Tomorrow’s CMOs won’t just brief agencies on campaigns, they’ll brief product teams on journeys.
Brands
Why 2026 will belong to the premium open internet
The "walled garden" era is giving way to a new ecosystem where consumer attention and trust are highest.
Why Southeast Asia is rethinking how influencers are governed
How the governments choose to regulate now will determine what the creator economy looks like next.
The new battleground for brand loyalty
Vinod Kunj decodes why vernacular is the real vox populi (voice of the people).
From spectacle to substance: what CES 2026 revealed about the future of advertising
The global tech fest illustrated that the next wave of brand growth will come from those willing to invest in creative tech not as a layer, but as a capability.
AI rewired marketing. Leadership is next.
If you’re still debating about whether AI marketing belongs at the centre of your strategy, you’re already behind the curve.
A marketer’s roadmap to 2026
Mass appeal is not where most brands are focused anymore. Here are five trends that will shape marketing this year.
Closed communities are rewriting the rules of influence
Creator-led circles and fandom-driven spaces are subtly but surely overtaking mass feeds as the arena where brands compete for credibility.
PR isn’t facing a sunset, but a reset
This piece is not a farewell to PR, but a farewell to an older mental model of it.
Why we’re trading 17 opens tabs for one good conversation
Between comparison charts and keywords searches, the humble product page has begun to lose its shine.
Media fragmentation: The unfair opportunity marketers are missing out on
What we call 'media fragmentation' is simply reality catching up with an industry that prefers linear planning templates.
Roast me, please! When brands laugh at themselves
Brands are turning online jokes into campaigns that celebrate authenticity, confidence and agility.
2025 Review: Will India’s women sports icons stay brand heroes beyond the trophy?
The historic ICC win was the result of decades of persistence away from television cameras and marketing budgets.
Upping the game: How Indian game developers can scale growth in 2026
While India has massive download volume, only a small percentage are high-value payers.
IndiGo crisis: A case for more heart, less script
In an era where outrage escalates in minutes, the airline’s December meltdown is a masterclass in what not to do.
How brands can have their (plum) cake and eat it too
A recent Kantar analysis found that very few festive ads succeed in delivering both cultural warmth and clear brand impact.
India’s digital ecosystem needs an overhaul
The recently notified Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules could result in a more robust, transparent, trust-led ecosystem.
Is hype marketing really worth it?
Hype on its own is fleeting, but hype built on community and authenticity can shape a brand’s future.
Rebranding icons for Generation Alpha
Young consumers expect brands, even iconic legacy ones, to be fresh and inclusive. But before you update for a new generation, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.
Rebranding icons for Generation Alpha
Young consumers expect brands, even iconic legacy ones, to be fresh and inclusive. But before you update for a new generation, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.
India’s food creators are quietly redefining how we eat with our eyes
Regional food creators are India’s new culinary tastemakers, shaping what people crave and choose to eat.
AI ads and the uncanny valley problem
For the creative industry, this is no longer a conversation about technology adoption. It’s a conversation about craft.
Why the future belongs to digitally-native, full-funnel agencies
Agencies that see marketing as one coherent journey rather than a sequence of disconnected tasks will win the game.
Reimagining creative work through the new labour codes
The codes do not limit creativity. Rather, it helps unlock it–consistently, ethically, and at scale.
Advertisers are watching Australia’s teen social media ban
Under-16 digital behaviour in Australia is about to change, and ripple effects for brands will be everywhere.
Why LLMs should be “decolonised”
LLMs today need to speak a variety of languages, not just English with an accent.
The feed is full, but we’re all starving
Why brands must stop performing for algorithms and start speaking to humans again
How to be GEO-ready in 2026
The future of discovery won’t be a search result. It will be a conversation, one where AI decides whose voice to amplify.
The ‘green’ cost of FOMO
How short-term sales spikes, such as Black Friday, are rewiring consumer behaviour.
Does India need aspirational masculinity?
As Movember rounds out to a close, let's decode the evolution of modern masculinity through advertising.
Why leaders must rethink how they conduct layoffs
With advertising holdcos restructuring, HR heads and even CEOs need to hesitate before outsourcing these conversations to tech.
Why leaders must rethink how they conduct layoffs
With advertising holdcos restructuring, HR heads and even CEOs need to hesitate before outsourcing these conversations to tech.
Friendship, fashion, and the female gaze
Why does Sex and the City still feel so iconic? The answer lies not just in the clothes or the cocktails, but in how the series reoriented the gaze.
From noise to ROI: how smart brands can win India’s festive quarter
Soaring cart abandonment rates, undecided consumers and a tendency to mass-serve irrelevant ads are challenges that can spike during this season.
What the Cloudflare outage reveals about digital fragility
This outage, alongside similar incidents at major cloud providers, signals a rising pattern of vulnerabilities and structural degradation.
Dismantling the climate rhetoric
Agencies need to rethink their role. Beyond crafting messages, they should act as conscience keepers to ensure that ‘purpose’ isn’t reduced to a positioning strategy.
Agentic AI and the morality gap: Can logic learn compassion?
The future of storytelling, branding, and consumer trust depends not on machines that think faster, but on those that act responsibly.
How Zohran Mamdani rode the authenticity wave to victory
The more openly he engaged with complex issues, the more audiences perceived coherence between his words and actions, strengthening trust even among sceptics.
How a bad brand name can kill future growth
Naming a brand needs science, not serendipity; blending a methodical approach, linguistics, semiotics, consumer psychology and strategic foresight.
AI agents collapse the wall between marketing and CX
From HUL’s virtual try-ons to Zepto’s AI personas, brands and agencies face new roles as machines reshape leadership and trust.
Followers don’t equal fans: Rethinking brand personalisation
With algorithms dictating feeds, brands must reclaim personalisation through owned data, AI, and storytelling—beyond the illusion of social ‘community’.
Predictive AI: From guesswork to game-changer in marketing
Brands and agencies are shifting from reactive to proactive strategies, leveraging AI to anticipate customer needs while navigating ethical and technical challenges.
Trust is the new ad currency in 2025
As cookies crumble, Nimida Digital’s head maintains that data trust and clean tech—not just budgets—will determine performance marketing success.
Discounts are dead. Rewards speak louder than cashbacks
In a cluttered digital landscape, BigCity Promotions’ co-founder points out that brands are swapping coupons for contextual rewards to build loyalty, data, and deeper connections.
Memes eat ad budgets for breakfast
As brands chase relevance, Idiotic Media’s CEO and co-founder explains why memes deliver punchy, platform-native content that’s cheap, viral, and built for Gen Z’s scroll-happy thumbs.
From star power to feed power: Who sells more?
India’s ad game is shifting—celebs grab attention, but it’s creators who spark conversations, conversions and cultural relevance, notes Dot Media’s head of business strategy.
What makes a 'new-age agency' in 2025? Not hype
Speed, soul, and strategy now define creative partnerships—because in today’s feed-fuelled world, relevance fades faster than your next scroll, says Vamos Digital founder.
Cookies crumble, privacy prevails: Marketing’s new playbook
The era of lazy personalisation is over. Epsilon senior vice president for analytics believes that marketers must now trade third-party tracking for first-party trust, clean data, and cultural transparency—or risk fading into irrelevance.
India isn’t a muse; it’s time to brand the maker
Global brands borrowed India’s craft. Sam & Andy’s founding partner claims that Indian creators must now reclaim the narrative—with better systems, sharper storytelling, and unapologetic ownership.
The anti-algorithm movement: Authenticity as our new imperative
True personalisation isn't just reflecting a user's preferences; it is understanding the human desire for growth, challenge, and surprise, says Quantum Consumer Solutions associate.
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