
there will
(and should) most certainly be a
place for content experts/editors
to add a human lens to the story.
Pushing the boundaries of reporting and
storytelling through technology
PR 2020

Making PR work in
the age of Robo-journalism
The innumerable digital
disruptions to traditional
newsrooms have definitely
changed a lot for the PR
profession, with more to follow.
As automation invades the
space and revenue models
change, PR efforts will no longer
be limited to sharing an idea or
pitch with a reporter friend and
delivering commendable column
inches together with our
messaging. How can this
unprecedented transformation
of the newsroom be best
addressed by the public
relations industry to tell stories
and engage the audience?
The answer lies in the very trend
that is disrupting the industry:
big data and insights - and it
has the potential to change the
way PR delivers stories. By using
the enormous pool of consumer
trends and real-time data
available, the following will
become standard practices:
PR 2020 The New Digital Newsroom with Data, Automation, and More
ä Fine-tuning messages:
Communications
professionals can adjust their
messaging and define better
target audiences to deliver it.
ä Using evolved measurement
metrics:
It will become
increasingly possible to track
the journey of a story, analyze
its performance, along with
in-depth data about the
consumers who engaged
with it (demography,
geography, interest
areas, etc.)
All of this information will
empower communications
professionals to draft and tell
stories in different formats, for
different interfaces, and with
more efficiency, and place them
in a strong and unique position
in this digitally transformed age.
Location services will help map
people on a particular network,
for e.g in an airport lounge, and
it will be able to push content
relevant with an assumption that
most are business travelers.
Public relations
efforts will be made more
measurable than ever with
the emergence of analytics
and data.
51

An automated newsroom with
less human interface and more
data-driven decisions will most
definitely resonate well with PR
efforts that are based on
consumer research and excellent
data. Automated technology
might help PR professionals
develop more factual content,
and present them with
opportunities to add creative
PR 2020
Leveraging human-machine
collaboration for better content
and credible insights to get
more out of existing data. We
will slowly move from a
traditional press release to more
visual content formats with data
and graphs. And probably
Limited edition news products
like Snapchats, Instagram
stories, podcasts centered
around a moment.
Increasingly, more budget
allocation will be seen for these
services/campaigns and as PR
storytellers, the onus on us to
showcase tangible results in a
competitive marketing
communications market, will be
higher than ever.

Building the right
workforce
To make the best out of
technology as a tool in our roles
as communications experts, we
need to ensure that we build the
right talent and resources. A
right mix of data and PR experts
will help us add a quantitative
lens to the world of
communication and tackle
business problems efficiently.
As clients warm up to the data
wave, we as consultants must
pre-empt that requirement and
begin building teams focused on
data science to our workforce.
It is imperative now to make
investment in tools that monitor
and process data in the areas
of storytelling, measurement,
PR in real time, etc. And most
importantly, we must recognize
the change that data is bringing
in, and how it will be at the heart
of planning a “Mobile-First” PR
firm with data scientists.
53PR 2020 The New Digital Newsroom with Data, Automation, and More

Jim is a leader of the biopharmaceuticals and
medical technology portfolio sectors for MSL's
North America Health Practice. He applies 25
years of health communications experience to
practice planning, growth and service
development, while supporting clients with
corporate and product programs across the
life cycle. He is also a senior practice resource
for crisis and issues management and
regulatory compliance with health
communications. He has been an industry
speaker on clinical trial recruitment, crisis
management and social media issues and
opportunities faced by regulated healthcare
companies.
Jim Weinrebe
Health Practice Leader,
MSL North America
PR 2020

The integration of virtual reality (VR),
augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality
(MR) with big data, increasingly, has the
potential to reshape the customer brand
experience. Core to this promise are
quantum leaps in customer centricity,
but where this trend evolves from
promise to practice can vary.
TRANSFORMING
THE PATIENT
EXPERIENCE
WITH IMMERSIVE
TECHNOLOGIES
55PR 2020 Transforming the Patient Experience with Immersive Technologies

Immersive Tech is becoming a crucial
part of the digital health revolution
In healthcare, where electronic
medical records, wearables, in-
dwelling devices, social channels
and clinical research databases
constitute a “Holy Grail” of Big
Data, AR and VR already impact
medical practice and the patient
journey in several ways, some of
which are listed below:
ä Surgeons remotely navigate
peers through complex
operations and layer
direct visualization atop
incision-less procedures.
ä Oncologists delivering a
cancer diagnosis bring
overwhelmed patients
“inside” to visualize the
molecular activity and
proposed eradication of
their tumor.
ä Cardiologists help anxious
parents visualize the
mechanism and planned
repair of their child’s heart
defect.
ä Chatbots enable on-demand
1:1 patient engagement.
ä Exposure-based treatments
conducted in the safety of a
room enable doctors to help
patients with mental and
behavioral health problems
(PTSD, Schizophrenia,
Anxiety and Phobias,
OCD, Developmental
disorders, etc.)
PR 2020
Traditional methods of
diagnosis, healing and patient
care are increasingly being
enhanced with and replaced by
AR, VR and AI-enabled
healthcare solutions.

VR and AR can create
tantalizing opportunities:
ä We can transform disease
awareness with immersive
events that create
breakthrough empathy for
stigmatized or
misunderstood conditions,
especially brain disorders.
ä We can shape markets for
preventive therapies by
enabling individuals to
viscerally grasp risk status
in ways that traditional
education messages may
ring hollow. Pre-osteoporosis
bone density and
pre-diabetes, for instance,
are just two possibilities.
The PR challenges for immersive tech and healthcare
are many. But so are the possibilities
Digital health innovators and
regulated product marketers set
the pace in applying VR, AR
and MR to the patient-physician
relationship. As hardware
costs and user simplicity
become reliably scalable, PR
practitioners can broaden the
impact of these technologies,
helping companies realize that
elusive goal of being truly
patient-centric.
For the PR representative of a
regulated manufacturer who
wants to influence patient
behavior and improve
reputation, the roadblocks can
seem never-ending - regulatory
issues stymie patient
engagement in social channels;
privacy concerns restrict uses of
big data; chatbots are out
because even anonymized
adverse events must be
reported. These challenges
notwithstanding,
applying the imperative of
customer centricity to patients,
57PR 2020 Transforming the Patient Experience with Immersive Technologies

Sheila has extensive experience in CSR,
sustainability, issues management, media,
corporate reputation, advocacy and public affairs.
She leads the agency’s award-winning Citizenship
and Sustainability practice. Sheila has worked on
social and environmental initiatives throughout
her career, from her days as a reporter covering
the issues to helping clients build and protect
consumer brands, launch new initiatives
and navigate the complexities of
stakeholder engagement.
Sheila McLean
NA Citizenship and
Sustainability Practice Director, MSL
@sgmclean8
PR 2020

Much has been said and written about how
immersive tech will transform the communications
industry, ushering in a new era of evolved
storytelling. While that is true, it will also
considerably impact – and transform – social
purpose in sectors like food and beverage.
Imagine, for instance, an Iowa corn farmer who
uses GPS technology to determine exactly when,
where and how much water to apply, data
analytics and just-in-time soil analysis to provide
guidance on which nutrients should be added to
his fields. Then imagine that you can immerse
yourself in that farmer’s life, making decisions
about how to use the land, water and resources
and experiencing the consequences of those
choices -- from your sofa.
That is exactly what virtual and augmented
reality technologies will allow us to do. Consumers
will be able to understand first-hand how
sustainable agriculture is transforming the food
industry, and conversely, how these technologies
can be used to help farmers better understand
consumer choices. New technologies allow us to
go beyond storytelling to deliver immersive
experiences, redefining social purpose in ways
that connect more immediately and deeply to
consumers, employees, policy leaders and
other stakeholders.
IMMERSIVE
TECH MEETS
SUSTAINABILITY
59Immersive Tech Meets SustainabilityPR 2020

Helping drive sustainable
behavior with the virtual,
the augmented, and more
PR 2020
Business leaders increasingly
recognize the need to integrate
social purpose into corporate
strategy to build trust, brand
preference and engagement.
For some brands, it takes years
of credible action, combined
with focused, integrated
communications campaigns to
achieve that. But new immersive
technologies make the world -
and our differences – smaller.
They provide valuable and
customizable perspective,
which leads to a more
powerful understanding.
So a Mom who worries about
how the corn in the tortilla she
serves her children was grown
and how much care the farmer
took will have a deeper, more
nuanced understanding of the
many decisions made along the
way and their impact, from all
angles. And the farmer will have
a new appreciation for the
concerns of the Mom. Essentially,
all the stakeholders involved in
the process – from
manufacturers and growers to
consumers – will experience
direct benefits from the
adaption of immersive
technology.
Immersive technologies help
us move from sharing content
to sharing experiences,
creating new opportunities
to bridge differences and
drive true impact.

61PR 2020 Immersive Tech Meets Sustainability
All the stakeholders
involved in the process –
from manufacturers and
growers to consumers –
will experience direct
benefits from the adaption
of immersive technology.”
“

An experienced client counselor, Glenn has
advised leading politicians, as well as CEOs
and other leaders in some of the world’s largest
companies, on critical issues related to
communication, branding and marketing.
A multiple warner-winner himself, Glenn is
regularly asked to judge world-leading
recognition programs. Glenn is also a highly
sought-after lecturer at universities in
topics related to communications.
Glenn Osaki
President, Asia, Shanghai,
China, MSL
@gosaki
PR 2020
Regional Senior Manager,
Asia, MSL
Liki Qin
Specialized in corporate and brand
communications, Liki Qin is responsible for
enhancing MSLGROUP’s brand and reputation
across all markets in Asia to strengthen the
company’s leading position as a trusted partner
to clients and a preferred employer to talents.
Liki also supports the company to expand in
new markets in Asia and strengthen the
relationships with local partners to provide
seamless high-quality advisories for clients.

2016 will be known as the dawn of the era of live-
streaming in China, with over 325 million users -
about half of the entire online population to China,
according to the
. As the most popular “new
media” format in China, it has attracted attention
from investors and marketers alike. A survey by
AdMaster in December 2016 showed that 37% of
marketers and media agency professionals in
China intended to invest in hosts of live-streaming
platforms as a key part of their 2017 content
marketing strategy.
The roots of live-streaming in China began around
2010 when talent performances and chat rooms
became accessible through your PC. But will
rapidly advancing technology allow live-streaming
to remain a viable new media format, or will it
simply be replaced by another “fad”?
Here are some considerations for the future
of live-streaming:
China Internet Network
Information Center
CHINA’S LIVE-
STREAMING TREND:
PAVING THE WAY
FOR INCREASED
ENGAGEMENT
63China's Live-streaming Trend: Paving the Way for Increased EngagementPR 2020

From talent performances to video game broadcasting,
live-streaming has primarily been used for entertainment.
But a recent by China News showed that beyond entertainment,
consumers stated they were using
live-streaming to:
study
Live-streaming
throughout your life
PR 2020
Relax
54%
Study
18.5%
Socialize with others
12.9%
As the platform evolves to
provide these other life
functions, its relevance to
consumers will increase.

Besides consumer relevance, the
ability to commercialize live-
streaming will also dictate its
success. Credit Suisse estimated
the live-streaming market at
over $3.6 billion in 2016,
growing to $5 billion in 2017.
This is about 70% the size of
China’s movie box office
receipts (#2 globally to the U.S.)
and half the size of the country’s
massive mobile gaming market
(#1 globally).
Live-streaming and commerce
The live-streaming explosion is
also boosting China’s enormous
e-commerce sector, with store
and brands rushing to tap in.
Business intelligence firm L2
said about 80% of beauty
brands were using
live-streaming, mostly for
e-commerce. China’s biggest
online shopping sites, Alibaba’s
Taobao and JD.com, have both
launched their own live-
streaming platforms - Taobao
Live and JD Live.
Shop owners and brands
regularly hire popular
live-streamers with large fan
bases to build trust for their
products because Chinese
consumers have a strong
distrust of e-commerce
brands themselves.

Augmented reality has been
widely used for interesting
effects, immersive scenes and
fan gifting to live-streamers.
Virtual reality is also starting to
be leveraged for major events,
including the live-streaming of
the National People’s Congress,
so that all of China could
virtually attend the conferences.
New technologies are on the
way in 2017 to make live-
streaming even more universal.
In March, Google launched its
video intelligence API, which
allows users to search or
discover information in video.
Developers in China are already
using this API with artificial
intelligence and machine
learning in live-streaming video
content to optimize search and
video personalization. Such
enhancements will make live-
streaming even more relevant,
customizable and accessible –
the keys to user engagement.
Increasing
engagement
through advanced
technologies
PR 2020

New technologies
are on the way
in 2017 to make
live-streaming even
more universal.”

Daphne brings over sixteen years of
brand building and marketing
communications expertise to MSL. In her
current role, she is the North America
Consumer Practice Director and the
Client Engagement Director and senior
strategist for a leading CPG/nutrition
brand. During her tenure at MSL, Daphne
has developed and managed high-profile
U.S. and global PR programs and product
launches for some of the world's
recognizable consumer goods, retail and
healthcare companies.
Daphne Hoytt
Senior Vice President, MSL Atlanta
PR 2020

In today's modern world, it goes without that
saying that exclusivity is what moves the needle in
consumer brand communication. Consumers want
to feel that a certain brand will provide a unique
benefit or experience that another company
cannot, or that fellow consumers will not receive.
It's the same theory that explains why brands
promote their products as the best on the market,
and their events as can't-miss experiences!
An unprecedented mix of virtual reality and
big data have eliminated consumer engagement
boundaries, and mobility has enabled brands to
make connections through experiences and
feelings rather than just words.
The evolution of technology has fostered – and
will continue to foster – a world where consumer
and brand ideas have more platforms to come to
life.
REDEFINING THE
BOUNDARIES:
HOW TECHNOLOGY
WILL HELP
COMMUNICATORS
USHER IN LIMITLESS
CONSUMERISM
69Redefining the Boundaries: How Technology Will Help Communicators Usher in Limitless ConsumerismPR 2020

As we look ahead, we need to prepare
for versatile engagement that
emphasizes this newfound exclusivity
and embrace how technology
eliminates barriers to brand
storytelling – and in fact helps us find
the best people and channels to tell
that story.
Just some of the many possibilities
that will open up for communicators
in the future:
ä Modern communications will
involve creating, executing and
promoting exclusive events not
bound to one location.
ä Media can participate in press
conferences or media events from
their home PC, mobile device or
VR headset.
ä Influencers can take part in virtual
tours or showcases that highlight
product benefits and reinforce vital
brand messages without leaving
their couch. Now, it will be easier
to create “exclusive events” across
virtual channels, and generate
buzz and conversation previously
hindered by timing, logistics and
cost challenges.
Exploring new frontiers for
impactful storytelling
We need to prepare for
versatile engagement
that emphasizes this
newfound exclusivity and
embrace how technology
eliminates barriers to
brand storytelling – and
in fact helps us find the
best people and channels
to tell that story.”
“
PR 2020

In turn,
–
a critical advantage that brands
can use to promote themselves
as leaders and innovators if done
correctly. Virtual channels will
allow consumers to envision
their purchases before
buying them.
For instance, The Home Depot’s
app allows home
renovation pros and DIY home
renovators to design a virtual
room during consultation.
virtual technologies
will transform the consumer
experience, turning their wants
and visualizations into reality
Project Color
Customers can digitally sample
a range of paint colors to find
their desired match. Or, if they
want a specific color, they can
simply upload a photo from
which the app can extract an
exact color comparison –
imagine getting the exact right
red shade of paint from a desert
sunset. There’s both a
practicality and “cool factor” to
such platforms and applications
that previously did not exist,
and on which brands and
communicators can capitalize.
While the technology that drives
PR will change how we operate,
the core of what we do does not
– building relationships and
crafting messages that inspire
change and deliver brand
expectations. The brands and
communicators who can quickly
adopt these technologies to tell
their stories in a consumer’s
limitless world will be the ones
best prepared to succeed.
PR 2020 71Redefining the Boundaries: How Technology Will Help Communicators Usher in Limitless ConsumerismPR 2020

PR 2020
As we see more and more progress in technology,
it becomes imperative to ask ourselves what this
progress means to us as businesses,
communications professionals, consumers, and
everyday people. We look at how, in the future,
rapidly advancing technology could help in
shaping us and the work we do.

THE NEXT IN AUGMENTED RELATIONSHIPS
Melanie Joe, Consultant, Research and Insights, MSL 74

PR 2020
With a specialization in Advertising, Melanie has
worked in the digital space with brands from the
banking, healthcare, oil & energy, political and
consumer sectors. She has also worked on media
buying campaigns across print, radio, television
and OOH. At MSLGROUP, she tracks inspiring
digital initiatives for People's Insights.
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research and Insights,
MSL
@melanie_joe

Exciting developments from the technology sector
are in the news on an almost everyday basis; big
data, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR),
mixed reality (MR), artificial intelligence (AI) -
these are terms that have, in the past few years,
become everyday buzzwords. Technology has had
a significant impact on popular culture, and it has
made its way to people's living-room discussions –
and gauging from the impact it continues to
create in an increasingly digitized society, this
fascination with technology has only just begun.
With cutting-edge advancements in technology,
we're also witnessing the creation of a vast array
of opportunities for the world – opportunities for
improvement, progress, and innovation. While
predicting the precise nature of a world led by
technology is difficult, it brings to the fore several
important questions, perhaps the most crucial one
being: how will we, in our varied roles as brands,
professionals, governments, consumers – as
human beings – navigate this world in the face of
all-encompassing technological advancements?
THE NEXT IN
AUGMENTED
RELATIONSHIPS
75The Next in Augmented RelationshipsPR 2020

Most businesses today are
exploring the burgeoning world
of immersive tech; innovation in
marketing communications has
become increasingly
synonymous with the ability to
successfully leverage technology
for increased consumer
engagement. The phenomenal
success of Pokémon Go in 2016
brought augmented reality to
the forefront – it was a wake-up
call for brands, a lesson in how a
well-thought-out execution
could lead to transformative
results, even with AR, a space
that was considered abstract
and too futuristic for everyday
consumers. In the wake of the
Pokémon Go craze, several
brands started exploring AR;
clearly, an impact had been
made.
, and the
challenge many businesses will
face will be to identify where
Immersive tech will become an
important tool for marketers in
the coming years
PR 2020
Immersive tech
will usher in a
new era of
brand-consumer
engagement
and how to best apply these
technologies. VR, for instance,
is best experienced with a VR
headset, something not all
consumers may be keen on
investing. So how do brands
bring VR – and their brand
messages – to their consumers?
The answer lies in making the
technology more accessible –
one way to do this would be to
install VR components with their
messages at malls, subways,
airports, on the streets, etc.
Experience is the next wave of
digital transformation; leveraged
together, AR, VR, and MR will
transform the product and
experience design, in turn
transforming the brand-
consumer relationship.
Additionally, at a time when
connecting to consumers on an
emotional level has taken
precedence, brands cannot
afford to sidestep the emotional
aspect of their communications.
Brands of the
future will invest their time,
energies and resources to better
understand consumer behavior
by first studying their emotions.
In the era of empathy, the
science of immersive tech will
merge with the science of
human emotions.
Key takeaway for PR
professionals: Create
impactful storytelling, and
rewrite the consumer journey
by creatively integrating
emerging technologies in
brand messages.
Subway’s NYC Pastrami Taxi campaign in
London’s Southbank took viewers on a virtual reality
tour of New York City

It will become important to ask
pertinent questions like:
ä What will automation do for
creativity in PR?
ä How should the human-tech
balance be achieved?
ä When AI takes over the most
rudimentary of our tasks, will
that result in more time –
and liberty – for us to bring
fresher ideas to the table?
Technology vs. man will be one
of the most interesting dilemmas
for humanity in the future,
but AI won't be making human
skills obsolete, not for a very
long time.
Automation will be the PR
professional's most valuable tool
77The Next in Augmented Relationships
While there are concerns that
artificial intelligence may take
over most jobs and negatively
impact the workforce, nothing
could be further from the truth.
As opposed to the 'us vs. them'
narrative that's been associated
with AI,
A recent US
conducted by the McKinsey
Global Institute discovered that
although nearly half of employee
responsibilities could be partially
automated, less than 5% of
current jobs could be fully
handed over to machines. Tech
is no match for the human
element – there's only so much a
machine can accomplish.
Instead of focusing on which
roles will be taken over by AI,
the priority will become on
identifying how AI will transform
our roles, to analyze how we can
leverage AI to add to and
enhance our existing skills.
the future of PR will very
much depend on a collaborative
effort between humans and
machines. study
Key takeaway for PR
professionals: A collaboration
between humans and
machines will lead to an
increase in workplace
productivity.
PR 2020

People are increasingly relying
on technology for a number of
day-to-day activities – whether
it's Amazon for shopping from
the comfort of one's home or
Uber for easy, on-demand
transport. As technology
continues to facilitate more
convenient lives, people will
expect this level of convenience
– and dependability – from every
sector, government included.
Consumers are going to expect
from governments the
transparency, efficiency and
responsiveness that other
industries are increasingly
offering. While most industries
have made technology-led
functioning a priority,
government sectors have mostly
been left behind. This doesn't
help governments in the current
political climate. Citizens have
less trust in their governments
than ever before; they want to
know what their elected officials
are up to, and they want that
information to be easily
accessible. Adopting technology
is a big step in achieving this
transparency and establishing
better relations with citizens.
In the years to come, technology
will become commonplace in
government, and will dictate,
to a large extent, the quality of
civic engagement. Some of the
several things technology in
government will facilitate are:
ä Live streaming of
government meetings
ä Easy-to-access transcriptions
of government policies
ä Virtual reality tours of
government spaces
ä Chatbot-led personalized
engagement with citizens
Some governmental
departments have already taken
innovative steps towards this
direction, like the Italian
Chamber of Deputies, with their
initiative.
Any government that's aiming
for progress, that wants to stay
relevant to its citizens, needs to
make them active participants of
the political and democratic
process. This will be one of the
biggest priorities of the
government of the future; tech
could well be the next – and
most transformative – revolution
in government.
DIGITAL4DEMOCRACY
PR 2020
Cutting-edge tech will make better
governance possible
Key takeaway for PR
professionals: There is a need
to strengthen our public
affairs expertise and enlighten
our clients in the government
sector about the necessity of
adding technology to their
communications mix.

79The Next in Augmented Relationships
While an increasing number of
consumers are aware of the
negative impacts of their
consumption habits, more often
than not, not many are in a
position to make informed
decisions about the brands they
consume. This is where
immersive tech could transform
the consumer's understanding of
the brand. Some of the things
immersive tech could facilitate:
ä A virtual reality tour of the
brand's factory, for instance,
could help consumers learn
more about the source of the
products and services they
pay for.
ä Product packages with AR
overlays with the requisite
information will make it
easier for consumers to get
the necessary facts about
their favorite products. Is the
brand you’re buying from
really fair to the environment,
the labor it employs, the
markets it enters? A future
where consumers will be able
to point their smartphone
screens at a product label
and learn these things about
brands is not far off.
Access to technology will create
more 'green' consumers
The more information a
consumer has, the more
empowered he becomes to
make conscientious choices.
Technology, with all its
possibilities, may just make the
consumer of the future a
champion for human rights,
animal welfare, and the
environment.
Key takeaway for PR
professionals: Leveraging
technology to educate the
consumer about the brand's
purpose will help in
establishing brand affinity for
the long run.
PR 2020

Pascal Beucler
SVP & Chief Strategy Officer, Global, MSL
(pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com)
Melanie Joe
Consultant – Research & Insights, MSL
(melanie.joe@mslgroup.com)
MSL is Publicis Groupe's strategic communications and engagement group,
advisors in all aspects of communication strategy; from consumer PR to financial
communications, from public affairs to reputation management and from crisis
communications to experiential marketings and events. With more than 3,000
people across close to 100 offices worldwide, MSL is also the largest PR network
in Europe, fast-growing China and India. The group offers strategic planning and
counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling ideas - followed by
thorough execution.
Write to us to start a conversation on how we can help you distill actionable
insights and foresights from conversations and communities.
ImagesCredit:shutterstock.comDesignedbyMSLCREATIVE+

PR 2020 The Dawn of the Augmented Influence

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