MAM
Why the best campaigns today start with insights, not ideas
MUMBAI: For decades, creative storytelling has been the cornerstone of brand communication. The “big idea” amplified through catchy jingles, striking visuals, and memorable hooks was once the gold standard for relevance and recall. Creativity defined presence, and the loudest, boldest campaigns often won attention.
But the marketing landscape today looks very different.
Audiences are more exposed, more discerning, and far less patient. They are inundated with messages across platforms, formats, and creators, often encountering hundreds of brand touchpoints in a single day. In this environment, creativity alone especially when untethered from real consumer truths is no longer enough to move behaviour. Great ideas are abundant. Meaningful impact is not.
This is where insights matter.
The difference may seem subtle, but it is fundamental. An idea represents what a brand wants to say. An insight reflects what the audience is already thinking, feeling, or experiencing. The most effective campaigns emerge not from cleverness alone, but from the intersection of these two forces.
From creativity to relevance
As the marketing ecosystem becomes increasingly saturated, consumers are growing immune to inflated claims and surface-level storytelling. Even beautifully crafted campaigns can fail if they are disconnected from lived realities. The gap between a brand’s internal enthusiasm and the audience’s actual sentiment can be the difference between attention and indifference.
Insights help bridge this gap. They force brands to pause, listen, and observe to understand emotions, behaviours, cultural contexts, and contradictions. Instead of trying to be remembered through louder branding, insight-led campaigns allow audiences to see their own experiences reflected back at them. When a campaign articulates a problem that feels personal, relevance is created. Trust follows.
Insight is interpretation, not information
It’s important to distinguish between data and insight. Data tells us what is happening. Insight explains why it is happening. While data is measurable and structured, insights are interpretive and dynamic, shaped by real-time sentiment and human behaviour.
Modern consumers are full of contradictions. They demand authenticity while remaining deeply aspirational. They want brands to take a stand but expect nuance, not instruction. They seek transparency, yet are drawn to curated narratives. These tensions are not obstacles, they are opportunities. When understood correctly, they can shape communication that feels timely, credible, and human.
Some of the most effective campaigns today are born not in isolated brainstorm rooms, but through listening to audiences, creators, editors, online communities, and cultural signals. Insights often exist in blurred patterns, but once identified, they can redefine how a brand connects.
A recent campaign we executed for Domino’s illustrates this shift clearly. The brief wasn’t to make a pizza look bigger or louder. Instead, it was rooted in a simple behavioural truth: in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, sharing food is an emotional act tied to family, celebration, and value perception. The “Big Big 6-in-1 Pizza” became a canvas for this insight. The campaign leaned into regional voices and real sharing moments, allowing people to show how they experienced the product rather than being told why they should buy it. Influencers and celebrities amplified genuine usage, not scripted endorsements. The impact from engagement to footfall to sales came not from a clever idea, but from understanding how people relate to food in their everyday lives.
Shifting the starting point
Today’s consumer landscape demands a shift in perspective from “What should the brand say?” to “What does the audience need to hear right now?” This marks a move away from inward-led marketing toward communication shaped by behaviour, emotion, and cultural relevance.
Brands leading today are keen observers. They notice when perfection stops resonating. They sense when luxury shifts from aspiration to excess. They recognise when influencer content begins to feel repetitive and trust erodes.
Virality, too, is often misunderstood. It is not a strategy to chase, but an outcome. Campaigns rooted in insight do not aim to go viral; they aim to resonate. When content reflects something familiar, a shared truth, emotion, or tension, it travels organically because people see themselves in it.
Ideas attract attention. Insights build connection.
The evolving role of PR
For PR professionals, this shift has redefined success. Coverage volume alone no longer tells the full story. The more meaningful questions today are: Did the communication influence behaviour? Did it align with cultural conversations? Did it address a real consumer pain point?
Insight-first thinking allows these questions to be answered at the planning stage, rather than corrected midway through execution.
In a world where formats and platforms will continue to evolve, what remains constant is the power of authentic communication. The strongest campaigns today do not begin with a brainstorm, but with observation, interpretation, and empathy. That is not just better marketing, it is more responsible, resilient, and meaningful brand-building.
Brands
Radico Khaitan appoints Kunal Madan as chief marketing officer
Promotions signal focus on premium spirits, global expansion and homegrown leadership
UTTAR PRADESH: Radico Khaitan has elevated two long-serving insiders to its top leadership team, signalling a bold push into premium spirits and global markets. Kunal Madan steps in as chief marketing officer, while Sudhir Upadhyay takes charge as chief sales officer, both part of what managing director Abhishek Khaitan calls a consciously built next-generation leadership bench.
“At Radico Khaitan, our growth has always been powered by people,” Khaitan said. “True leadership is not imported, it is cultivated.” He added that empowering internal talent ensures continuity while keeping the company globally competitive and future-ready.
Madan, with over 20 years of experience across global sales and marketing, will drive brand architecture, marketing strategy, and the premiumisation agenda, including travel retail. Upadhyay, who has 25 years in the industry and was most recently national sales head, will oversee distribution expansion and execution across markets.
The leadership reshuffle comes amid Radico’s intensified focus on premium spirits, a segment driving higher margins and international growth. Last year, Ajay Kakkar was brought on to head the Premium On-Trade vertical, targeting modern and institutional channels to boost presence in high-growth segments.
Meanwhile, Amar Sinha stepped down as chief operating officer after contributing across multiple growth phases. Khaitan acknowledged Sinha’s role in supporting the company’s trajectory, while Sinha described his tenure as “an absolute privilege,” crediting Khaitan’s leadership for shaping the company’s strategic direction.
With a homegrown leadership bench and a clear premium agenda, Radico Khaitan is set to accelerate its global expansion while doubling down on brand elevation and market impact.
