Soapbox 2025: Krishna Iyer on Brewing Brands that Linger Like Masala Chai

Our LBB community is buzzing with ideas, opinions and visions for a better advertising industry. So this year, we invited you to dig out your megaphone and climb onto our figurative soapbox to share your hopes for 2025: what change do you want to see? How can the inner workings of the industry improve? How should it adapt to the tech, social, cultural, economic, and politics shifts shaping the market?

Taking the mic this time is Krishna Iyer, MullenLowe Lintas Group India’s executive director - marketing. Stops on his “great Indian ad-venture” (which may leave you a little hungry) include why brands should be more masala chai and less golgappa, what advertisers can learn from Mumbai’s vada pav sellers, and how to avoid vanilla AI-generated campaigns. He also sets out a plan to make advertising aspirational again, carving out room for madness, passion, and dreams that go beyond Instagram ads.

The Great Indian Ad-venture

As we roll into 2025, the advertising industry finds itself at a crossroads – somewhere between the past of emotional storytelling and the present of hyper-optimised, AI-driven campaigns that look great on spreadsheets but leave audiences yawning. If there’s one thing we need to change this year, it’s this: we need to bring back brand-building with heart, not just hustle.

What Needs to Change?

In India, we love our brands like we love our masala chai – rich, full of flavour, and with an aftertaste that lingers. But somewhere along the way, for brands, advertising has become a race for quick results. Agencies are churning out 10-second reels like ‘golgappas’ (a popular street food in India), stuffing data-driven insights into every campaign, hoping they will hit the sweet spot. But is it enough? We need to shift from a sales-first mindset to a brand-first mindset.

Think of brands like Amul. For decades, their ads have been simple, relevant, and consistent. The Amul girl doesn’t chase click-through rates; she builds love and recall. Yet today, many brands are obsessed with conversion rates over connection rates.

It’s time to go back to storytelling that doesn’t just sell, but sticks.

2024 Steps in the Right Direction

To be fair, 2024 wasn’t all bad. Some brands dared to think long-term:

• The AI-creativity mix: Advertisers found ways to let AI handle the boring stuff (like resizing banners for 500 platforms) while creatives focused on crafting better narratives.
• Purpose beyond performance: Some campaigns like ‘Protect the Little Riders’ for TVS Motors showed that meaningful work still matters, proving that brands can stand for something beyond their product.
• Regional goldmines: Brands started moving beyond metros, recognising the power of Bharat. Whether it was Tanishq’s ‘Modern Queens’ Diwali ad or Britannia tapping into tier-2 aspirations, storytelling became more rooted in local realities.

These were good steps, but let’s be honest – we’re still far from making this the norm.

The Speed Bumps Ahead

The biggest hurdle? The ‘quarterly results’ obsession. Marketing heads want ROI faster than you can say “skip ad.” Building a brand takes time – just ask Fevicol. But in today’s world, where attention spans are shorter than a popular reel, patience is a tough ask.

Some of our challenges include:

• Data versus insight: We have data in truckloads but real consumer insight? That’s rarer than an honest influencer review.
• AI overload: Yes, AI can generate content, but left unchecked, it churns out vanilla campaigns devoid of any warmth. Creativity isn’t a plug-and-play operation!
• Talent drain: Young creatives are moving to content creation and startups because advertising no longer seems ‘cool’ – we need to fix that.
• Procurement versus partnerships: Many client-agency relationships are becoming purely transactional. Where’s the trust? Where’s the long-term vision?

Can We Fix This? 

• Educate clients: We need to help brands see the long game – share case studies, show how storytelling drives revenue over time (just ask Asian Paints or Tanishq!).
• Redefine agency roles: Agencies must stop being mere vendors and start being brand custodians. Clients should call us before a product launch, not just when they need a 30-second edit.
• Experiment with storytelling: Look at Bollywood. Some films flop, some break records – but nobody stops making movies. Advertising needs the same mindset.
• AI but ‘dil’ (heart) se: AI can do the heavy lifting, but the best campaigns will always have a human touch. After all, would you let any GPT write your ‘shaadi’ (wedding) invitation?
• Make advertising aspirational again: We need to bring back the madness, the passion. Let young creatives dream beyond Instagram ads!

Looking for Inspiration? Look Around!

• Who understands audience engagement better than Mumbai’s vada pav sellers, hawkers on the train or even Bollywood? They know their audience, adapt instantly, and never fail to sell and entertain.
• New-age brands and startups have rewritten the rulebook. They’re funny, relatable, and understand their consumers better than most legacy brands.
• India is a storytelling powerhouse. From mythological epics to cricket commentaries, we’ve always known how to engage an audience. Using the cultural nuggets, we just need to channel that into advertising and our campaigns.

The Future We Must Build

2025 should be the year we move from transaction to transformation – where brands and agencies work together, not just to sell products, but to build enduring relationships with consumers.

Because at the end of the day, advertising isn’t just about grabbing attention. It’s about earning affection.

Now, who’s in?