"PR thinking" and content marketing are going to dominate the next-generation of marketing communications firms, according to a survey released today by France's Publicis Groupe.

Seventy percent of the more than 2,000 advertising, marketing, PR, design and special events students quizzed by Europe's MediaSchool Group either agree or strongly agree that within ten years PR thinking, where word-of-mouth and trust for brands are paramount, is going to lead the way firms relate to clients.

Eighty-one percent say content marketing, where brands become publishers, will guide overall strategy in ten years.

Eight-in-ten of respondents expect stand-alone social media and digital marketing firms will disappear as that channel becomes a discipline for all marketers.

Seventy percent say the focus of advertising will shift from "hard sell" to one that entertains an audience.

Ogilvy PR is the most admired (31 percent) PR firm, according to the survey, followed by Edelman (15 percent) and Hill+Knowlton Strategies (13 percent).

The respondents, aged 20 to 25, do not consider themselves "digital natives." They apply that description to their younger brothers and sisters.