Amarpreet Singh is an independent Brand Consultant and Fractional CMO with over 15 years of experience helping India’s leading brands stay culturally sharp and strategically distinctive.
He has led strategy at agencies like Ogilvy, DDB Mudra, and Contract Advertising for brands such as KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Sprite, Fanta, Bandhan Bank, Zandu and more. Today, he runs Curious Brands, Strategy x Culture Studio, and acts as a Fractional CMO for Glen Appliances, and an Indian Tech.
An Effie Gold winner and trends report author, he is known for turning cultural signals into actionable brand strategy.
With the festive season being a crucial time for brands to connect with consumers, he brings perspectives on how advertising is evolving in the digital-first era, the cultural codes that resonate during Indian festivals, and how brands can balance creativity with commerce.
Media News4u.com caught up with Amarpreet Singh, Fractional CMO, Brand Strategist
Q. Will GST reduction boost ad spends this festive season? Which categories benefit most?
GST is less a tax reform and more a confidence reform. By easing affordability in FMCG, appliances, and entry-premium electronics, it lifts the mood of both consumers and marketers.
The sharpest surge will come in upgrade-driven categories: smartphones, small appliances, and gifting SKUs, where a 5–10% relief converts aspiration into action. The opportunity for advertisers is to move beyond ‘cheaper’ and frame this optimism as a cultural reset for how India celebrates.
Q. Do you expect ad spends to shift from TV to digital this festive season?
It’s not about abandoning TV, it’s about staging the show across platforms. TV remains the anchor of reach and credibility, but the energy of discovery and participation lives on digital – Reels, creators, connected TV. The smart play is orchestration: TV for trust, digital for action, and creators for cultural fluency.
Q. In a reels-first world, what makes festive ads cut through?
Formats evolve, fundamentals endure. Festive ads that cut through always carry an emotional truth, a participative hook and a cultural code. Reels are ignition, they spark discovery. But culture is longevity – it ensures your story is remembered after the scroll.
Q. Is it crucial for festive ads to go beyond discounts?
Yes, because discounts only rent attention; culture earns memory. The festive moment is too valuable to be reduced to shouting offers. The real winners are brands that add to rituals by introducing humour, sparking participation, or reinterpreting traditions. Offers drive sales. Culture builds equity.
Q. How are short-form videos and reels reshaping festive advertising?
Short-form isn’t just about shrinking attention, it’s about reshaping discovery.
People now discover festive ideas, recipes, and even rituals on Reels. The best campaigns design modular storytelling: a 6-second hook, a 15-second emotion, a 30-second payoff. It’s no longer one TVC cut down into edits, it’s a system designed for shareability.
Q. Are the expectations of younger consumers different from older TGs?
Absolutely. The younger audience expect participation, proof and a point of view. They want brands that feel native to their culture. Older cohorts lean on reassurance, family codes and value. The strongest campaigns build bridges between the two— offering cultural fluency for the young and emotional credibility for the older.
Q. Does 90% of festive marketing budget end at Diwali?
Diwali is still the peak, but festive today is a multi-act season. Act one begins before Diwali with e-commerce festivals like Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. Act two is Diwali itself. And act three extends into Black Friday, Christmas and New Year, which have grown in importance for categories like travel, wearables, and indulgence.
The very definition of ‘festive’ has expanded—what began as cultural rituals is now a mix of platform-created and global retail moments. Smart brands map budgets across this arc, not just for Diwali week.
Q. Why are Diwali, Durga Puja, and Eid cultural stages and not just sales windows?
Because festivals are mass attention stages — they concentrate emotion, ritual and community behaviour. When a brand adds to that ritual through participation, storytelling, or acts – it doesn’t just advertise, it earns a place in memory. That’s why these festivals are no longer mere sales triggers; they’re cultural theatres.
Q. How are data and predictive analytics shaping festive marketing?
Data is the new agility lever. It lets brands predict demand at pin-code level, shift spends dynamically and test creative in real time. The difference between being seen and being remembered often lies in how fast insights flow back into both media allocation and creative iteration.
Q. Can AI and tech co-create the next iconic Cadbury or Amul moment?
Yes—when it begins with human truth. Cadbury’s Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad proved AI can scale intimacy. But the magic wasn’t the code, it was the empathy behind it. AI can multiply reach and personalization, but the soul still comes from cultural insight.
Q. But does overuse of AI risk sameness?
It does. Left unchecked, AI creates a wall of sameness. The rule is simple: AI should multiply, not homogenise. Taste, timing and tension still come from human creativity. That balance is what separates iconic campaigns from forgettable noise.”
Q. How is the festive season looking for Curious Brands?
For us, festive is a cultural season, not just a commercial one. As a culture and strategy studio, we see this period as a chance to design repeatable cultural properties; ideas that can live across years, not disappear after a week.
Our focus this festive season is on creating participatory platforms that spark discovery online and embed themselves into rituals offline. In short, helping brands become part of how the season is lived, not just how it is advertised.
Q. How will Curious Brands benefit as purse strings loosen?
When budgets loosen, ambition comes back. Clients don’t just want ads that fill space, they want ideas that create distinction. That shift works in our favour.
As a culture and strategy studio, Curious Brands gets called into bigger conversations—about long-term platforms, cultural IPs, and sharper positioning. It means larger mandates, longer partnerships, and a bigger role in shaping how brands show up in culture. In short, when clients aim higher, the canvas for us expands.
