When DCODE was first launched in 2025, the ambition was to bring greater structure to India’s rapidly evolving digital marketing ecosystem. Developed by DS Group in collaboration with WPP Media, DCODE 1.0 was positioned as a comprehensive playbook bringing together frameworks, processes, tools and templates across key areas of digital marketing, from paid media and performance marketing to social media, influencer marketing, SEO and online reputation management. The objective was to create a practical, open-access resource that could help marketers navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape.
A year on, the second edition, DCODE 2.0, arrives in a markedly different digital environment. AI has moved from being an emerging technology to influencing content, search, performance, consumer discovery and media planning, while platforms such as quick commerce, retail media and connected TV have opened up new avenues for brands. The latest edition, created in collaboration with WPP Media and MICA, therefore builds on the first playbook while adding AI and further frameworks, tools and templates. DS Group has described DCODE 2.0 as the second edition of its digital marketing playbook, with the launch scheduled at MICA’s Ahmedabad campus.
Against this backdrop, IMPACT Magazine spoke with Navin Khemka, President, Client Solutions, WPP Media South Asia, and Rajeev Jain, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing, DS Group, to discuss what has changed since the first edition and what marketers need to rethink as digital behaviour evolves.
Read the edited excerpts below:
Q. Having worked on both editions, what is the most revealing finding in DCODE 2.0 that you did not see coming when the first edition was being developed and what does it tell us about how fundamentally digital marketing has changed in the last year?
Jain: In DCODE 1.0, we had not included AI. But over the last year, AI has played an important role across almost every aspect of media, making its inclusion essential this year. The core digital sections remain the same: paid media, performance marketing, e-commerce, social media, influencer marketing, SEO and RM, but AI now cuts across all of them. SEO, for instance, is moving towards GEO, while AI is also being used extensively in paid media, performance marketing and content development. Last year, we were still learning about AI, but had already decided it would need to be part of the next edition. Since then, existing practices have evolved, more tools and analytics have emerged, and we have refined the guide with new frameworks, tools and templates. We have also brought MICA into the initiative so the playbook benefits industry professionals, marketers and students.
Khemka: As Jain said, including AI was important given how much it has evolved over the last year. ChatGPT is now open for advertising, with brands lining up to advertise on the platform, reflecting the acceptance of new mediums and the growing trust and time consumers are giving LLMs. AI has also almost replaced conventional search. In many cases, the next click is not there at all, with the experience moving into conversations. It is therefore important for marketers, students and everyone in the digital ecosystem to understand these changes. DCODE 2.0 could not have been timed better.
Q. What does MICA bring to DCODE 2.0, and how does its inclusion change the way the playbook is developed?
Khemka: Earlier, we had DS Group, a prestigious marketer, and WPP Media, a globally top-notch agency with best-in-class tools and techniques. This time, when I spoke to Jain, we wanted to bring an educational institution into the mix. MICA will help us validate the empirical frameworks, ensuring that this freely downloadable book is not just tactical advice or a one-off exercise, but a structured curriculum for students, marketers and practitioners to make part of their daily lives. It also brings the authenticity and credibility of an institution at the forefront of digital technology today.
Q. DCODE 2.0 talks about mapping the consumer journey as a continuous loop rather than a funnel. What does this mean, and what is the biggest mistake brands still make when planning media around the journey?
Khemka: The consumer journey today is no longer a linear awareness-to-purchase journey. It is an interconnected loop driven by constant discovery. You could be on a quick-commerce app, discover a product, research it, buy it and have it delivered within 10 minutes, with post-purchase behaviour following immediately through social media or WhatsApp. The biggest mistake brands make is allocating budgets too rigidly across the top, middle and bottom of the funnel. Budgets need to be flexible and dynamic, with marketers tracking traction, click-throughs and sales and pivoting quickly. It is an era of dynamic optimisation.
Jain: Last year, 20% of e-commerce purchases were for products consumers had not initially planned to buy, making awareness and consideration more fluid. This varies by category and brand. While consumers may not order impulsive products like Pulse on Blinkit, they can order everyday products like turmeric and have them delivered within 10 minutes. We see stronger e-commerce sales for spices than confectionery products such as Pulse or pasta, showing how differently the consumer journey plays out across categories.
Q. The playbook also refreshes the paid, owned and earned framework. What does this mean for how brands should allocate their marketing budgets today?
Khemka: Paid media today has to go beyond traditional channels, with retail media, quick-commerce sponsored grids and CTV emerging as important options. There are now 60 million CTV households and over 150 million individuals watching CTV. Owned media is no longer limited to websites and apps, with structured content, consumer data platforms (CDPs) and automated messaging channels also playing a role. AI is shaping how brands are represented, making GEO, or generative engine optimisation, important. On earned media, brands need to look beyond PR and releases, with creators and affiliates helping build credibility. Together, these changes are reshaping how brands allocate budgets across paid, owned and earned media.
Q. With agentic commerce allowing consumers to compare, review and purchase without visiting a commerce platform, how could this affect the value of Q-commerce as an advertising medium?
Khemka: E-commerce was already quite mature in India, while Q-commerce is the new kid on the block and has grown rapidly. It has enabled the discovery and purchase of newer brands in a very short period. What remains to be seen is how much incremental value it will drive. This can come from existing consumers buying products they did not buy earlier, or from bringing new users onto the platform. At the same time, Q-commerce could be cannibalising modern trade and physical retail. Data already indicates some slowdown in incremental user growth, particularly as platforms find it harder to penetrate smaller towns and cities. Time will tell whether Q-commerce creates incremental growth or replaces existing channels. There is also a monetisation question. Marketers are paying what we call a ‘shelf tax’ to be listed on these platforms, but will that drive incremental sales or simply help brands maintain market share? That is a question marketers are still grappling with.
Jain: Q-commerce and e-commerce are growing rapidly, but in FMCG, approximately 70% of sales still come from general trade. Modern trade and e-commerce are also growing, although this varies by category. Some brands perform better on Q-commerce and e-commerce because of the nature of their category. The consumer journey today is complex, with touchpoints across Q-commerce, e-commerce, OTT, YouTube, TV, billboards, merchandising and more. As marketers, we have to consider the brand, objective, target audience and category when allocating budgets.
Q-commerce and e-commerce are valuable because they capture consumers at the point of intent and can drive direct conversion. But brand building remains important for developing trust and credibility. Paid media can drive sales, owned media gives brands greater control over consumers, and earned media builds trust. So, while we are investing more in Q-commerce and e-commerce, brands also need to continue investing in brand building and consumer connections.
Q. Rajiv, how is DS Group optimising for AI platforms?
Jain: AI is playing a role across content, tactical advertising and consumer understanding. It helps us produce videos and static posts faster and at a lower cost for moment marketing, festival and promotional campaigns, while we continue to use conventional approaches for long-format brand-building ads to build long-term consumer relationships. AI also helps us understand consumer sentiment through organic conversations across social media, blogs and other platforms, identify the right consumers, assess creative performance, optimise impressions, and support consumer profiling, content development, optimisation and prediction.
Q. Naveen, what aspects of consumer behaviour should marketers be careful about leaving to AI and algorithms?
Khemka: One of the most important things is brand identity and the guardrails around it. Brand identity is built over time, so what the brand stands for needs to be protected. Consumers are emotionally connected to brands, making how a brand shows up, what it says and how it speaks important. Emotional nuance and cultural context are particularly important in India. Whether it is a traditional, modern or D2C brand, the look and feel need to remain intact. AI can be unexpected, but it needs to operate within these guardrails, with marketers and agencies keeping a close eye and taking corrective action when required.
Q.Platforms like Meta and Google have access to vast amounts of data and performance tools. Where can agencies add a distinct layer to consumer and audience strategy?Khemka: Currently, there is no unified data on digital. The problem is that different data sets do not speak to each other. Brands may feel they are targeting the same consumer across platforms, when they could actually be wasting exposure. Agencies play an important role in connecting these dots and recommending the right budget, media, platform and content mix, while efficiently running campaigns. Unless we have a unified data stream where everything is brought together, I do not see this changing in the short term. Given the fragmentation today, the role of agencies is therefore even more important.
Q. Digital marketing is built around measurable actions. What are today's measurement systems failing to capture?
Khemka: Today's platforms provide more data than we have ever had for targeting and understanding consumers. The biggest challenge is that this data still operates in silos. We do not have unified data across digital. Once we have that, as we do with traditional media, we can plan better, reduce wastage and measure incrementality. Incrementality is critical because budgets are limited. We want to know whether moving investment from one platform to another is delivering incremental users, sales and value. Until platforms provide that unified view, marketers and agencies have to develop their own ways of measuring incrementality and deciphering the data available to them.
Q. After developing DCODE 2.0, what assumptions should marketers rethink about digital marketing over the next few years?
Jain: Digital marketing is evolving rapidly. Earlier, we used to make an annual plan. We still do that, but it mainly provides the overall direction, strategy and opportunities. Our strategy and execution across different media and consumer behaviours need to be reviewed much more frequently. DCODE 2.0 builds on what we covered last year, with further refinement and new technologies and tools, including AI. Marketers and agencies have to keep themselves updated with changing trends and leverage these developments accordingly. AI, in particular, can be highly disruptive as it advances.
