Inside Creative Tech at Publicis feat. Laurent Thevenet (Head of Creative Tech APAC, Publicis Groupe)

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1. 

   S1 · E32 · 17 Aug 2026 · 44 min

   Making a Virtue Out of VICE: Building Brands Through Entertainment feat. Gautham Narayanan (Managing Director, Europe, Virtue)

   Gautham Narayanan runs Virtue, VICE Brand Group's creative agency, across Europe. Before that, 13 years at AMV BBDO London on brands like Guinness and BT, doubling profits at BBDO South Africa, and a run as Managing Director at Wieden+Kennedy Delhi. In this episode, Gautham talks about what network agencies still do better than anyone else, why he pushes back on the term "anti agency," and the WhatsApp message from a client that unlocked Guinness's Made of Black campaign. He also unpacks how VICE convinces brand-safety-nervous Fortune 500 clients to work with it, why brands are now competing…

2. 

   S1 · E31 · 3 Aug 2026 · 45 min

   Traditional Creative Agencies vs Frontier Agency feat. Bianca Dordea (Global Client Lead, AKQA)

   What do you actually say when someone asks what AKQA does? That's the question Episode 31 opens with, and Bianca Dordea, Global Client Lead at AKQA answers it. Before AKQA, Bianca was CEO of DDB Berlin, and before that, EVP Client Service Director at Energy BBDO in Chicago. Her career spans three very different definitions of what an agency is supposed to be: a traditional creative shop, a full-service network office, and now a business that refuses to call itself either. 📺 Why AKQA calls itself a "frontier agency" and rejects the labels of creative agency, consultancy, and design firm 📺 The…

3. 

   S1 · E30 · 20 Jul 2026 · 58 min

   Why Indian Advertising is Broken feat. Santosh Desai (MD & CEO, Futurebrands India)

   In our milestone 30th episode (& our very first video podcast), we are joined by one of the true greats of Indian advertising: Santosh Desai (MD & CEO of Future Brands India, author of Mother Pious Lady , and legendary columnist). In this unfiltered chat, Santosh talks about why the traditional agency model is fundamentally broken, how tech acts as a consumption pacifier, & why regional brands are leaving national giants in the dust. Inside the strategy behind VIP Suitcases' "Belong Everywhere" shift & an ahead-of-its-time Stayfree campaign that fought shame decades before it was trendy Why…

4. 

   S1 · E29 · 6 Jul 2026 · 57 min

   Battlefield Lessons in Agency Growth feat. Tracey Barber (Global Chief Transformation & Growth Officer, Havas)

   Episode 29 of The Indian AdGeek features Tracey Barber, Global Chief Transformation and Growth Officer at Havas Creative Network , in a conversation that moves from war rooms to advertising's version of them. Tracey spent eight years as a Non-Executive Director at the UK Ministry of Defence while building her career at Havas, and she brings that same discipline to the biggest question facing global agency networks today: what needs to be transformed, and what simply needs to be replaced. We get into the mindset shift from winning pitches as Global CMO to re-architecting how an entire network…

5. 

   S1 · E28 · 22 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

   From Sequoia to Spring, Carry, and Retainer feat. Raja Ganapathy (Founding Partner, Spring Marketing Capital)

   Episode 28 . What do you get when one of India's sharpest advertising minds walks through the doors of Sequoia Capital, watches how the world's best money thinks about brands, and then decides neither world is doing it right? You get Spring Marketing Capital. India's only SEBI-registered AIF that doesn't send you a retainer invoice, it takes a seat at your cap table instead. Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner of Spring Marketing Capital, joins Vishal Mehra on Episode 28 of The Indian AdGeek for one of the most structurally unusual conversations this show has ever hosted. 📺 We open with the…

6. 

   S1 · E26 · 24 May 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

   Veni, Vidi, VML feat. Babita Baruah (CEO, VML India)

   What happens to advertising when AI agents shop for us, Q-commerce becomes a media channel, and a team of five can do the work of twenty? In this episode, Babita Baruah, CEO of VML India, talks about her 30 year journey in WPP, breaks down how BX, CX and commerce come together to build human-centric, connected brands in a Bharat-first, AI-fuelled market. We talk global brand guidelines vs local realities, the future of the big TV spot, talent in an AI world, value-based pricing and why creativity still has to stay stubbornly human. 📺 What happens when one of India's most enduring advertising…

7. 

   S1 · E25 · 10 May 2026 · 55 min

   Kulfi-dential: Building the Collective feat. Advait Gupt (Co-Founder & CEO, Kulfi Collective)

   Episode 25 What happens when an agency refuses to call itself an agency? In our silver jubilee episode, Vishal sits down with Advait Gupt, Co-Founder & CEO of Kulfi Collective , the Mumbai-based creative powerhouse behind Supari Studios and brand work for Spotify, Netflix, Crocs, Nothing, LEGO, Red Bull, and CRED . Advait unpacks how Kulfi stayed bootstrapped while peers chased eye-watering valuations, what changes now that Divya Karani has joined as chairperson, and why the company sits in the awkward, beautiful space between branded content, original IP, and immersive experiences. The…

8. 

   S1 · E24 · 26 Apr 2026 · 56 min

   Outdoor vs. The Algorithm feat. Ranga Somanathan (Global Chief Strategy Officer, billups)

   Episode 24 What does a Global Chief Strategy Officer at one of the world's most sophisticated out-of-home companies actually think about the state of media? Quite a lot, and almost none of it is comfortable. In this episode of The Indian AdGeek, Vishal Mehra sits down with Ranganathan Somanathan, Global CSO at billups and former CEO of both Publicis Media and Omnicom Media Group across Southeast Asia. Ranga has spent over two decades running some of the most complex media operations in the APAC region, and he's arrived at some sharp conclusions. They cover the holding company model's quiet…

9. 

   S1 · E23 · 12 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 10 min

   Is Every Agency a Social Agency? feat. Toby Southgate (Global CEO, We Are Social)

   In Episode 23 of The Indian AdGeek , we sit down with Toby Southgate , Global CEO of We Are Social , to dissect the fundamental evolution of the agency model. Toby has navigated every corner of the advertising world, from the upstream consulting of Brand Union and the global scale of McCann Worldgroup to the creative independence of Forsman & Bodenfors. We dive into: 📺 How to build a timeless brand identity in a world of 24 hour trend cycles and algorithmic fragmentation 📺 The shift from influencers to makers and what it means for agency P&Ls 📺 How to justify strategic investment in…

10. 

    S1 · E22 · 29 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

    The Uncommon Manifesto: Building Brands People Actually Wish Existed feat. Lucy Jameson (Founder, Uncommon Creative Studio)

    Episode 22 What happens when you stop trying to fix a broken agency model and just build a new one from scratch? This week on The Indian AdGeek , we are joined by Lucy Jameson , the strategist and founder behind the globally celebrated Uncommon Creative Studio . Lucy pulls back the curtain on how Uncommon became the most awarded creative shop in the UK by leaning into "noisy thinking" and "disproportionate fame." We dive deep into: 📺 The Hard No: The clients Uncommon turned down to protect their creative DNA. 📺 The Purpose Trap: Why every brand needs a business objective, but not necessarily…