“Advertising has to safeguard its own interests. It cannot expect marketers to do that”, that sharp observation on the structural dilemma confronting advertising today, was shared by Santosh Desai, Founder and Director of Think9 Consumer Technologies. During a session at Goa Fest 2026, while speaking to Anuradha Sengupta, Desai reflected on an industry reshaped by digital disruption, platform dominance, global consolidation and shifting creative economics—forces that have fundamentally redefined the way advertising operates.
One of the most significant shifts has been the rise of digital technology platforms. According to Desai, power today sits disproportionately with a handful of global corporations that control the digital ecosystem. “These digital technologies are controlled by a handful of corporations and they wield an ungodly amount of power,” he said, highlighting how advertisers and marketers increasingly operate within systems they do not control.
Another structural change lies within agency networks themselves. Independent Indian agencies that once defined the market have largely been absorbed into global holding company structures. Desai argued that internationalisation fundamentally changed advertising’s operating philosophy. “Advertising moved to a financial accounting perspective,” he noted, pointing to the post-WPP era that prioritised financial metrics and consolidation over creative culture.
The consequence, he suggested, has been a dilution of entrepreneurial energy and agency identity. Legacy names have disappeared into global mergers while local markets often remain unable to influence international decision-making despite strong growth trajectories. “We’ve had the worst of both worlds,” Desai observed.
Yet amid disruption, optimism remains. The emergence of founder-led independent agencies and creator-driven models could offer advertising a new blueprint. Desai pointed to entrepreneurship as a positive shift—one that brings 'skin in the game' back into the business.
He also challenged agencies to rethink talent itself. Rather than relying solely on traditional employment structures, agencies could evolve into creative ecosystems—harnessing distributed talent and becoming enablers of the broader creator economy.
The larger message was clear: advertising’s future will not be secured by awards, scale or legacy structures. It will depend on whether the industry can rediscover its entrepreneurial instinct, creative conviction and willingness to rebuild itself for a radically different world.
