Ad Campaigns
“The time-tested art of storytelling will beat all trends and fads:” Anand Suspi
Mumbai: Spending three decades in the advertising industry is no small feat, and Anand Suspi’s illustrious career stands as a testament to his creative genius. As the co-founder of AndAnd Brand Partners, a boutique agency known for its holistic advertising solutions, Suspi has consistently championed the spirit of partnership and collaboration.
His 30-year track record includes serving as the creative head of Lowe, Delhi, and leading numerous successful campaigns. Beyond advertising, Suspi is also an acclaimed author, with his childhood memoir “Half Pants Full Pants” adapted into an award-winning series on Amazon Prime. His latest book, “The Bookseller of Mogga,” promises another captivating journey into the heart of storytelling.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with AndAnd Brand Partners co-founder Anand Suspi to know more about his advertising journey, some timeless creative trends, role of AI in infusing a human touch into digital marketing, and more…
Edited Excerpts:
On your journey in the advertising industry, from leading high-profile campaigns to publishing acclaimed works like your childhood memoir “Half Pant Full Pant” and now your new novel “The Bookseller of Mogga”?
Advertising has been a long journey of 30 years. Any long journey in any field for any person will always be a mixed bag. The same in my case – it’s been gratifying, frustrating and disappointing. All three. I’ve worked with some incredible people, worked on some exhilarating ideas, enjoyed several highs and many lows. But the two books are what will make me smile with contentment before I take off from the planet. The newly-published book is perhaps the most delightful book about books, ever written.
On the ways in which brands can effectively leverage storytelling techniques that resonate with today’s audiences despite the rise of short-form video and shrinking attention spans
In this age of short attention spans, storytelling needs to address the consumer need-states that remain largely the same. Such as, surprise me, entertain me, shock me, inspire me. Brands, depending on their personalities, need to constantly find newer storytelling forms and techniques that communicate their message or POV but also address these need-states.
On the timeless creative trends that are shaping marketing this year, and how has the global nature of creative work continued to evolve
The time-tested art of storytelling will beat all trends and fads. Brands can engage on a daily basis using trends that are in vogue but to build a long-term sustainable brand, we need to go back to the basics of being authentic, interesting and persuasive. Whether in India or the world over, the most respected and admired brands that have been around for decades continue to do this consistently.
On the role that AI can play in infusing a human touch into digital marketing
AI stands to play a huge role at both ends of the spectrum – `the everyday throughput’ and `the unexpected output’. It can (and should be used) to handle a lot of the mindless grunt work so that brands and agencies can spend more time using human intelligence to do better and bigger things. At the other end, AI is also capable of generating the most unexpected ideas, expressions, executions etc. This requires a lot of playing around with it but is worth the effort.
On the ways in which brands can seamlessly integrate user-generated content into traditional advertising
Integrating it may weaken the might and magic of traditional advertising. That should remain pure and not muddy itself by integrating UGC. However, brands can surely do this: Influencer marketing started out as `voice of the consumer’ but has now become another form of brand-speak. UGC can be integrated with influencer marketing so that the mix comes across as authentic consumer-speak.
On the strategies that brands can adopt to rise above the marketing clutter
The strategies to cut through the marketing clutter are quite a challenge for brands at present. With a substantial increase in avenues, the marketing clutter is only expected to increase. Simultaneously attention spans will only decrease incrementally. At such a time, cutting through requires brands having increasing clarity about who they are and more importantly, who they are not. It will serve as the pillar helping them market themselves to the correct audience.
On the emerging creative formats that are poised to disrupt the marketing landscape in the coming years
That would be Emotion AI and the Multiverse. It is only a matter of time before they become mainstream.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
