Indian advertisers address “the connectedness paradox”

The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) with exchange4media group recently organised the second edition of the ISA CEO Conference in Mumbai.

Focused around the theme “The Connectedness Paradox”, the full-day conference examined what ‘connectedness’ means to brands and its implications in an increasingly interconnected but paradoxically disconnected world.

The conference was attended by around 200 senior professionals, including CEOs and CMOs of various international and Indian companies.



One panel discussion on how brands can win over consumers in a connected world gathered marketing leaders and industry experts from Aditya Birla Capital, Interbrand India, Landor Associates and Google and was chaired by Abhishek Desai, Marketing Director of P&G India. The panellists discussed people’s increasing antipathy towards advertising and reflected on how brands can win over today’s consumers by going beyond traditional rules of engagement.

Ashish Mishra, Managing Director of Interbrand India, suggested, “Organisations need to find the perfect fit. Reinventing yourself to reinvent your category should be the new way ahead.”

Another panel discussion was on new risks and opportunities for brand growth in an interconnected world made up of thought leaders from Facebook, Group M, LinkedIn and Nielsen and moderated by Abraham Alapatt, President and Group Head – Marketing at Thomas Cook India.

Prasun Basu, President of South Asia at Nielsen, said, “The consumer today knows a lot more than he or she did five years ago. Because of the amount of information they are exposed to, today’s consumer has greater aspirations and that’s where brands can come in.”

For more information, please visit the event website or contact ISA.