The day commenced with an interesting session titled ‘The Client Who Also Became the Agency’, powered by Hindustan Times.
Raj Kamble, founder & CCO, Famous Innovations, enlightened on the role of culture and creative tension in driving better work between brands and agencies. He said, “The biggest difference between agencies and in-house teams is culture. Agencies bring outside perspective, debate, challenge and creative friction, while many brands build in-house teams for cost efficiency and tighter control. Creative excellence thrives when brands and agencies work as true partners, and strong agency culture encourages disagreement, experimentation, and bold thinking.”
Highlighting how modern marketing models are evolving towards agility, culture-led responsiveness, and hybrid operating structures, Gaurav Ramdev, CMO - India and South Asia, Visa, said, “In-housing is driven by the need for speed, agility, and cultural relevance, as modern brands must react to culture and consumer behaviour in real time. Long-term strategic campaigns and fast-moving daily content now coexist, while consistency at scale remains critical alongside local adaptation and rapid trend response. The future operating model will be a hybrid between traditional agencies and agile in-house systems.”
Speaking on the evolving nature of brand-agency partnerships and the need for greater collaboration and relevance, Ajay Kakar, head – corporate branding, Adani Group, said, “The relationship between brands and agencies should function like a strong partnership built on mutual value. Brands move work in-house when agencies fail to meet expectations around speed, relevance, or execution, while the industry must focus more on conversations and audience relevance than only impressions and reach. The future depends on transparent collaboration, evolving with new tools and technologies, and building complementary strengths.”
Chandan Mendiratta, chief brand officer, Zepto, emphasised Zepto’s in-house marketing model as a driver of speed, cultural relevance, and consistency. He said, “Zepto’s in-house model is built for agility and real-time cultural relevance, where social media comments and consumer behaviour inspire campaigns within minutes. The brand operates like a content creator brand, celebrating multiple cultural moments and micro-occasions through highly frequent, trend-driven campaigns. Brand culture cannot be outsourced, and in-house teams help maintain consistency across design, PR, communication, and branding.”
Emerging on how media scale, in-housing, and business alignment have reshaped marketing effectiveness, Harsh Deep Chhabra, global head – media, Godrej Consumer Products, added, “Godrej Consumer Products scaled from being among the top 20 advertisers to one of India’s top 4 advertisers, with campaigns increasing from around 10 to nearly 30 per month. In-housing became critical as business data, growth KPIs, and strategic insights are deeply integrated internally. The focus is not on awards, but on marketplace growth, brand visibility, shareholder value, and aligning marketing efforts closely with business outcomes and sales impact.”
This was followed by a session presented by LinkedIn titled ‘The Great Attention Reset: Because Growth Today Is Built on Trust, Not Traffic’.
Punit Dharamsi, executive vice-president, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), spoke about the importance of life-stage-led financial communication and trust-building in investor education. He said, “Financial communication works best during key life moments like first jobs, marriage, childbirth, retirement, increments, and tax planning. AMFI focuses on contextual messaging around financial milestones, encouraging young earners to begin SIPs with their first salary. Through continuous, always-on communication, educational content formats, and character-led storytelling, the emphasis remains on investor education and trust-building over panic during market volatility.”
Talking about the growing importance of relevance-led communication in complex B2B decision environments, Tuhina Pandey, director, APAC Communications and chief marketing officer, India and South Asia, IBM, highlighted that, “Relevance matters more than reach in today’s attention economy, especially when influencing modern buying committees across CMOs, CFOs, CEOs, and CIOs. AI is becoming both an audience and an intermediary, changing how relevance is measured. Strong storytelling, aligned sequencing, and smart repurposing across short- and long-form content help drive engagement across the funnel, with effectiveness ultimately tied to business journeys and pipeline impact.”
Jahid Ahmed, senior vice-president and head of digital, HDFC Bank, called out his views strongly on the shift in digital marketing towards trust-driven and intent-led ecosystems. “Attention today is built on trust, safety, relevance, and frictionless experiences. Marketing is shifting from interruption-led communication to intent-led ecosystems, where credibility matters more than reach. Creator partnerships, peer validation, and educational content are driving both awareness and conversion, while first-party data and personalisation at scale are becoming central to building long-term trust and improving customer lifetime value,” he emphasised.
The conversations then shifted towards measurement and accountability with ‘From Platform-Defined to Brand-Aligned: A Reset in Measurement’, powered by Mediakart & Times Network.
Talking about the limitations of relying solely on platform-driven metrics in brand building, Aditi Mishra, chief executive officer, Lodestar, added, “Platform metrics should be treated as tools, not the final measure of brand success, since performance data alone cannot define long-term growth. Brands must balance data with instinct and consumer understanding, as there is no single source of truth in measurement today. Ultimately, consumers buy products, not algorithms, and strong brand building requires contextual storytelling, emotional connection, and collaboration across agencies, marketers, and multiple measurement frameworks.”
Underscoring the importance of independent validation in advertising measurement, Dhiraj Gupta, co-founder and chief technology officer, mFilterIt, added, “Measurement in advertising is ultimately about trust and validating platform claims, which is why independent third-party verification is essential instead of relying only on platform-defined metrics. Advertisers need proof of audience quality and delivery, and measurement must support business outcomes and shareholder value. As the saying goes, ‘the maker cannot be the checker, and the checker cannot be the maker,’ making transparency and accountability non-negotiable in building advertiser confidence.”
Neha Markanda, chief business officer, ShareChat, further emphasised the need for platform-agnostic thinking and culturally grounded measurement. “Platforms should act as partners aligned with brand objectives, where different platforms solve different business use cases and cannot fulfil every objective equally. User participation, culture, and context matter as much as impressions, and brands must triangulate platform data, user behaviour, and business outcomes rather than rely on a single metric. Ultimately, success is reflected when ‘user truth’ and ‘brand truth’ align through engagement, sales, and meaningful cultural relevance beyond demographics,” she added.
Talking about the importance of keeping measurement tied to real business impact rather than treating it as the end goal, Shahad Anand, Business Head, Mediakart, said, “Brands focus on efficiency, money and growth, where measurement exists to support business objectives rather than become the objective itself. Metrics like CAC, ROAS and conversions matter only when they drive real outcomes, as brand building, acquisition and sales each require different approaches. In an environment where every piece of content can be monetised, trusted third-party verification is critical to ensure transparency and validate whether campaigns are creating real behavioural impact.”
Another major highlight of the morning was ‘Scale vs Soul: Creativity in the Age of Agency Consolidation’, powered by CNN News18.
The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) hosted a masterclass titled ‘The Reset Consumer: Understanding the New Psychology of Choice’ featuring Parameswaran Venkataraman, Co-founder, 3 Big Things, and Prakash Sharma, Behavioural Strategist and Co-Founder, 1001 Stories. The session highlighted how consumers today often get stuck not due to lack of information, but because they are faced with two equally unappealing choices. Through examples from healthcare and smoking cessation, the session explained how decisions shift when a more tangible, believable “third path” is introduced. It also highlighted how rituals, visible progress, and public acknowledgement help reinforce sustained behaviour change. The masterclass delivered a core message - that when outcomes feel real and within control, consumers move from hesitation to action.
PrismX By Mobavenue conducted a masterclass titled ‘Syncing Screens, Scaling Brands: The PrsmX Playbook for Omni-Channel Success’ featuring Saransh Gehlot, Head - Account Management, PrsmX, and Srinath Kotamarju, Head of LCS Advertising and Partnerships.