The September issue of Manifest is out now. 

In the lead issue this month, we question the use of celebrities in Indian advertising and whether there is an overkill.

Part of our monthly focus on marketers, Pidilite Industries' CMO, Sandeep Tanwani, chats about how the brand is looking to balance brand heritage with new-age formats.

Pallavi Chakravarti, founder, and chief creative officer, Fundamental, discusses why she left a network to launch her agency, the current state of advertising, and more.

OneIndia's chief business officer, Sunder Venketraman, explains how the news platform is operating on the 'power of native search', while also discussing its mission to scale without losing cultural authenticity.

Further,  there is a chat with Sameer Nair, MD, Applause Entertainment, about the current state of content creation, and the need for 'bold, yet responsible' storytelling.

Wondrlab's recently appointed CCO and managing partner, Hemant Shringy, talks about his role at the agency. He's joined by Amit Akali, who takes on the role of chief mentor, and Rakesh Hinduja, co-founder and managing partner. 

In the 'Perspective' column, Ramesh Narayan (Canco Advertising) and Sai Karthik (Talented) debate whether festive advertising should stand for selling or celebrating.

In our podcast series, 'Marketing Manifest Stations with Manasi', host Manasi Narasimhan chats with Pankaj Parwanda, co-founder, goSTOPS, on the inspiration and the journey of building a new travel category.

Our focus on healthcare and pharma continues, with Praful Akali, founder and MD, Medulla Communications, is in conversation with Taffy Ledesma, who recently joined the agency as it kickstarted its operations in Singapore. Ledesma shares learnings from when he worked on the client side with J&J, Reckitt and Unilever, among others.

There's also a special focus on how Adfactors PR sharpened its media outreach for SA20. 

We also analyse how Havas Media and Catch Spices built a sustained brand narrative. 

There's also a deep-dive into how Tata Motors is looking to redefine trucking in India.

In the 'Her Take' column, Shai Samtaney, discusses the power of soundscapes.

Adyasha Roy Tomar, creative director, McCann Worldgroup India, discusses how brands are trying to 'heal' consumers with her usual wit.

Ruchi Sharma, founder and chief creative officer, HumanSense (Sri Lanka), states how the festive season can turn out to be India's very own 'Super Bowl' moment for the advertising industry.

Hayden Scott, creative head, Virtue Asia, features in the 'Rapid Fire' section.

And, we also reveal the winner of the first 'back page ad contest' rolled out by Manifest, in partnership with Centrick.

Get the September issue here!

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