Your Daily Dose of Ad World Buzz
Latest
✦How Lifebuoy Sold Soap As A Household Duty✦How Colour Grading Changes An Ad✦Green Claims Are Where Generated Copy Gets Dangerous✦Khushboo Parekh Joins Vayona Energy As AGM, Corporate Communications✦Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve Gets A Manish Malhotra Festive Pack✦Publicis Names Scott Hagedorn CEO And Sam Levine Archer CSO Of Marcel✦Nippon Paint To Be Official Paint Partner Of MG Indian Super League✦Canva Launches Craft, Its First In-House Image Generation Model✦Prachi Narayan Joins WPP Media as Partnerships Head at Media Futures Group✦Bosch Kitchen Up Campaign Stars Vikrant Massey In A Film By Ting✦Experience Versus Cultural Fluency Is A False Choice✦Omnicom Q3 Organic Revenue Grows 7.2% As IPG Integration Nears End✦How Lifebuoy Sold Soap As A Household Duty✦How Colour Grading Changes An Ad✦Green Claims Are Where Generated Copy Gets Dangerous✦Khushboo Parekh Joins Vayona Energy As AGM, Corporate Communications✦Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve Gets A Manish Malhotra Festive Pack✦Publicis Names Scott Hagedorn CEO And Sam Levine Archer CSO Of Marcel✦Nippon Paint To Be Official Paint Partner Of MG Indian Super League✦Canva Launches Craft, Its First In-House Image Generation Model✦Prachi Narayan Joins WPP Media as Partnerships Head at Media Futures Group✦Bosch Kitchen Up Campaign Stars Vikrant Massey In A Film By Ting✦Experience Versus Cultural Fluency Is A False Choice✦Omnicom Q3 Organic Revenue Grows 7.2% As IPG Integration Nears End

Ad Tribe — daily news on India’s advertising industry

Halftone collage of a soap bar and a pair of cupped hands on forest green, for the Lifebuoy positioning built on protection
Campaigns That Built India

How Lifebuoy Sold Soap As A Household Duty

Beauty soaps sold a feeling. This one sold an obligation, which turns out to be a much harder thing for a competitor to take away.

A fanned deck of paper colour swatches sweeping diagonally past a single film frame, as halftone cutouts on black
Creative Room

How Colour Grading Changes An Ad

A flat vector character holding a leaf-shaped sign that casts a much larger shadow than the sign itself
The Ai Shift

Green Claims Are Where Generated Copy Gets Dangerous

The Latest
People

Khushboo Parekh Joins Vayona Energy As AGM, Corporate Communications

Brands

Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve Gets A Manish Malhotra Festive Pack

People

Publicis Names Scott Hagedorn CEO And Sam Levine Archer CSO Of Marcel

Brands

Nippon Paint To Be Official Paint Partner Of MG Indian Super League

Ad Tech

Canva Launches Craft, Its First In-House Image Generation Model

People

Prachi Narayan Joins WPP Media as Partnerships Head at Media Futures Group

Campaigns

Bosch Kitchen Up Campaign Stars Vikrant Massey In A Film By Ting

Work Life

Experience Versus Cultural Fluency Is A False Choice

PeopleAll →
Khushboo Parekh, joining Vayona Energy as assistant general manager for corporate communications after Akasa Air

Khushboo Parekh Joins Vayona Energy As AGM, Corporate Communications

Scott Hagedorn and Sam Levine Archer, appointed CEO and chief strategy officer of Publicis Groupe's agentic AI platform Marcel

Publicis Names Scott Hagedorn CEO And Sam Levine Archer CSO Of Marcel

Prachi Narayan, joining WPP Media as head of partnerships at Media Futures Group, its dedicated agency unit for Google

Prachi Narayan Joins WPP Media as Partnerships Head at Media Futures Group

Sandeep Khanna, elevated from chief operating officer to chief executive officer of Progressive Techserve in Noida

Progressive Techserve Names Sandeep Khanna CEO

Sarita Crasto, joining Raymond Lifestyle to lead brand marketing for its Park Avenue and ColorPlus menswear labels

Sarita Crasto Joins Raymond Lifestyle To Lead Park Avenue And ColorPlus

Devika Shiivdasani, joining JioStar as senior vice president and head of programming for Star Pravah in Mumbai

Devika Shiivdasani Joins JioStar as Programming Head for Star Pravah

FeatureWork LifeAll →
Two flat arcs in dusty blue and terracotta leaning against each other to stay upright, neither able to stand alone, on warm off-white
Work Life

Experience Versus Cultural Fluency Is A False Choice

Agencies keep running the hire as a choice between someone who knows how things work and someone who knows what is happening. It is a false one.

The Skills AI Makes More Valuable, Not Less

When the supply of competent output goes up, the things that were always scarce do not get cheaper. They get conspicuous.

When Your Job Stops Being Your Identity

Advertising asks people to be the work. It is a brilliant arrangement until something ends, and then it is only an arrangement.

Does Every Big Idea Need A Campaign?

The campaign was a delivery mechanism built for a world of fixed slots. The idea does not necessarily need the container any more.

FeatureBrand BuildersAll →
Watercolour and ink portrait of Dr Prathap C. Reddy, founder chairman of Apollo Hospitals
Brand Builders

Prathap Reddy, Who Made a Hospital Something You Choose

The hardest brand shift is not persuading people to prefer you. It is teaching them that they get to choose.

02
Watercolour and ink portrait of Ramoji Rao, founder of the Eenadu group

Ramoji Rao, Who Built an Audience Before a Market

03
Watercolour and ink portrait of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Biocon

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Whose Customer Was Never the Public

04
Watercolour and ink portrait of Kochouseph Chittilappilly, founder of V-Guard Industries

Kochouseph Chittilappilly, Who Sold a Fix for a Local Fault

05
Watercolour and ink portrait of Girish Mathrubootham, founder of Freshworks

Girish Mathrubootham, Who Marketed Software Like a Product

06
Watercolour and ink portrait of P.C. Musthafa, founder of iD Fresh Food

P.C. Musthafa, Who Branded Something Nobody Branded

07
Watercolour and ink portrait of T.S. Kalyanaraman, founder of Kalyan Jewellers

T.S. Kalyanaraman, Who Bought Trust With a Face

CampaignsAll →
A built-in wall oven and a steel tiffin carrier, as halftone cutouts, for Bosch's Kitchen Up campaign with Vikrant Massey
Campaigns

Bosch Kitchen Up Campaign Stars Vikrant Massey In A Film By Ting

From his mother's tiffin business to his first home: a kitchen film that leads with a life, not a spec sheet.

A heavy chain necklace and a signet ring, as halftone cutouts, for Farah Khan Fine Jewellery's The Miracle Man campaign
Campaigns

Farah Khan Fine Jewellery Casts A Real Family In The Miracle Man

Vicky Kaushal as Rohit, in an apron at a pottery wheel in the middle of a meeting, from Campus Activewear's Move Your Way film
Campaigns

Campus Casts Vicky Kaushal As An Employee Who Brings Sunday To Work

A kitchen scene from the Catch Ginger Garlic Paste squeezy bottle film, the cook handling fresh ginger before the product arrives
Campaigns

Catch Ginger Garlic Paste Launches In A Squeezy Bottle With A VML India Film

Heer By GIVA Builds Its Diwali Film Around Self-Gifting

Zoya Casts Anoushka Shankar In Her Again High Jewellery Campaign

Flite Brings Back Ali Fazal And Sanya Malhotra For Festive Buckle Campaign

Axis Bank And Visa Launch Festive Campaign With Shahid Kapoor

FeatureSocial-FirstAll →
A large halftone portrait sits inside a bold outlined advertising frame that crops part of the face away, on electric blue
Social First

When A Brand Runs Ads From A Creator's Handle

Half a torn portrait stays inside an empty phone outline while the other half drifts away on mustard
Social First

When A Creator Leaves The Platform That Made Them

Eight small torn portraits scattered across a purple ground with a single contract sheet among them
Social First

The Brand's Own Creator Roster

A halftone portrait beside a bold solid circle with one wedge lifted clean out of it, on saturated coral
Social First

What A Creator Manager Actually Takes, And For What

The commission is the easiest number in the deal to see and the least useful one to argue about.

How Brands Vet A Creator's Old Posts

Why Watch Time Is Replacing Reach In Creator Deals

What A Creator Owes A Brand When A Post Goes Wrong

Why Short Drama Became A Brand Format

BrandsAll →
A cut-crystal whisky tumbler and an ornamented gift box, as halftone cutouts, for Black Dog's festive pack with Manish Malhotra
Brands

Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve Gets A Manish Malhotra Festive Pack

A couture designer on a whisky carton: Diageo India bets on gifting for the festive season.

02
A paint roller and a football, as halftone cutouts, for Nippon Paint becoming Official Paint Partner of the MG Indian Super League

Nippon Paint To Be Official Paint Partner Of MG Indian Super League

03
A lidded cream jar and a ginseng root, as halftone cutouts, for Sulwhasoo's 60-year campaign with Karisma Kapoor

Sulwhasoo Signs Karisma Kapoor To Mark 60 Years Of Its Ginseng Cream

04
A classroom chair and a leather briefcase, as halftone cutouts, for upGrad rebranding its learning centres as upGrad X

upGrad Rebrands Offline Centres As upGrad X With A Placement Focus

05
A coil of electrical cable and a small megaphone, as halftone cutouts, for Havells' Q2 FY27 results and its falling ad spend share

Havells Q2 Revenue Up 34.6%, Ad Spend Falls To 2.1% Of Sales

06
The Capri Sports and Lxme marks together, marking Lxme becoming title sponsor of the Indian Women's League under a multi-year deal

Lxme Becomes Indian Women's League Title Sponsor In Capri Sports Deal

07
Aerial view of the Mumbai seafront and cricket ground marking the Nike and Mumbai Indians multi-year kit partnership

Nike Becomes Mumbai Indians Kit Partner In Multi-Year Deal From 2027

Newsletter

The Buzz, in your inbox.

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

FeatureIndian Ad LegendsAll →
A graphite pencil portrait of Prasoon Joshi, the poet who gave brands their voice
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of Prasoon Joshi, the Poet Who Gave Brands a Soul

Read the story of Prasoon Joshi, one of Indian advertising's most influential figures, known for McCann, Coca-Cola's Thanda Matlab campaign and a rare career that spans advertising, poetry and film.

A graphite pencil portrait of Arun Nanda, the adman who built Rediffusion
Indian Ad Legends

The Story of Arun Nanda, the Adman Who Built Rediffusion

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

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

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

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

NewsAll →
01

Omnicom Q3 Organic Revenue Grows 7.2% As IPG Integration Nears End

02

Grav8 Sports Brings In Saina Nehwal And Armaan Bhatia As Partners

03

Airtel Digital TV Adds Tamil Channel Sony Vizha On Channel 778

04

UnFoldMart Wins Group-Wide Digital Mandate From Singapore's Valton Nexus

05

TBWA Backslash Report Finds 62% Aspire To Be Hard To Influence

06

Netflix And Hoichoi Will Stream 14 Bengali Series In Hindi, Tamil And Telugu

07

Meta Q3 2026 Revenue Rises 26% To $64.6 Billion On Advertising Growth

08

Eternal Advertising And Promotion Spend Rises 41% To Rs 1,138 Crore

FeatureCreative RoomAll →
A magnifying glass held over a strip of film, both as halftone cutouts, on a black ground
Creative Room

How A Campaign Is Tested Before It Runs

A heavy padlock and a film camera as halftone cutouts, locked together against a black ground
Creative Room

What A Pre-Production Meeting Actually Decides

Photographs spill out of an open filing cabinet drawer and climb diagonally across a black ground
Creative Room

How A Brand Archive Gets Used In New Work

A fanned deck of paper colour swatches sweeping diagonally past a single film frame, as halftone cutouts on black
Creative Room

How Colour Grading Changes An Ad

The last person to touch an ad film can change what it is about, and almost nobody from the agency is in the room.

How A Campaign Survives A Change Of Marketing Head

How Regional Ad Lines Are Written, Not Translated

How A Campaign Gets Pulled After It Launches

What A Creative Director Does On A Shoot Day

Ad TechAll →
A paintbrush and a picture frame filling with simple shapes, as halftone cutouts, for Canva launching its Craft image model
Ad Tech

Canva Launches Craft, Its First In-House Image Generation Model

AnyMind Group announcement artwork over the Los Angeles skyline, marking the launch of its United States operations
Ad Tech

AnyMind Group Opens US Operations In Los Angeles

The Kenstar and Unicommerce marks together, marking the home appliance brand adopting the Uniware order and warehouse management platform
Ad Tech

Kenstar Adopts Unicommerce Order And Warehouse Systems For Its E-Commerce Business

Halftone steering wheel and empty browser window illustrating the Maruti Suzuki and Adobe digital customer experience partnership
Ad Tech

Maruti Suzuki Adobe Partnership Rebuilds Its Customer Experience Platforms

FeatureCampaigns That Built IndiaAll →
Halftone collage of a soap bar and a pair of cupped hands on forest green, for the Lifebuoy positioning built on protection
Campaigns That Built India

How Lifebuoy Sold Soap As A Household Duty

Beauty soaps sold a feeling. This one sold an obligation, which turns out to be a much harder thing for a competitor to take away.

02
Halftone collage of a bottle cap and a megaphone on purple, for the Pepsi line that escaped into ordinary Indian speech

How Pepsi Lost Control Of Its Own Line, And Won

03
Halftone collage of a folded suit length and a paper boat on crimson, for the Raymond positioning built on a kind of man

How Raymond Sold Cloth By Describing A Kind Of Man

04
Halftone collage of a school satchel and a small jar on olive green, for the Vicks film about a mother and daughter

How Vicks Put A Legal Argument Inside A Film About A Mother

05
Halftone collage of a handset and a village loudspeaker on cobalt blue, for the Idea campaign that solved social problems with phones

How Idea Made A Phone Network Argue About India

06
Halftone collage of a muddy footprint and a folded shirt on mustard, for the Surf Excel argument that stains are worth it

How Surf Excel Argued That The Stain Was The Point

07
Halftone collage of a small dog and a signal mast on magenta, for the Hutch network campaign that became Vodafone's

How Hutch's Pug Explained A Mobile Network To India

FeatureBrand ComebacksAll →
A vintage halftone collage of a generic glass bottle, lightning forms and retro street fragments on saturated red
Brand Comebacks

Thums Up: The Cola Indians Refused To Give Up

A cola invented to fill a gap left by a departing giant, then sold to that same giant on its return. It survived anyway.

A collage of archival street photographs, bottles and a folded paper boat on turquoise
Brand Comebacks

Paper Boat: Reviving Indian Nostalgia in a Bottle

A collage of a Nokia candybar handset beside a modern smartphone, with a hand reaching for it
Brand Comebacks

Nokia India: A Nostalgia-Led Mobile Comeback

A collage of a vintage wooden television set beside a modern flat screen on a magenta ground
Brand Comebacks

BPL: Reviving a Legacy Electronics Brand in a New Market

Old Monk: The Brand That Stayed Alive Without Advertising

Royal Enfield: From Fading Motorcycle Brand to Global Cult

Tanishq: From Market Skepticism to India's Most Trusted Jeweller

Maggi: The Ultimate Trust-Rebuild After the 2015 Crisis

Tribe TicksAll →
A single game controller sits small and alone in the middle of a wide empty purple frame
Tribe Ticks

How Gaming Became A Media Buy In India

A torn band of empty stadium seating cuts diagonally corner to corner across a flat green ground
Tribe Ticks

Why Sports Beyond Cricket Finally Found Sponsors

A panel of switches and dials crops edge to edge with no background showing at all
Tribe Ticks

What A Media Agency Actually Does Now

A stopwatch face cropped by two edges of the frame at close range on a flat olive ground
Tribe Ticks

What Happened To The Thirty Second Film

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

Brand Builders, episode 01: Verghese Kurien
Ad Tribe Podcast

Brand Builders

Episode 01  ·  Verghese Kurien13 min

An engineer who did not want the job, did not like milk, and built the most trusted consumer brand in the country by giving it away to the farmers who supplied it.

Read the written version
An independent industry studyTell us what you are actually seeing in the industry right now. Five minutes, confidential unless you choose to be quoted.Take the survey
EventsAll →
Ad Tribe Awards - South
03DEC

Ad Tribe Awards - South

The inaugural edition, for agencies, brands and work led from South India. 12 agency awards, 20 brand awards, 22 work awards, and no category obliged to produce a winner.

Hyderabad, India

The Next 50
03DEC

The Next 50

Fifty individuals under 30 whose work, thinking and contribution are already making India's agency industry better. Agency-led nomination, transparent scoring, no public voting.

Hyderabad, India