India

“If the moment belongs to a machine, does contextual marketing die – or matter more than ever?”

That was the question we closed on at MMA India SMARTIES Unplugged 2026 – and across 30 unfiltered minutes, the answer became clear: context is not what it used to be. It’s what AI finally made possible.

Hybrid India was proud to host 'Contextual Marketing in the AI Era' on the Unplugged stage – a panel built not to pitch contextual, but to pressure-test it.

What’s real. What’s hype. What’s working in Indian media plans today. And what marketers should actually ask for before they sign the next deck.

Ketan Deorankar rightly set the tone for the room. Today’s AI doesn’t just read what the page is about. It reads the image. It reads the sentiment. It reads the intent. It reads the moment the user is already in.

But that opens a sharper question for the buyer side – how do you tell the difference between real AI-driven contextual intelligence and marketing hype?

At Hybrid, this is the thesis we build on every day. #Attention is the real currency of digital advertising. Context is one of the sharpest tools we have to earn it. #VOX by Hybrid – our AI-Vision platform – exists to put brands where attention already lives: inside the content, inside the moment, inside the question the user is actively asking.

That's the loop we closed during the discussion.

Huge gratitude to the brilliant minds who shared the stage - Niranjan Singh, Sujay Ray, Kunal Aman and Arun Nagarajan for the wonderful moderation.

Massive thanks to Moneka Khurana, Rudrashish Nag and the entire team from MMA India for curating a stage that rewards nuance over noise, and for inviting Hybrid India to host this conversation.

#SmartiesUnplugged #Hybrid #VOX #Contextual

81% of Indian marketers prioritise reach, while 69% don’t use attention in media planning, finds Publicis Media India and MMA India’s Beyond Reach report.
More here: https://lnkd.in/gBPxVsKi

#MediaPlanning #DigitalAdvertising #MarketingInsights #BrandBuilding #MediaStrategy Lalatendu Das Moneka Khurana

Amazon Ads, in collaboration with MMA Global India and WPP Media, has launched ‘From Fragmentation to One View’, a playbook designed to help Indian brands build connected and measurable advertising strategies across the consumer journey.

According to the findings, 82% of advertisers aspire to full-funnel marketing, but only 18% say they are very successful at it. Meanwhile, 67% identify the lack of unified cross-channel measurement as their biggest obstacle, while 69% say unified cross-channel attribution is the capability they need most.

The playbook highlights the growing complexity of consumer journeys, with the number of touchpoints required to drive 80% of purchase decisions nearly doubling from 12 in 2018 to 21 in 2024.

https://lnkd.in/g6rJCz7Y

MMA India | Gulshan Verma | Moneka Khurana | Sairam Ranganathan | vinodhini Mugundhan | Rutbah Modi | Kapil Sharma |

#AmazonAds #MMAGlobalIndia #WPPMedia #FullFunnelMarketing #DigitalAdvertising #RetailMedia #MarketingInsights #MediaNews4U

Great to collaborate with MMA India and Kantar on this meaningful dialogue. Conversations like these reinforce the importance of trust in driving creativity and marketing effectiveness.

Huge shout out for Mayur and Moneka and Manisha very rich content

Great meeting everyone - such an enriching conversation with an exemplary group of sharp leaders. Looking forward to staying in touch. And please feel free to reach out for anything.

Friday afternoon well spent! Thanks

Really enjoyed the session today. Such a thoughtful and engaging conversation, and lovely to meet everyone. Thank you, Moneka and Mayur, for bringing us all together and making it such an easy, open exchange.