India poised to overtake world's largest economies in years, not decades: Adam Gerhart 

At the exchange4media Conclave 2023, Adam Gerhart, Global CEO of Mindshare, stated the ecosystem in which they operated meant that the services they provided were highly diverse and had to be constantly growing. 

Asked how as an agency, Mindshare was changing, Gerhart said to Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW and Founder, exchange4media, “We have to understand the micro-environment first where media and marketing used to be about the scale and that scale eventually evolved into precision.” 

Gerhart said it was about reaching the appropriate number of individuals with as minimal waste as possible. It isn't one versus the other, it's an evolution that scales to precision eventually evolved into permission. How do we actually talk to consumers in a meaningful way without being intrusive and disruptive? 

“The future is going to be defined by business, brands, the agencies and consultants who can actually predict meaningful outcomes for businesses better than anyone else and by understanding consumers in an insightful way by understanding cultures, understanding them through the lens of DEI. As an agency, it means for us that the ecosystem that we play in means that the services that we offer and the capabilities that we bring to bear are incredibly different and all the time they're evolving.” 

According to Gerhart, the ability in AI to transform news and journalism is going to change radically. He said, “We need to have more means for checking journalism and the integrity of what's being published out there.”

Further speaking about the inclusive private marketplace, he shared that at Mindshare they have worked with some of the leading publishers around the world to create and source inventory. Gerhart said that allows them to redirect investment dollars into publications that can support and champion underrepresented voices. 

For instance, in America, it was creating a private marketplace that supported black voices; in Australia it was for indigenous people, and in the UK a private marketplace was created for supporting LGBTQ rights. 

“We're redirecting dollars away from the big publishers that would otherwise just capture those dollars and aren't necessarily advancing the ecosystem by supporting those marginalized groups. So, we're investing directly our clients' money into spaces in places that champion underrepresented communities.”

When Dr Batra asked about the broader aspects of the business that are getting reshaped in terms of the services Mindshare offers, Gerhart said that it centres around the notion that data isn't everything that they do. 

He added, “Increasingly it is the liquid gold that will fuel everything and we fundamentally believe that the planners, strategists and the innovators of tomorrow are being born out of the data strategists today. Those data strategists will have unique insights to allow us to connect with consumers in more meaningful ways. And that means that we have to be the best masters of our clients' data, our own data, third-party data, whatever the case may be, and what that's doing is allowing us to elevate the type of conversation that we are having moving well beyond the media.”

While speaking about the changes in India, he highlighted two big things and said from a cultural standpoint, there's no question that India is poised for greatness. The growth of the GDP alone is outpacing the global GDP by two to 3x. “The ad expenditure market is outpacing the global ad expenditure market by two to 3x. It is poised to overtake many of the world's largest economies in a matter of years, not decades and it feels like India is on the cusp of breaking new ground, new territory, and that is permeating every sense of culture.” 

The second thing from a business perspective, he said, “When I came here four years ago conversations with CMOs used to be how many GRPs do I need? Do I need to have it on air each week? Now I can tell that we have met with the biggest auto manufacturer here. We've met with two of the largest CPG companies. We've met with a couple of start-up D2C companies and every single one of them is asking about transformation, business transformation and growth transformation. The conversation has radically evolved into not just being about media but being about how we help support an accelerated growth agenda and I think that speaks to the first point around the trajectory and the velocity and what's starting to happen.”

Speaking on the acquisitions in India, he mentioned, “If I think about even partnerships, not even acquisitions, the number of partnerships that we are striking with AI and ML and analytics companies that are based here is at a pace that we have never seen before. Whether it is acquisition or partnerships, I can't say right now, but there's no question there will be more investment coming into the market in some capacity.”