GUEST COLUMN: When marketing stopped shouting and started working

MUMBAI: In this guest column, Sameer Joshi and Anindya Ghosh, founders of brand marketing firm Sam & Andy, bring together their combined experience of over 45+ years to reflect on how 2025 reset the rules of marketing and branding. Drawing from careers that span leading global agencies and corporate roles, the duo examine the industry’s shift away from chasing extremes towards balance, focus and fundamentals. They discuss the rise of micro-influencers and micro-dramas, the reversal of content thinking where short formats lead to big ideas, and why the long-standing divide between brand and performance has finally collapsed. The column also explores marketing’s closer alignment with business outcomes, the emergence of quick commerce as a high-intent media platform, the growing relevance of B2B storytelling, and omnichannel becoming hygiene rather than hype. Anchored in an India-first perspective, Joshi and Ghosh argue that growth today is built through system-led thinking, credibility and clarity, making the case that 2025 was not about louder brands, but about clearer ones. 

If 2025 taught the marketing and branding industry anything, it was this: growth no longer comes from chasing extremes. It comes from balance, focus and a return to fundamentals.

This was the year marketers stopped looking for silver bullets and started building systems that actually work. 

One of the clearest shifts was the rise of micro-influencers and micro-dramas. Influence is no longer defined by scale alone. Brands increasingly leaned on smaller, credible voices that speak to specific communities with authenticity. Alongside this came micro-dramas. Short, episodic content formats designed for attention-fragmented audiences. These weren’t cut-down versions of larger ideas; they were the idea itself. 

This marked a reversal in content thinking. Earlier, brands made long films and edited them into shorter formats. In 2025, the thinking flipped. The six-second or ten-second film became the starting point. If the idea worked, it earned the right to scale up. Even film promotions followed this model. Movies were marketed through hundreds of short reels that gradually pulled audiences into theatres. Everything small now leads to something bigger. 

Another long-standing debate finally lost relevance: brand versus performance. The industry realised that these are not opposing forces. Performance without brand hits a ceiling. Brand without performance lacks accountability. The most effective marketers treated them as one system, not two separate mandates. Legacy brands demonstrated this balance well, proving that sustained growth requires both short-term efficiency and long-term meaning. 

This shift also moved marketing closer to the business core. Marketing conversations increasingly happened in revenue rooms, not just creative reviews. Banks, startups and large enterprises began expecting solutions, not just campaigns. Marketing was no longer measured by what it said, but by what it delivered. 

A major structural shift came from the rise of quick commerce as a media platform. Media budgets didn’t vanish; they migrated. High-intent environments where discovery and transaction coexist became far more valuable than passive reach. Quick commerce platforms evolved from distribution channels into powerful influence points, reshaping how brands think about visibility and timing. B2B marketing also came into its own. It moved beyond relationship-led selling and embraced visibility, storytelling and relevance. Decision-makers are people first, not designations. B2B brands began competing for attention, not just access, recognising that mental availability shortens sales cycles. 

On the distribution front, omnichannel stopped being a buzzword and became hygiene. Digital-native brands acknowledged the power of physical presence, while traditional brands strengthened on digital platforms, sometimes offering products unavailable anywhere else. Growth now sits at the intersection of offline trust and online convenience. 

At a broader level, India itself underwent a branding shift. The country is no longer content being just a manufacturer or exporter. There is a growing understanding that markets are created through narratives, not just capacity. Indian businesses, from commodities to consumer brands, recognised the need to build brands with global relevance. The industry also witnessed consolidation and fragmentation at the same time. Large agency networks merged and streamlined, while independent agencies thrived by being agile and fearless. 
Scale and specialisation now coexist. 

Trust became non-negotiable. Brand crises this year showed that audiences expect honesty, speed and accountability. Saying sorry early proved more powerful than explaining later. Authenticity stopped being a value statement and became a survival skill. 

Looking ahead, several signals are clear. Media platforms will be judged harder on real business impact. AI-led discovery will reshape search and commerce. Categories like jewellery will see clearer articulation of purpose; natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds and gold will coexist, each with its own reason to exist rather than competing for the same space. 

Politically and economically, change is inevitable. But fundamentals remain unchanged. Brands that win will be those that focus on clarity, consistency and credibility. 

One myth, however, needs retiring: the disappearance of the Indian middle class. It hasn’t vanished; it has evolved. The middle class is no longer a single income band, it is a mindset. Writing it off is not insight; it is misreading India. 

2025 wasn’t about louder brands. It was about clearer ones.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.