Chennai: At the latest edition of AdTalk hosted by the Advertising Club Madras, Ajay Gupte, CEO – South Asia of Wavemaker, delivered a captivating address on the theme “Positive Provocations – To Win in the New World.” With infectious energy, sharp anecdotes, and award-winning case studies, Ajay shared what it takes for brands to thrive in a fast-evolving marketing ecosystem—where curiosity, experimentation and courage lead the way.
From BPL to Dream11: Then vs Now
Opening with a nostalgic throwback to his Madison days in the 1990s, where he tracked LG’s media strategy to counter BPL’s dominance using tools like aMAP and InTAM, Ajay contrasted how easy it once was to decode competition. “Cut to today,” he noted, “Digital has made it virtually impossible to know what any brand is doing unless you’re doing it yourself.”
This shift, he said, demands a new mindset: brands must become learners—willing to make mistakes, experiment, evolve, and innovate relentlessly.
Case After Case, a Pattern Emerges
What followed was a masterclass in innovation-in-action—case studies across FMCG, tech, beauty, beverages, and beyond, with a common theme: make the consumer your medium. From Cadbury Silk’s AI-powered love stories on Disney+ Hotstar to Colgate’s AI dental scan on WhatsApp, and from Luminous’s real-time inverter pitch during power cuts to Dream11’s inclusive sign-language integration in cricket commentary, Ajay laid out how real impact is born at the intersection of tech, timing, and human truth.
What Makes a Campaign “Whatsappable”?
Ajay emphasized that the true litmus test for campaign effectiveness today isn’t just ROI or impressions—it’s whether your work shows up in your school WhatsApp group. “If my mom’s friends forward my ad, I know we’ve cracked it.”
This philosophy was powerfully evident in campaigns like the Shah Rukh Khan local business promo or ConfirmTkt’s influencer-powered train journeys to ICC World Cup matches, which delivered 4 million app downloads from a modest ₹75 lakh investment. These weren’t just media buys—they were social movements.
A Billion Faces, A Billion Voices
One of the most arresting cases was Royal Stag’s “A Billion Films for A Billion Fans”. By deploying AI-based face swap and voice replication, fans could insert themselves alongside Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah into campaign films—and even receive a personalised message from the Indian captain. This, Ajay shared, was personalisation at scale: where every individual feels like a hero in their own version of a brand story.
The same tech was later used by Birla Opus Paints and other, showcasing the versatility and reusability of innovations that are first sparked by courage.
Not Just Tech—But Real Celebration
Ajay also highlighted how L’Oréal Professional’s Indian Hairdressing Awards, a first-of-its-kind reality show, elevated the role of the hairdresser from service provider to beauty industry icon. The 5-episode series streamed on JioCinema generated over 36 million views, 3.1 million hours of watch time, and 2.4 billion impressions in under two months.
Rewriting the Cricket Playbook
Perhaps one of the most clever disruptions came from Birla Opus, which “hacked” the T20 World Cup experience by embedding vibrant, emotional brand storytelling seamlessly into live matches—without interrupting the broadcast. By using stock footage and simple visual metaphors, it earned organic recall and even surpassed long-time market leaders in search interest. “It delivered 2x media value at zero production cost,” Ajay said with a smile.
The Metaverse: A Bold Misstep, But a Rich Learning
Ajay candidly admitted not every idea lands. He recalled Wavemaker’s early foray into the Metaverse—from India’s first virtual wedding for a Salem couple (in partnership with matrimony.com and Fabelle chocolates) to the Tata Tea Holi Party that crashed after 54,000 users logged in. “It was exciting—and also useless,” he joked. But it taught them invaluable lessons.
Innovation Is a Culture, Not a Department
As he wrapped up, Ajay left the audience with two enduring thoughts:
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Experiment fearlessly. Successes may be rare, but the learnings from failures are what create “muscle memory” for future wins.
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Let your consumer be your medium. In an age where media is everywhere and attention is scarce, earned sharing from consumers beats paid media exposure—every single time.
“Innovation is addictive,” Ajay concluded, “and I’m fortunate to have teams and clients who are hooked to it. That’s the real magic—not luck.”
From personalisation and engagement to activation and scale, Ajay Gupte’s session wasn’t just a presentation—it was a provocation. A nudge to the industry to not just disseminate, but to do more: to challenge norms, break formats, and create brand stories that consumers want to tell.
