AD Agencies
Eggfirst Chalo Rural India Conclave and Awards celebrates rural excellence and digital advertising
Mumbai: The 3rd edition of the Eggfirst Chalo Rural India Conclave & Awards, held at the Westin Goregaon, Mumbai, marked a historic milestone in the advertising and digital marketing landscape. The event, organised by Eggfirst, a prominent advertising and digital agency specialising in rural advertising, brought together over 500 industry leaders from more than 250 renowned brands for a transformative evening dedicated to exploring the vast potential, growth prospects, and digital advertising avenues in rural India.
A highlight of the event was the presence of Akash Jadhav and Santosh Jadhav, popular YouTube influencers known for their Indian Farmers channel, which boasts 18.2 million subscribers and serves as a valuable resource for millions of farmers across the country.
The Conclave featured two insightful panel discussions: ‘Rural India ki Kahaani, Brands ki Zubaani’ and ‘Badhte Bharat ki Nayi Kahaani,’ where leaders from top-tier companies including Bayer CropScience, Corteva, Fino Payments Bank, DeHaat, Ambuja Cement, Yes Bank, Del Monte, Parle, SBI General, and NABARD shared profound insights and experiences related to rural India.
Eggfirst CEO, founder and conclave’s curator Ravikant Banka expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “The response to the event has been absolutely exhilarating. Witnessing such a robust turnout of senior industry professionals at our event is nothing short of overwhelming. The wealth of knowledge that was shared and exchanged under one roof was genuinely phenomenal.”
The grand finale of the conclave was the awards ceremony, celebrating excellence in rural advertising, marketing, and digital. Notable winners included Fino, DeHaat, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Syngenta, and Corteva, who received gold trophies, while PNB Bank, ESAF Small Finance Bank, Simpolo, and Agrostar were honored with silver awards, and Greenstar, Tata Tiscon, and more received bronze recognition.
The event brought together delegates from rural tech startups, venture capital firms, FMCG giants, banks, government bodies, and agri-input companies who travelled from cities across India, underscoring the wide-reaching impact of the conclave.
Banka emphasised, “The conclave and awards turned out to be an event packed with insightful discussions and recognition of the best rural marketing campaigns across multiple categories. We are delighted to have hosted the event and are grateful to our esteemed panelists and delegates.”
The 3rd edition of the Eggfirst Chalo Rural India Conclave & Awards has ignited a wave of enthusiasm within the industry, encouraging discussions on the boundless opportunities in rural India.
AD Agencies
AdTrust Summit 2026 to examine trust, AI and Gen Alpha in advertising
Two-day summit in Mumbai to explore ethics, regulation and the future of advertising trust
MUMBAI:Â At a time when advertising is navigating a delicate trust deficit, the Advertising Standards Council of India is preparing to bring the industry to the table. On 17 and 18 March, the body will host the inaugural AdTrust Summit 2026 in Mumbai, a two-day gathering designed to spark conversation around responsibility, regulation and credibility in modern advertising.
The summit, to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, will bring together leaders from advertising, media, technology and policy to examine how brands can build trust in a marketplace increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
In an age of deepfakes, dark patterns and blurred lines between content and commerce, the question is no longer just how brands capture attention, but whether audiences believe what they see. The AdTrust Summit aims to unpack that challenge.
Day one will turn its attention to the youngest digital natives. Titled Decoding Gen Alpha, the session will unveil ‘What the Sigma?’, a study by ASCI and Futurebrands Consulting that explores how children growing up in a hyper-digital environment encounter advertising and commercial messaging.
The report presentation will be delivered by Santosh Desai, founder and director at Think9 Consumer Technologies and a social commentator known for his insights into consumer behaviour. The discussion that follows will attempt to decode how Gen Alpha consumes media, interacts with brands and navigates the growing overlap between entertainment and marketing.
In a move that mirrors the subject itself, two Gen Alpha students will also join the conversation, offering a rare perspective from the generation advertisers are trying to understand.
The second panel of the day will shift the focus from observation to implication, asking what the report’s findings mean for brands, agencies and society. Speakers include Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant; Preeti Vyas, president at Mythik; and Abigail Dias, associate president planning at Ogilvy. The session will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, editor at ET Brand Equity.
Day two moves from insight to regulation. Under the theme From Compliance to Trust, ASCI will release its Ad Law Compendium, a comprehensive guide to India’s advertising regulations.
The day will open with a keynote by Sudhanshu Vats, chairman at ASCI and managing director at Pidilite Industries, followed by a chief guest address by Sanjay Jaju, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Legal experts from Khaitan & Co., including Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner, and Tanu Banerjee, partner, will present an overview of the current advertising law landscape in India and examine whether existing frameworks are equipped to deal with emerging technologies and formats.
Subsequent panels will explore issues increasingly shaping the industry’s ethical compass. Conversations will range from the limits of persuasive design and the rise of dark patterns, to the growing scrutiny brands face from digital creators and consumer watchdogs.
One session will also feature Revant Himatsingka, widely known online as the Food Pharmer, whose critiques of packaged food brands have sparked debate around transparency and corporate accountability.
Later discussions will turn toward media literacy among Gen Alpha, asking how children can be equipped to navigate a digital world where gaming, content and commerce are becoming indistinguishable.
The summit will conclude with a final panel on the future of advertising, bringing together voices from agencies, legal circles and technology platforms to discuss how innovation, intelligence and integrity can coexist.
For an industry built on persuasion, trust has always been its quiet currency. But as audiences grow more sceptical and digital ecosystems more complex, that currency is under pressure.
Events like the AdTrust Summit suggest the advertising world knows it cannot afford to take credibility for granted. The real challenge now is turning conversation into commitment.
