AD Agencies
Report: Dentsu unveils the media trends set to shape 2024
Mumbai: Dentsu released its annual media trends report, titled ‘The Pace of Progress: dentsu 2024 Media Trends’. Created by gathering insights from its specialists within Carat, dentsu X and iProspect globally, the new dentsu report highlights ten key catalysts of change within the media industry which are most likely to set the pace of progress for brands around the world.
With over 40 pages of in-depth commentary, dentsu 2024 Media Trends extrapolates how Generative AI will be best used to spearhead growth, how monetization of the industry is gaining evermore traction and how genuine integrity in advertising will elevate brands. Not only does the report highlight the key trends within each of these three areas of interest, but it also provides suggestions on how brands can capitalize on them in the short and long term.
“Our own client research has shown that more than 60% of marketers have said they’ve already started engaging with Generative AI in their company*. So, in our dentsu 2024 Media Trends report it was important for us to identify and introduce the additive advantages, trends and technologies to help them progress in this space,” says dentsu global CEO Media – international markets Peter Huijboom.
Huijboom continues, “When we bring our experts together from our media agencies and from all around the world to create these predictions, it is essential we showcase the most pressing topics and the best opportunities for the future. This report does exactly that, in a convenient and easily accessible way.”
dentsu CEO Media – South Asia Anita Kotwani adds, “Artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword, but a game-changer for the media industry. It has the power to automate, optimize, and personalize various aspects of media planning, buying, and execution. It can also unleash the creative potential of media professionals, by enabling them to generate new and engaging content, formats, and experiences for their audiences. This is what we call Generative AI, and it is the focus of our 14th edition of the Media Trends Report.
At dentsu, we take pride in our insightful expertise that keeps us ahead of the competitive curve. We are always exploring new ways to leverage AI for our clients, partners, and employees. The Media Trends Report deep-dives into one of the most disruptive technologies – AI, taking us through the many trends that serve Generative AI on a platter. It aims to enable readers to reshape their work dynamics, tapping into the untapped potential through its many facets.”
According to the new dentsu report, the key predictions for the direction of the media industry into 2024 and beyond are:
Generative AI takes center stage:
Generative AI is the most disruptive technology breakthrough of the last decade. With 63% of marketers having said they’ve already started engaging with Generative AI in their company*, the technology is set to take center stage in the coming months and years. From search to creativity to media planning and production, generative AI takes media effectiveness to new heights. This theme is explored through:
Trend 1 – The rise of generative search
Generative AI will transform how people access information, from search engines to commerce platforms.
Trend 2 – Creativity reimagined
The augmentation of human creativity through Generative AI in fields such as content and copywriting, as well as image development.
Trend 3 – Generative optimizations
Leveraging Generative AI for simplifying advertising production, targeting, and effectiveness at scale and pace.
The race to monetization:
2024 will see the intensification of competition between tech platforms. As they strive to better monetize their services in their economic circumstances, platforms will double down on becoming more protective of their data, understanding their users, and stepping up their advertising offerings. This megatrend incorporates:
Trend 4 – A world of lookalike apps
As platforms become progressively similar, attracting audience attention has never been more important for brands.
Trend 5 – From walled gardens to walled pipes
Platforms have a more defensive stance on their data which opens the larger question of the delicate balance between protection and discoverability.
Trend 6 – The identity refocus
A doubling down on people intelligence by media platforms as third-party cookies approach the end of the line.
Trend 7 – More ads for more returns
Expansion of advertising into new areas for most platforms, with new formats, opportunities – and risks – emerging as a result.
Integrity economics:
Growth in the next year will not only be about hard economics; it will also be about brands’ sustainable contributions to society. Amid rising societal and political polarization and climate emergency, building more carbon efficient, diverse, and safe online spaces for people and brands will be central to success. Highlighted through:
Trend 8 – The new faces of growth
With media consumption becoming increasingly diverse and personal, brands must adapt to reflect the needs and identities of audiences and stay relevant.
Trend 9 – Safer, better, faster, stronger
Amid a fast-moving digital landscape, new developments in brand assurance aim to create safer environments for both people and brands.
Trend 10 – More attention, fewer emissions
As brands implement carbon media efficiency strategies, optimizing for attention should lead to decarbonization through optimized and improved impact.
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: 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.
