Marketing is evolving. Are we evolving the way we think about it?
That was one of my biggest takeaways from MMA India's SMARTIES 2026 - a day of thought-provoking conversations on AI, brand building, consumer attention and the future of marketing.
A few insights that stayed with me:
1. AI should drive growth, not just efficiency. The real opportunity lies in turning productivity gains into new possibilities.
2. Reach isn’t influence. Context, consumer intent and quality of attention matter more than simply being present everywhere.
3. The funnel is no longer linear. Consumer discovery, consideration and purchase happen across an increasingly fragmented ecosystem.
4. More content doesn’t mean stronger brands. Distinctive ideas and creative consistency matter more than content volume alone.
5. Brand visibility is changing. As consumers turn to AI platforms for answers and recommendations, understanding where and how brands appear is becoming increasingly important.
At OptimizeGEO.ai, this is the shift we’re focused on: helping brands understand and strengthen their visibility across AI-driven discovery platforms.
MTR Foods Private Limited’s Rooted, Remix, Relevant philosophy was another great reminder that innovation works best when brands evolve without losing their identity.
A big shoutout to Moneka Khurana and the MMA India team for bringing together industry leaders and sparking conversations that challenge conventional thinking.
As AI reshapes how consumers discover brands, are we measuring visibility where consumers have traditionally searched or where they are beginning to discover?
“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 IndiaSMARTIES 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.
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.
81% of Indian marketers prioritise reach, but only 17% prioritise attention quality, finds Beyond Reach report.
A new industry report, Beyond Reach, launched by Publicis Media India and MMA India, highlights a gap in how brands evaluate media effectiveness. While reach and incremental reach remain key media-allocation metrics, attention quality receives far less priority.
The findings point to a growing need for a more quality-led approach to media planning, where brands look beyond how many people see an advertisement to whether they actually notice and engage with it.
Lalatendu Das, CEO, Publicis Media South Asia, and Moneka Khurana, Managing Director, Marketing + Media Alliance (MMA India), emphasise the importance of understanding the quality of exposure alongside scale.
Our Founder, MD & CEO, Ishank Joshi, shares his perspective in an article on MMA India on why AI’s real impact isn’t better content. It’s better decisions.
Everyone talks about how fast their content team has gotten with AI.
Almost no one asks if it's actually changed who makes the call, or how fast. That's the real shift, and the one most companies aren't ready for.
Swipe through for the shorter version. Scan the QR code for the full article.
Our Founder, MD & CEO, Ishank Joshi, shares his perspective in an article on MMA India on why AI’s real impact isn’t better content. It’s better decisions.
Everyone talks about how fast their content team has gotten with AI.
Almost no one asks if it's actually changed who makes the call, or how fast. That's the real shift, and the one most companies aren't ready for.
Swipe through for the shorter version. Scan the QR code for the full article.
The formula of success on a 100+ years old brand is :
Rooted + Remixed = MAGIC
My favourite session this Friday at MMA India “ Smarties Unplugged “ was the one that current generation of MTR Foods Private Limited shared with us
It’s interesting how this family business from Karnataka that literally started from a one product is over 3000 CR
A company that almost anyone who loves his South Indian food, his Idlis and more would have carried their food/ pastes/ Sambhar internationally
The team shared how the same Upma that’s been thr traditional recipe has been “ remixed “ as a 3 Minute Breakfast
✅ Remix 2.0 is voila the “ Protein Upma “ that’s being sold as the 10g Protein Upma
His other hero product the hero product which is the Classic Mysore Pak has been “ remixed “ in a variety of new flavours with new additions
✅ Remix 2.0 is “ Bites “ the Bite size Mysore Pak that’s being sold as the Mysore Pak Date Bites
It’s interesting that over the last two decades especially that a large portion of their #marketing is now all #digitalmarketing and some of their latest work is truly created with young teams that’s fuelling the brand with content and story- telling, even creating for brand anthems with local artists and it’s worth the check on YouTube and Spotify
Even from a pure play distribution model that was selling in general trade, then modern trade, most of their Remix products are created keeping in mind the changing consumer behaviour and his shopping habits and buying saying on BlinkitSwiggyZeptoAmazon and more
Truly this “ REMIX 2.0 “ is the essence for any brand today to stay relevant and yet at the same time creating MAGIC
This is truly our Bharat. Our Indians will always chose to eat this “ comfort food “ in any part of the world that they may be in and this brand is showing many other legacy brands the way of just continually adapting, innovating and it’s a pure #casestudy for all #advertising enthusiasts how to keep the brand continually loved
