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Solutions Digitas splits into two arms
MUMBAI: Underlining the growing relevance of digital advertising in India, Publicis Groupe’s Solutions Digitas India has split into two arms, creating in the process a digital focus agency.
Digitas India will offer digital creative, technology, strategic planning and CRM services. As a complement to Digitas India, and a part of the VivaKi proposition, Solutions India will offer experiential marketing, retail and trade marketing services.
Kanika Mathur has been made the president of Digitas India. She will report to Digitas APAC president of network operations Vincent Digonnet.
Digitas International president Stephan Beringer announced the split of Solutions Digitas in India into two separate units. Both Digitas India and Solutions India will be complimentary and remain under VivaKi portfolio.
With sister agencies Starcom MediaVest Group, ZenithOptimedia, Denuo and Razorfish, Digitas is a member of Publicis Groupe‘s VivaKi — a digital knowledge centre.
Digitas India is aiming to leverage expertise in five core areas: strategy and planning, content and creative, technology, media, and analytics and CRM.
Beringer said, “The market in India is approaching a technology tipping point, and digital services will increasingly become an
in-demand expertise.”
Stated Digonnet, “Our digital communication in India has reached a point where it needs to be focused in a specific and specialised entity to deliver the results expected by both our multinational and national clients.”
Mathur added that they are expecting a 30-40 per cent year-on-year digital spending growth in India.
“By officially declaring the purpose and focus of Digitas India, we are further strengthening our network offering and establishing a clear accountability to ourselves and our clients. Furthermore we already are one of the top three digital agencies in the market in size, and we need to start being recognised as such,” Digonnet concluded.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
