The March 2026 issue of Manifest is now available for purchase.

The lead story features Adyasha Roy Tomar (Kult), Babita Baruah (VML), Farah Kapadia (Kulfi Collective), Harshada Menon (DDB), Mithila Saraf (Famous Innovations), Sonal Chhajerh (Leo), and Vandana Tilwani (Havas) discussing whether the industry has fixed its gender problem or simply rebranded the conversation around it.

During her visit to India for the agency's annual gathering of creatives, Liz Taylor, global chief creative officer, Ogilvy, spoke to Manifest about the importance of being hard on the work, not the people. She also reflected on the challenges of being a working mother in the industry and why setting boundaries is essential.

Following the Effie win, Rajdeepak Das, chief creative officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia, and chairperson Leo, South Asia, chatted with us to reveal how the agency's consistency was key. There's also a special focus on the agency, post the win, with Amitesh Rao, CEO, South Asia, Leo, Publicis Health and Publicis Business, defining creative effectiveness.

Also in India last month was Christian de La Villehuchet, global head - integration and investments, Havas. We caught up with him to understand whether it was a routine visit or one to announce an acquisition, while also picking his brains about changing remuneration models for agencies.

Amrita Pandey, CEO, Junglee Pictures, explained consumers' evolving business habits in the 'media' section.

In the 'creative' section, Amy Kean, CEO and creative director, Good Shout (UK), has a candid conversation in which she discusses why women should focus on being 'unlikeable'.

Rubeena Singh, MD, NP Digital India, and Hridaye A Nagpal, content strategy lead, invideo, debate about the 'battle in the AI arena', with a focus on whether chatbots should be running ads on them following different strategies from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Elsewhere, tgthr's Aalap Desai shares the first of his 'unpopular columns' - this one talks about whether the love in advertising is lost or not.

Famous Innovations' Mithila Saraf also talks about the Martin Sorrell era and states that advertising continues to pay a price for it.

The 'Pharma and Healthcare' section has a different look to it as Praful Akali catches up with Kainaz Karmakar, jury president for 'Health and Wellness' at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2026, and Pallavi Chakravarti, founder and chief creative officer, Fundamental. They discuss how agencies are approaching the category and why it deserves a more ambitious creative lens.

Adyasha Roy Tomar writes about the state of the industry with her usual wit, this time focusing on why marketing doesn't need more colours, but needs a spine and less Canva, giving it a Holi twist.

In its March 2025 issue, Manifest, along with Indian Creative Women (ICW), pledged to work towards equal gender representation in its coverage. This issue carries an update on that commitment—along with a new pledge. There's also a column from ICW, including a note from its 1325+ members on how an industry without barriers can be built.

Ruchi Sharma writes about how Women's Day without allyship can be labelled noise.

We also have comprehensive coverage from Vogue Values: Women of Excellence that was held in Mumbai in early February.

There's a special focus on First December Films, how Adfactors worked with WeWork India ahead of its IPO, and V-Guard banking on Havas' integrated approach to engage with 'connected consumers'. 

Our Marketing Manifest Stations with Manasi podcast continues with Anurag Jagati, EVP and head - business, 99acres, decoding shifting homebuyer dynamics.

Vikas Nair, VP and head-marketing, Century Real Estate Holdings, appears in our 'Rapid Fire' section.

There's also coverage from two Good Ads Matter roundtables. The CCO panel features Aakash Shah (One Hand Clap), Josy Paul (BBDO), Malvika Mehra (Dinshaw's), Pallavi Chakravarti (Fundamental), Raj Kamble (Famous Innovations), Rajdeepak Das (Leo), and Vishal Dayama (Braindad). The moderator was Mayur Hola (Swiggy).

The directors' roundtable was moderated by Sneha Type (Nirvana Films) and featured Afshan Hussain Shaikh (Not Bad Films), Akanksha Seda (Good Morning Films), Amit Sharma (Chrome Pictures), Indrashish Mukherjee (Footloose Films), Rahul Bharti (Sun City Studios), Sukriti Tyagi (independent director), and Vinil Mathew (Breathless Films). 

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