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The setting up of internal media or creative units is a “stupid concept”, believes Shashi Sinha. At e4m Confluence 2025, the CEO of IPG Mediabrands India, engaged in a candid assessment of the changing advertising landscape with IMPACT’s Neeta Nair.
The conversation also touched upon AI, the evolving media habits and the growing trend of in-house agency models.
Responding to a question on the increasing number of brands setting up internal media or creative units, Sinha dismissed the model as unsustainable. “I personally believe it’s a stupid concept,” he said. “Everyone thinks our business is about culture, freedom and working across multiple brands. Everything we stand for is the opposite of in-house setups.”
While companies may experiment with in-house teams, the lack of external exposure limits their creative scope, he added.
“People try phases. It’s like performance marketing, some take it inside, bring it out, then take it inside again. But you never get exposure to other clients or the best practices,” he said.
Sinha also discussed how large and established digital platforms will continue to dominate despite trends. “There are many large platforms that aren’t going away in a hurry. Whatever people say about Facebook, it still works. Instagram will not go away either,” he said.
While some brands spend on short-term trends, bulk ad investments still flow to established players such as search, social and e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, he further said, adding that although marketers must keep track of digital disruptions, the fundamentals of advertising remain the same. “We should always look at trends but not forget the heart of what consumers want,” he said.
He described India as a unique market where audiences still enjoy watching advertisements, provided they are well-made.
“We like advertising. We want to watch it. The problem is the advertising may not be enjoyable,” he said. “If you see all the ads on IPL, 80 per cent of them are not enjoyable. They are all celebrities and product placements. But whenever you see a good ad, you want to see it again.”
Sinha linked this to India’s cultural and emotional depth, stressing that emotional storytelling continues to drive brand connect.
“This is a very emotional country. Compared to the West, we are socially auto-directed. Family bonding, joint families, social connection, all this drives emotion,” he said. “At least 70 per cent of our successful advertising is emotion-driven. That’s the Amul formula too, always evocative, always emotion-led.”
He pointed out that emotion cannot be replaced by short formats or rigid ad duration rules. Recalling Piyush Pandey’s iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk ad, he said, “The girl dancing on the cricket field, that sequence ran for more than nine or ten seconds. Today that’s considered too long, but it worked because it evoked emotion.”
Sinha emphasized that content remains the ultimate differentiator, regardless of the platform. “For our people, creating content was enjoyable. Content makers and creators are the real kings. Look at our history, our mythology; this country has always believed in storytelling. Ramayana was not written down, it was narrated. Content has always been king here,” he said.
He also addressed the growing role of AI in advertising, calling it an inevitable development that will reshape work processes. “AI will lead to some sameness, but it also gives people time to think. It will make operations faster and free up time for better thinking,” he said.
“People in the business are smart and accountability will remain. The form may have changed, maybe social or influencer, but it’s still paid.”
Sinha cautioned against blindly following Western advertising philosophies like short attention spans or six-second creatives.
“This is Western thinking. Their societies are individualistic. If a Western platform says beyond six seconds is a waste, people click away. But if you have evocative content, they won’t. In India, emotion always wins,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, Sinha said creativity and cultural insight will always define the strength of Indian advertising. “Good work will always be seen, no matter the platform. One great piece of work with the right push will remain unbeatable,” he said.