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✦Culture Moves at Gen Z Speed, Can Brands Keep Up?✦How Campaigns Get Their Names✦How Liril’s Waterfall Changed What Indian Advertising Could Show✦Will Procurement Judge Agencies On Speed Instead Of Headcount?✦Simon Shaw Leaves King Salman Park For Advisory Work✦Sugatha Karthikeyan Joins Haleon As Region Head For The West✦The EPIC Company Acqui-Hires The Dosa Studios✦Greenply Turns TermiVax Into A Termite News Bulletin✦Smith & Jones Puts Pasta Masala In The School Tiffin✦Aman Gupta, Who Made the Founder the Advertisement✦Vijay Sales Signs Rahul Dravid To Sell Apnapan✦Google Moves Display Impressions To Begin To Render In 2027✦Culture Moves at Gen Z Speed, Can Brands Keep Up?✦How Campaigns Get Their Names✦How Liril’s Waterfall Changed What Indian Advertising Could Show✦Will Procurement Judge Agencies On Speed Instead Of Headcount?✦Simon Shaw Leaves King Salman Park For Advisory Work✦Sugatha Karthikeyan Joins Haleon As Region Head For The West✦The EPIC Company Acqui-Hires The Dosa Studios✦Greenply Turns TermiVax Into A Termite News Bulletin✦Smith & Jones Puts Pasta Masala In The School Tiffin✦Aman Gupta, Who Made the Founder the Advertisement✦Vijay Sales Signs Rahul Dravid To Sell Apnapan✦Google Moves Display Impressions To Begin To Render In 2027

Ad Tribe — daily news on India’s advertising industry

A halftone cut-paper collage of a young person's face sliced into offset bands beside a bold empty speech bubble on a flat coral background
Social First

Culture Moves at Gen Z Speed, Can Brands Keep Up?

Gen Z do not wait for culture to be handed down. They build it, and they can tell when a brand is participating rather than borrowing.

Halftone collage of a rubber stamp pressing onto blank paper, for how campaign names are chosen
Creative Room

How Campaigns Get Their Names

Halftone collage of a bar of soap and a falling stream of water on charcoal, for the Liril waterfall campaign
Campaigns That Built India

How Liril’s Waterfall Changed What Indian Advertising Could Show

The Latest
The Ai Shift

Will Procurement Judge Agencies On Speed Instead Of Headcount?

People

Simon Shaw Leaves King Salman Park For Advisory Work

People

Sugatha Karthikeyan Joins Haleon As Region Head For The West

News

The EPIC Company Acqui-Hires The Dosa Studios

Campaigns

Greenply Turns TermiVax Into A Termite News Bulletin

Campaigns

Smith & Jones Puts Pasta Masala In The School Tiffin

Brand Builders

Aman Gupta, Who Made the Founder the Advertisement

Brands

Vijay Sales Signs Rahul Dravid To Sell Apnapan

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PeopleAll →
Portrait of Simon Shaw in a blue jacket holding round spectacles to his eye, against a flat pastel mint backdrop

Simon Shaw Leaves King Salman Park For Advisory Work

Portrait of Sugatha Karthikeyan in an olive jacket against a flat pastel powder blue backdrop

Sugatha Karthikeyan Joins Haleon As Region Head For The West

Portrait of Anil Chakravarthy in a navy suit and striped shirt against a flat pastel warm sand backdrop

Adobe Makes Anil Chakravarthy Its Chief Executive From December

Portrait of Anthony Armstrong in a dark grey t-shirt against a flat pastel butter yellow backdrop

Coinbase Adds Anthony Armstrong To Its Board Of Directors

Portrait of May Yassin in a black dress against a flat pastel lilac backdrop

May Yassin Elevated To Head Of Corporate Affairs At Vodafone Egypt

Portrait of Shivraj Shinde in a cream jacket against a flat pastel terracotta backdrop

MotorOctane Appoints Shivraj Shinde As Business Head Of Digital Sales

FeatureWork LifeAll →
A picture frame lying flat on the floor while the image it once held stands upright beside it
Work Life

Why The Next Great Ad May Not Look Like An Ad

The most effective thing a brand made this year may not be recognisable as advertising to the people who judge advertising.

Why Feedback Is The Most Underrated Skill In Advertising

The difference between a note that improves the work and one that just moves it is a skill. It is almost never taught.

Is Becoming A Creative Director Still The Dream?

They still want to be senior. They are much less sure they want to run a department to get there.

The First 100 Days In An Advertising Agency

Nobody hands you the map. The first hundred days are mostly spent working out who actually decides things.

FeatureBrand BuildersAll →
Watercolour and ink portrait of Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt
Brand Builders

Aman Gupta, Who Made the Founder the Advertisement

The company had already won the category. What Shark Tank added was a founder whose face did the work an ambassador is usually paid for.

02
Watercolour and ink portrait of Kunal Shah, founder of CRED

Kunal Shah, Who Made Exclusivity the Product

03
Watercolour and ink portrait of Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha

Nikhil Kamath, the Other Half of the Zerodha Argument

04
Watercolour and ink portrait of Nithin Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha

Nithin Kamath, Who Built India’s Largest Broker Without Advertising

05
Watercolour and ink portrait of Harsh Mariwala, founder of Marico

Harsh Mariwala, the Man Who Put Coconut Oil in a Bottle

06
A watercolour and ink portrait of Ashwath Swaminathan in a grey jacket on cream paper

Ashwath Swaminathan, Growth Marketing Under a Stopwatch

07
A watercolour and ink portrait of Rohit Kapoor in glasses

Rohit Kapoor, the CEO Running Swiggy's Food Delivery Business

CampaignsAll →
A CGI termite carrying a bundle being interviewed by another termite holding a fluffy microphone, from the Greenply film
Campaigns

Greenply Turns TermiVax Into A Termite News Bulletin

A product demonstration nobody would watch, restaged as breaking news from the colony that has to move out.

Five schoolchildren in uniform eating pasta from tiffin boxes at their classroom desks, from the Smith & Jones film
Campaigns

Smith & Jones Puts Pasta Masala In The School Tiffin

A child and an older woman laughing together, in a frame from the Stay Young at Heart campaign film
Campaigns

Edwards Lifesciences Argues That Breathlessness Is Not Just Age

A Turtlemint digital partner in a frame from the Naye India Ka Naya Digital Partner campaign film
Campaigns

Turtlemint Puts Its Own Agents At The Centre Of The Campaign

Vi Moves Its Dot And Puts Shah Rukh Khan Behind The Change

Zandu Balm Decides That Peeda Is Not Only Physical

Gulf Pride Tells Riders That Ambition Is Not Measured In CC

MARS Cosmetics Takes Its Mascot Out In A Mumbai Cab

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FeatureSocial-FirstAll →
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Social First

Why Dark Social Is India’s Biggest Measurement Blind Spot

A halftone face beside a broken speedometer dial and a magnifying glass
Social First

Why Authenticity Is the Hardest Metric in Social-First Advertising

A halftone collage of a young person’s face, offset in two bands, beside a blank smartphone on a flat blue background
Social First

From Creators to Communities: Why Brands Need to Build Offline Connections With Gen Z

A halftone cut-paper collage of a young person's face sliced into offset bands beside a bold empty speech bubble on a flat coral background
Social First

Culture Moves at Gen Z Speed, Can Brands Keep Up?

Gen Z do not wait for culture to be handed down. They build it, and they can tell when a brand is participating rather than borrowing.

How Internet Culture Is Changing Festive Advertising in India

The New Role of Copywriters in Meme and Creator Campaigns

How Brands Balance Speed, Approval and Creativity on Social Media

Why Founder-Led Content Is Becoming a Brand Asset

BrandsAll →
Rahul Dravid in a black jacket beside the Vijay Sales logo and the line Trust Recognises Trust in the campaign key visual
Brands

Vijay Sales Signs Rahul Dravid To Sell Apnapan

A retailer built on advice rather than price picks the least flashy cricketer available, which is the whole idea.

02
Tamannaah Bhatia in a lilac knit dress and a gold watch against floral wallpaper, in the Guess Watches FW26 campaign visual

Guess Watches Names Tamannaah Bhatia Its India Brand Ambassador

03
A halftone paper cutout of a shopping tote bag and a delivery scooter, on a flat deep maroon background

Quickeee Puts Clothes On A Sixty Minute Clock In Mumbai

04
A halftone paper cutout of an ice cream cone and a glass milk bottle, on a flat sky blue background

Reliance Starts An Ice Cream Brand Called Bombay Creamery

05
Ranveer Singh with Anup Jhamtani and two colleagues at the Jhamtani brand ambassador announcement in Pune

Ranveer Singh Becomes The Face Of Pune Developer Jhamtani

06
A halftone paper cutout of an open umbrella beside two interlocked chain links, on a flat forest green background

InsuranceDekho And RenewBuy Merge Into One Distribution Platform

07
Ricky Ponting, ambassador investor at Century Cricket, in a white open-collar shirt

Ricky Ponting Buys Into The Company He Is Fronting

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Ad world news, campaigns and moves, a few times a week. No noise.

FeatureIndian Ad LegendsAll →
A graphite pencil portrait of Mohammed Khan, the adman who built Enterprise
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of Mohammed Khan, the Gentleman Who Built Three Iconic Agencies

Read the story of Mohammed Khan, the elegant adman who learned his craft in 1960s London and went on to help found Rediffusion, run Contract and build Enterprise, shaping brands from NECC to Lakme.

Graphite pencil portrait of K.V. Sridhar, the Leo Burnett creative chief known across Indian advertising as Pops.
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of K.V. Sridhar, the Artist the Industry Calls Pops

A graphite pencil portrait of Prasoon Pandey, drawn with a film camera and a clapperboard
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of Prasoon Pandey, the Director Who Filmed India's Most Loved Ads

A graphite pencil portrait of Prahlad Kakkar, drawn with a film camera, clapperboard and diving gear
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of Prahlad Kakkar, the Man Who Made Ad Films Fun

The Story of R. Balki, the Adman Who Turned Ideas Into Films

The Story of Swati Bhattacharya, the Voice That Changed How India Talks About Women

The Story of Alyque Padamsee, the Brand Father of Indian Advertising

The Story of Piyush Pandey, the Man Who Taught Brands to Speak Like India

NewsAll →
01

The EPIC Company Acqui-Hires The Dosa Studios

02

Pocket Entertainment Returns To Microdramas With Pocket Saga

03

NIELIT And Intel India Launch Two Agentic AI Skilling Programmes

04

The Ayurveda Company Shuts Down After Scaling Too Fast

05

AlphaTheta Hands Team Pumpkin Its India Social Mandate

06

The One Club Makes CapCut Its Premier Global AI Partner

07

Publicis Is Reported To Have Taken PepsiCo's Global Media Account

08

CCPA Fines Dial4Trade Over Ammonium Nitrate Listed For Sale

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FeatureCreative RoomAll →
A lump of coal beside a cut diamond, in halftone on a black ground
Creative Room

How Pressure Shapes Better Campaign Thinking

A crumpled ball of paper in halftone on an olive ground with scattered shapes
Creative Room

Where Rejected Ideas Go and Why They Still Matter

A collage of a film reel and a strip of film with a pair of scissors on a blue ground
Creative Room

How Editors Find the Strongest Story Inside an Ad Film

Halftone collage of a rubber stamp pressing onto blank paper, for how campaign names are chosen
Creative Room

How Campaigns Get Their Names

Hundreds of options, one survivor. The name is rarely the best one in the room, and everyone involved knows it.

How Production Teams Turn Scripts Into Shootable Films

How Scripts Are Shaped Before an Ad Film Shoot

How AI Tools Are Changing the Creative Process

How Advertising Teams Use Research Without Killing Creativity

Ad TechAll →
Halftone paper cutouts of a computer monitor with a blank screen and a sand hourglass on a flat cobalt blue background
Ad Tech

Google Moves Display Impressions To Begin To Render In 2027

Halftone paper cutouts of a smartphone and a folded paper utility bill on a flat green background
Ad Tech

WhatsApp Opens Bill Payments In India With 22,722 Billers

A halftone paper cutout of a judge's gavel and a pair of balance scales, on a flat deep maroon background
Ad Tech

Google Keeps AdX As The Court Chooses Conduct Over Breakup

A halftone paper cutout of a wallet and a smartphone with a blank screen, on a flat amber background
Ad Tech

X Moves US Creator Payouts Onto Its Own Money Platform

FeatureCampaigns That Built IndiaAll →
Halftone collage of a bar of soap and a falling stream of water on charcoal, for the Liril waterfall campaign
Campaigns That Built India

How Liril’s Waterfall Changed What Indian Advertising Could Show

The insight was not about soap. It was that a housewife’s bath was the only ten minutes of the day nobody else had a claim on.

02
Halftone collage of an ornate chandelier of bare bulbs glowing in darkness, marking the Happydent Palace commercial

How Happydent's Palace Lit a Kingdom With Teeth

03
Halftone collage of a chilled glass soft-drink bottle beaded with condensation, marking the Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign

How Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola Annexed a Hindi Word

04
Halftone collage of two pairs of hands overlapping on a shared umbrella handle, marking SBI Life's Main Se Hum campaign

How SBI Life's Main Se Hum Made Insurance Sound Like Growing Up

05
Halftone collage of an empty window seat looking out over clouds, marking MakeMyTrip's Dil Toh Roaming Hai campaign

How MakeMyTrip's Dil Toh Roaming Hai Sold the Wish Before the Ticket

06
Halftone collage of bridal bangles and a child's hand, marking Tanishq's 2013 remarriage wedding film

How Tanishq's Remarriage Film Changed What an Indian Bride Could Look Like

07
Halftone collage of a cutting-chai glass beside a small alarm clock, marking Tata Tea's Jaago Re campaign

How Tata Tea's Jaago Re Turned a Cup of Chai Into a Civics Lesson

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FeatureBrand ComebacksAll →
A halftone bowl of steaming noodles beside a green tick on a red ground
Brand Comebacks

Maggi: The Ultimate Trust-Rebuild After the 2015 Crisis

In 2015 Maggi was banned and destroyed across India. How the beloved noodle brand rebuilt trust through emotion and honesty, not denial.

Children drinking orange squash beside a jug, glasses and orange slices under a sunburst
Brand Comebacks

Rasna: A Childhood Summer Brand Fights to Stay Relevant

A halftone moped beside gears and a lightning bolt on a pale green ground
Brand Comebacks

Kinetic Luna: From Middle-Class Icon to Electric Comeback

A halftone SUV rendered in teal and orange, on a yellow ground with cut paper shapes
Brand Comebacks

Tata Sierra: The Return of an Iconic SUV Nameplate

BSA: A British-Indian Motorcycle Heritage Returns

Yezdi: The Nostalgia-Led Motorcycle Revival

Jawa: How a Legendary Motorcycle Brand Came Back

Bajaj Chetak: From Scooter Icon to Electric Comeback

Tribe TicksAll →
Halftone collage of many small screens scattered across the frame, each a different shape, for vernacular OTT
Tribe Ticks

How Vernacular OTT Built A New Mass Audience

Halftone collage of a hand and a phone at enormous scale running off the frame, for what UPI did to advertising
Tribe Ticks

What UPI Did To Indian Advertising

Halftone collage of a stopwatch repeated in a grid, one showing a different time, for quick commerce and FMCG media
Tribe Ticks

What Quick Commerce Did To The FMCG Media Plan

A halftone photograph of a small shopfront beside a location pin, on an amber ground
Tribe Ticks

Why the Next Great Indian Brand May Not Come From a Metro

Most Read
01

R.S. Sodhi, the Man Who Turned Amul's Trust Into Market Share

02

Jessica Shoemaker Joins Netflix As Global Director Of Product Marketing

03

The Bull That Bowed: Inside Alpha Bull Rum's Open Letter To Old Monk

04

The Anatomy of a Great Brand Reply

05

Pizza Hut India Joins Forces with MoEngage to Power Customer Engagement

06

Amigos Foods Joins Hands with Orion Digital to Power Its Online Growth

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