Opinion
Ad This Week: Indian Advertising Is Quietly Rewriting Gender Representation
A new midline study in India shows the advertising industry has moved from stereotyping women to main storyline but the credits aren't rolling yet.
A new midline study in India shows the advertising industry has moved from stereotyping women to main storyline but the credits aren't rolling yet.
Indian agencies are shifting bets from localising global playbooks to building ground-up systems for India's languages, income tiers and commerce-led consumer behaviour.
Brands harvest more consumer data than ever and yet trust keeps eroding. The real question isn't whether companies are tracking us. It's whether they're actually listening.
AI is no longer just making content — it is delivering it. Across thumbnails, dubbing, micro-dramas and hyper-local distribution, the last mile of streaming is being rewritten at machine speed.
AI is rewriting India's ad rulebook and is no longer resting on digital format alone.
Modi gifted Melody to Meloni. 100 million views. Sold out on Blinkit and Zepto. Ad spend: zero. Inside Parle's media strategy — the channels, the gaps, the competition, and why Rs 50 crore beat Rs 300 crore.
Forget chocolate. The real FMCG war is happening in the ₹1 candy jar on your kirana counter. Inside India's ₹5,200 crore sugar confectionery market — hard-boiled candy, jellies, gums, eclairs, and soft mints — the five categories that feed a billion impulse purchases a day.
As streaming merges globally, brands go episodic.
Brands are ditching the 30-second spot for serialised, scroll-stopping micro narratives — and the audience is hooked.
JioStar has overtaken Google and Meta in gross revenues, clocking ₹36,248 crore in FY26. Powered by 500M users, cricket, CTV, and AI, India's media giant is rewriting who controls the advertising future.