AD Agencies
Masculinity needs a makeover, not a rescue mission, say ad leaders at Goafest 2025
MUMBAI: Goafest 2025’s day two lit up with sharp insights and simmering provocations during the session “Mardon Wali Baat: A discussion on Masculinity in Advertising”. Held under the banner of ASCI Academy’s report ‘Manifest: Masculinities beyond the Mask’, the panel challenged brands to move past rigid and reductive representations of men.
Moderated by Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) CEO & secretary general Manisha Kapoor, the panel featured Marshan.Ink (formerly Kotak) principal Karthi Marshan, and Infectious Advertising co-founder & director Nisha Singhania.
“Masculinity is not unidimensional—it has many facets”, said Singhania, kicking off the discussion. She stressed that the emotional complexity of men is often neglected in ad narratives, where strength is still seen through a bicep rather than vulnerability. “Men are tired of being portrayed as a ‘work in progress’ or needing to be fixed”.
She also took aim at legacy brands. “They rely too much on past data and lack the patience to build new narratives”, she said, pointing out that India’s evolving masculinity isn’t as entitled or rigid as marketers presume. “The narrative of ‘get him married and he’ll change’ is outdated and unfair”.
Marshan pushed for a fundamental mindset shift: “Masculinity vs. feminism is a false dichotomy—we need to move beyond gender and sexuality labels”. He challenged the belief that long-term investment alone makes a campaign successful. “Disruption works—if a brand gets attention, people will engage, regardless of target audience”.
Echoing Singhania’s view, Marshan said, “Marketers underestimate audiences—viewers are more progressive than assumed”. He called on creatives to stop playing safe and start trusting viewers’ ability to embrace evolved storytelling.
The session served less as a sermon and more as a mirror—reflecting both the flaws in the way men are marketed and the possibilities that await when brands loosen their grip on stale stereotypes.
AD Agencies
Microsoft shifts global media account from Dentsu to Publicis Groupe: Reports
Closed review ends decade-long tie-up; Xbox remit may remain with Dentsu
MUMBAI: Microsoft has reassigned its global media planning and buying business to Publicis Groupe, according to media reports, ending Dentsu’s long-standing stewardship of one of the advertising industry’s biggest accounts.
The move follows a closed review and marks a notable shake-up in the global media landscape. Dentsu, which managed the account through Carat, had held the mandate since 2014 and successfully defended it in a 2018 review.
While the broader business is shifting, Dentsu is expected to retain media responsibilities for Xbox, according to media reports, though the exact contours of that arrangement remain unclear. None of the parties involved have publicly outlined the transition timeline or the full structure of the handover.
The scale of the account underscores the significance of the change. Estimates from COMvergence, cited by Ad Age, peg Microsoft’s global media spend at roughly $700 million last year.
For Publicis Groupe, the win deepens an already expanding relationship with the tech giant. Earlier this year, Microsoft Advertising partnered with Publicis Media Exchange and Epsilon to integrate Epsilon’s data into its platform, aiming to sharpen targeting across search, native and display formats.
The decision reflects a broader industry shift, as large advertisers increasingly favour agency partners with strong first-party data capabilities, AI integration and platform-led solutions. Publicis Groupe has been leaning into this model, positioning its data assets and technology stack as a central differentiator.
For Dentsu, the loss is significant. Media remains a core pillar of its global business, and the development comes close on the heels of leadership changes, including the appointment of Takeshi Sano as global chief executive officer.
The shift also carries a touch of irony. Microsoft and Dentsu have worked closely beyond the client-agency relationship, including collaborations around AI tools such as Copilot to support media and creative workflows.
As the dust settles, the message is clear: in today’s data-driven, AI-powered media world, relationships may be long, but they are rarely permanent.
