The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many sectors into hyperdrive. Not just by spawning growth in usage, but also by bringing about an enhanced focus on these sectors. One such sector, seeing the largest amount of focus right now, has been education. Education, as a sector, has been seeing large-scale disruption for a while, but now, it seems like it's reached an inflection point, as we are now understanding how digital learning can change the face of education the world over. This week, Varun is jo...
May 05, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 75
When one says 'TikTok', what comes to mind is all the fun, dance, comedy, and other user generated content that we're all so addicted to consuming. But, where is this platform headed? And what makes it so addictive? On this episode, Varun is joined by Jacob Pace, CEO, Flighthouse, a company which has essentially been building the next stage of content creation on TikTok. Looking at their model and how Jacob has built his company, may give a peak as to where the growth of TikTok is headed in the ...
Apr 28, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 74
The last month or so, has been one of the most disruptive times for the way we work, communicate and live. And not just as individuals or people, but even as entire businesses and industries. This has led to a series of trends and changes that might shape and mould the fabric of the way we do things in the medium and long term. This week, Varun Duggirala is joined by Karthik Srinivasan, Communications Consultant, who has held various senior positions across Ogilvy, Edelman, among others, to disc...
Apr 21, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 73
We are living in a time of tremendous disruption. Yet, it's also an interesting time because it is making us sit back and reassess how we function, both, as businesses and as people, or rather, how we function as businesses with our people. This week, Varun is joined by Ankur Warikoo, Co-founder, Nearbuy, to talk about the things he's been talking about for a while, namely, how work culture should function, how we should look at failures, how we should be looking at connecting each and every per...
Apr 14, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 72
We live our lives on social media. That's been true for a while now. However, over the last couple of weeks (or even over the last couple of months for some people), during this global lockdown, social media has taken a whole different role - it has substituted what we ourselves cannot do right now. It does seem like if we did not have Instagram (and other social networks) it would have been even more difficult, if not impossible, to get through what we're all going through. So, on this episode,...
Apr 07, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Think about this new normal we're in, and then think about the boundaries that we've had for years that have been shattered as we're stuck within the boundaries of our homes. We've always had the tools to work remotely, to be able to collaborate from different places, to be able to work from home, but still, for years we thought that we had to be physically present for these processes. But do we anymore? Do we really believe that after all of this is over, we won't end up keeping hold of a lot o...
Mar 31, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Self-quarantine time does not mean that it's an off time for questions about advertising. Those never cease, and so, nor do we! On this episode, while stuck at home under quarantine, Varun answers some more of your AMA questions regarding advertising and content, about the current and also about what the future holds for the industry. Questions like, how agencies can prepare and adapt for times like these, how freelancers can survive during this COVID-19 situation, what options can they explore,...
Mar 24, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Most brands today talk about 'purpose' as being central to what they need their brand to be. This is driven primarily by the fact that consumers today demand purpose from the brands whom they interact with, purchase, or make part of their world in various ways. This week, Varun is joined by Sarvesh Shashi, Founder and CEO, Sarva, who's entire business is built on purpose - and the purpose is wellness.. Sarvesh talks about his love for cricket, adventure sports & theatre, dancing professional...
Mar 17, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 68
As an advertiser, Varun ends up meeting people who have interesting stories, job roles and journeys. One such person, with a very interesting perspective, is Tarika Soni, the Head of Commercial Strategy & Ad Monetisation, Snap Inc. We often don't realize how vital a part of our lives the camera has become. On this episode, Varun talks to Tarika about the power of the camera, the things that Snap is doing in the space, and her perspective on the entire ecosystem and how the whole space has ev...
Mar 10, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 67
A lot of us are interested in advertising as a career and business. It's an exciting industry with endless possibilities. But we all have tons of questions regarding it. How does it all work? On this episode, Varun Duggirala, with the help of some of his guests from previous episodes, answers your AMA questions. So tune in for some great insights into the world of advertising, only on Advertising Is Dead. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instagram @varunduggi. Talk to Harshil Karia on Inst...
Mar 03, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 66
This week, Varun is joined by comedian Kunal Rao, who talks about being an introvert and how finding that out changed a lot of things in his life for the better. They also discuss Kunal's Amazon Special 'Done', how it was possibly ahead of it's times, why Kunal despises ad agencies so much and his three big goals for 2020. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instagram @varunduggi. Talk to Kunal Rao on Twitter and Instagram @kunalrao. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the ...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Managing young workforces, building businesses around them, and constantly keeping those businesses evolving for what the industry requires is no easy task, and it's only gotten more and more complex over the last decade or so. But, in some ways, it's gotten simpler as well. This week, Varun talks to Harshil Karia, Founder & MD at Schbang, and CEO at Proof Analytics India, to talk about how to build, grow and evolve digital businesses, and where he sees the marketing ecosystem going in the n...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 64
The term 'pursuing your passion' is used very often and is very loosely bandied about. We should realise, that for most creative folks, the term should be 'passions' (plural), and not 'passion' . This is because creative people usually have multiple things that they really enjoy, and in some cases, they don't necessarily want to turn it into a career. In some cases, they do want to turn it into a career. But some find a crossover. They're called 'professional fans'. This week, on this Crossover ...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 63
There are trends in marketing that we don't think of as trends in marketing, because of how entertaining or engaging they are. Memes and meme content comes in that category. Meme culture isn't going away anytime soon. They're a great visual way to show a joke or humorous content. Just ask the guests on this episode - Pulkit Kochar and Viraj Ghelani, Content Creators, Pocket Aces. Varun talks to these funny, young and vital creators about content creation, how to get started in content creation, ...
Feb 04, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 62
A great thing about this age of the internet is that we get to voice a point-of-view, as well as create content around it. But, can the point-of-view be expanded into larger pieces of content? A category of content creator that has seen it's ups and downs, from a period of being too diplomatic, where it became all about numbers and not about the piece of content being reviewed, to a more recent time, which has seen a crop of voices come up that do put a strong and engaging point-of-view across, ...
Jan 28, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Why is there a need to do this long overdue AMA episode, you ask? It's because you all asked some interesting questions that Varun felt needed to be addressed. On this episode, Varun is joined by Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch, for an AMA episode. where the two of them answer questions sent in by fans and listeners. What kind of skills are relevant in the advertising and content industry today? How can one reach out to brands? Is it better to learn the skill or learn the market? Tune in to find ...
Jan 21, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Developing the design, determining the visuals, figuring out how the content fits as a part of the project, etc., are all innate parts of being a creator. Our tendency, however, is to put people into buckets, into categories, whether they're a photographer, or an artist, or a visual designer. But what has become the hallmark of a 'new-age' creator, is to be able dabble in all of it! Joining host Varun Duggirala today is Avinash Jai Singh, photographer & film-maker, to talk about how to live ...
Jan 14, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Happy New Year folks! :) How can one build experiences that the young feel they can relate to, while not being pandered to? To understand that, why not start out this year with a talk on youth-culture? On this first episode of the New Year, host Varun sits down with Anto Philip and Shreyans Jain, the co-founders of Under 25 and the Under 25 Summit, to talk about how Under 25 came to be, and it's goals. The Summit aims to brigde the gap between aspiring youngsters and their inspirations. They als...
Jan 07, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 58
There are periods that are called the golden years of a brands marketing and these ebb and flow. There are also those who facilitate these waves, not just on one brand or company, but push boundaries and generate brand value as they change roles and industries. Many like this have also moved in recent years to taking all this understanding to create value for startup’s, as they work towards creating these golden waves for themselves. One such wave rider and facilitator is Lloyd Mathias. On this ...
Dec 24, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Artists have a central ethos within which they build their art form. This has also led many artists to build entire businesses, that are centred around that very ethos. This practice of building businesses around artists has most times been facilitated by those who’ve helped them cross the first arc of being successful, and then progressed to this next stage in their evolution. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by the Co-Founder and Business Head at Gully Gan...
Dec 17, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 56
One of the common misconceptions about the disruption in the advertising and marketing space is the fact that this is all about social platforms and content creation. However, the underlying fact is that the influx of availability of data and its analysis play a major role in the ecosystem. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by the Chief Digital Officer at Hansa Cequity, Nishad Ramachandran as they speak about how one makes the transition from being in a tradi...
Dec 10, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 55
We live in a time where there are so many platforms to consume content, but so many times we end up scrolling through and taking more time to decide what we want to watch instead of actually watching something. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by the Founder and CEO of MUBI, Efe Çakarel, as they talk about the initiation and development of MUBI as a content platform. This episode gives an overview of how MUBI hand-curates cinema to give the audience somethin...
Dec 03, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 54
When you talk about the creator economy, it started with a bunch of people creating content and sharing it with the world. All the barriers that were there to create content 10 years ago don't exist anymore. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by Ranveer Allahbadia, better known as Beer Biceps, Youtuber and Co-Founder of Monk Entertainment. They talk about his growth in the content economy and his future endeavours. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instag...
Nov 26, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Casting is so crucial for anything you want to create as everything else is what you're adding on to it. They speak about how despite the best location, equipment or crew, if the actor cant perform on camera, you're not going to get the product you wantThe script and the performer are the two things that hold any piece of content together. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by renowned Casting Director, Tess Joseph, as they speak about how the script and the p...
Nov 19, 2019•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 52
With the emergence of new media and the digital age, at times its best that brands have a publishers mindset. With content taking various forms and shapes, brands and agencies have had to adapt to keep up with this new wave of media. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by Co-Founder and CEO of ScoopWhoop, Sattvik Mishra. They talk about how Sattvik and his 2 friends from advertising became accidental entrepreneurs because of their love for content in this era. ...
Nov 12, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 51
With the introduction of apps such as Instagram and Snapchat, the world of social media has morphed into a completely different one. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by comedian Rohan Joshi and co-host of Agla Station Adulthood - Rytasha Rathore, as they spoke about the use of social media and how its impact is taking over our lives and attention spans. As this is AID's half century, we thought it would be a great idea to do a live recording at the offices o...
Nov 05, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 50
On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by an old friend and Head of Agency Partnerships and Creative Services at Google India, Aditya Swamy. They discuss his journey in the advertising industry, where they speak about the learnings he obtained from each different brand he has worked at, and where he is now. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instagram @varunduggi Talk to Aditya Swamy on Twitter @aswamy and Instagram @adeeswamy You can listen to this show and o...
Oct 29, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Audio is having its moment. There was a time when a marketer's plan would generally have a lot of video or print, with audio just a small supporting element. Nevertheless, that trend has changed and audio has gained newfound importance. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by Akshat Harbola from Spotify India as they discuss the growth of audio and podcasts in India. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instagram @varunduggi Talk to Akshat Harbola on Twitter a...
Oct 22, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 48
One of the pivotal pieces across the media, advertising, and entertainment landscape is the director. The director is at the center of everything to realize the vision of every aspect, be it the brand, the agency, platform, or medium. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by director Angshuman Ghosh as they speak about how the world is changed in recent times for directors and anyone creating creative content. Talk to Varun Duggirala on Twitter and Instagram @var...
Oct 15, 2019•54 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Mental Health has gained more importance through the years, and for a long time we have been looking at surface level solutions to tackle those problems. Although it can be said that we have a better understanding of mental health than we did before, we still need to find and implement better ways to deal with it. On this episode of Advertising is Dead, host Varun Duggirala is joined by clinical psychologist Sonali Gupta, as they discuss ways to build a support system for people in the workplace...
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 46
