MAM
Age of Abundance
You might have the best team with the best of innovation, but there are these overly diluted markets out there, glutted with look-alike brands and identical services. The challenge is to fine-tune a marketing process that will not only re-energize the production but produce a shaper edge in design, quality and value, and build a unique iconic identity.
Recently, we came out of the age of curiosity, entered the age of scarcity and are now sinking in the age of abundance. Everything is here.Today, all over the world, millions of identical companies are producing millions of identical products and services, and they are pushing identical prices on identical delivery platforms. On top of that, they have identical management and identical corporate behavior all the way from the boardrooms to the cubicles.
Furthermore, there are identical brands, identical names and identical business and identities. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. There seems to be a serious lack of originality, substance, courage and leadership. Is this age of abundance going to drown us?
Why We Ended Up Here
Compulsory and forced innovation has limits; there are only so many ways to re-design a car. Moving ashtrays and coffee mug holders every two years is not a new model of a car. Levitation is. A computer in its current hardware shape is completely outdated. So are thousands of other things.Our current culture is responsible for this lack of original and creative innovation. Office cubicles have taken away the power of innovation as masses have been conditioned to rigid conformity, visible isolation, linear formations and assembly-line mentality. Copying has been awarded as a safe play.
THREE SOLUTIONS
Bring down the wall. Like the Berlin Wall, bring down the cubicle and run around like the Incredible Hulk. Ask your teams to create at least one new idea every day. Discuss it with some serious effort. If not immediately applicable, then file it away for future reference. Ask and ask again and again: Why are your products and services SO similar to your competitors, including the colors, prices and the brand names. Only if asked with persistence and honesty will it create and open doors to innovation. Don’t blame others, just search for innovation.
Find the ropes. Like Spiderman, avoid the elevators and scale the headquarters. Jump and bypass your immediate bosses, as often they are the ones directly responsible for playing it safe by adopting simple rules and for following others with identical goods and services. Go to the top; it is easy, all you need are ropes and good swings. Innovation is the bond and the glue between new products and customers. Good ideas will easily rope in the management. Next time, ask before pushing the elevator button: Is this the only way to go to the top?
Fly over the globe. By air or at least via the Web, circumnavigate the globe — not merely once a year but, rather, daily or even hourly. There is a wild, wild world out there. The ideas and opportunities are endless. Global research is critical today. To stay ahead, lead your teams to sharper innovation. This can be achieved by observing global trends and market shifts. Put your suits away; try a robe for a change.
In conclusion, you might have the best team with the best of innovation, but there are these overly diluted markets out there, glutted with look-alike brands and identical services. The challenge is to fine-tune a marketing process that will not only re-energize the production but produce a shaper edge in brand design, image quality and value, and build a unique iconic corporate identity. When there are too many identical business journals, it seems comic books, after all, are nothing to laugh at.
MAM
Ad:tech honours 2026: Full list of winners announced
Expanded awards spotlight winners across 22 categories as industry doubles down on intelligent automation
NEW DELHI: Marketing’s tech elite took the spotlight as the ad:tech honours 2026 returned with a sharper focus on AI, data and immersive media, signalling how deeply technology now underpins brand strategy. Held at Yashobhoomi on March 17, the second edition drew industry leaders to celebrate innovation that is reshaping engagement and performance.
Presented with the International Advertising Association India chapter and new partner Huella, the awards expanded from 8 to 22 categories, tracking the rapid convergence of creativity, automation and analytics.
The winners’ list reads like a snapshot of marketing’s future. In affiliate and partner marketing, Lyxel & Flamingo – Boat and Paytm Ads – Giva took silver. Mobavenue Media Private Limited struck gold in AI-driven dynamic creative optimisation, alongside a silver for Laqshya Media Limited.
Creative AI collaboration saw Rediffusion Brand Solutions Private Limited win gold, with Saltinc Consulting Private Limited securing silver. Laqshya Media Limited continued its strong run, taking gold in AI conversation agents and adding multiple wins across categories, including silver in GenAI-led creative and both gold and silver in interactive DOOH campaigns for Tanishq and Tata Coffee.
Predictive AI honours went to Strong Metrics and Tyroo, both silver, while Orient Bell Limited picked up silver in immersive retail tech. In GenAI-led creative, Laqshya Media Limited, Salt – Kotak and Sumimoto each secured silver, reflecting the crowded race in generative creativity.
Publicis bagged silver in influencer management and gold in performance marketing, where it shared the stage with Arm Worldwide and The Trade Desk, both silver. Glad U Came Private Limited stood out with gold in influencer measurement and analytics.
Marketing automation saw CereOne Media Pvt. Ltd. and Globale Media win silver, while ADMOTT Private Limited claimed silver in OTT innovation.
Programmatic media categories highlighted the shift to advanced targeting and connected screens. Mobavenue Media Private Limited clinched gold in connected TV advertising, with Animmoov Digital Media Pvt Ltd – Asus and Lyxel and Flamingo taking silver. Cheggout Services Private Limited won silver in retail media advertising, while Paytm Ads – Versuni secured gold.
On social platforms, Vayner Media India took gold in community and UGC engagement, with Under 25 – Oppo winning silver. Segumento rounded off the list with silver in the innovation category.
Jaswant Singh, country managing director at ad:tech India, underscored the momentum, saying generative AI and data-driven decision-making are now central to marketing impact. Neena Dasgupta, IAA mancom member and chief executive and founder at The Salt Inc Consulting, added that the awards celebrate not just technology, but “the people, the creativity, and the relentless effort behind it.”
Backed by Comexposium Group, ad:tech New Delhi has long tracked digital disruption. Now, with the honours, it is rewarding those who are not just adapting to change but engineering it.
In an industry racing towards automation, the message from 2026 is unmistakable. The future of marketing will be written not just in ideas, but in algorithms.
