This masterclass by Santosh Desai explores the intricate relationships between branding, culture, technology, and change. It delves into the future, specifically within the Indian context. It offers insights into navigating the evolving landscape and understanding the forces shaping India’s future
We’re living in wild times. Technology’s flipping everything we know upside down, and brands? They’re scrambling to figure out where they fit. Let’s unpack Santosh Desai’s wisdom. We will explore topics from reimagining jewelry to wrestling with AI’s chaos. What does it mean for us all?
What If Brands Were the Heart of Everything?
Santosh doesn’t see brands as shiny ads or catchy slogans. To him, they’re alive—pulsing at the core of a company. Take Tanishq, a jewellery brand he flipped from a wannabe European trinket-seller to an Indian cultural icon.
The Old Way: Tanishq started as “Tiffany of the East”—18-karat gold, sleek designs, aimed at Europeans. In India? That flopped hard. No one cared.
The Shift: Santosh’s team dug deep—mythology, retail vibes, even jewelry historians. They realized jewelry isn’t fashion here; it’s culture, legacy, emotion.
The Win: Tanishq became about revitalizing tradition. Think wedding jewelry with a modern twist—ads like the remarriage one that hit you right in the feels.
“Brands are the heart of the organization, not just the face. They are the way an organization imagines itself.” That’s Santosh’s mantra. Brands aren’t skin-deep—they’re the soul, shaping everything from design to hiring. Mind-blowing, right?
Insights -Is One Big ‘Aha!’ Worth a Million Data Points?
Santosh is obsessed with insights—not number-crunching, but those gut-punch truths that make you go, “Oh, damn, that’s it.” For Tanishq, it wasn’t just data; it was a worldview.
How It Worked: They studied everything—gold’s meaning, retail’s abundance code, even Bollywood’s jewelry obsession. Patterns emerged, not deductions.
The Insight: “Jewellery is culture, not fashion.” Simple, but it shifted Tanishq from outsider to insider.
Why It Matters: Santosh says you need a broad lens to solve specific problems. Data’s cool, but wisdom? That’s gold.
Quote: “Insights very often require a general worldview to answer specific questions.” It’s like he’s saying: zoom out to zoom in. Ever tried that in your own life?
Is Gen Z Rewriting the Rules of Connection?
“Gen Z: Rebels or Just Misunderstood?”
Gen Z isn’t just kids with phones—they’re a cultural earthquake. Santosh calls them a “disruption,” and brands better listen up.
What They Want: Authenticity, not ads. They’re cynical, suspicious, but craving something real to believe in.
The Paradox: They’re hyper-individual (thanks, tech!) yet care about big stuff—sustainability, change, fairness.
Brand Challenge: Be a partner, not a preacher. Help them express their messy, fluid identities.
Verbatim: “This is a generation that needs to invent concepts before living them.” Santosh gets it—they’re inventing who they are on the fly. Brands that fake it? They’re toast.
Does Technology Connect Us or Rip Us Apart?
Tech’s a sneaky beast, Santosh says. It promises connection but delivers isolation. Look at your phone—it’s a personal universe, but it’s also a wall.
The Shift: Before, phones called a house. Now, they call you. You’re the center of everything—cool, but lonely.
The Cost: Our bodies? Redundant. We’re fingertips on screens, not full humans anymore.
The Flip Side: Royal Enfield nails it—motorcycles make you feel alive, raw, primal. Verbatim: “Every mobile phone is like a story, a novel of my relationship with the universe.”
Will AI Kill Creativity or Force Us to Dig Deeper?
AI’s here, and it’s freaking us out. Santosh isn’t scared—it’s just pushing us to rethink creativity.
The Threat: AI churns out perfect stuff fast. A presentation in seconds? Done. But it’s soulless.
The Opportunity: We’ll value the human mess more—lived experiences, not just outputs.
The Future: Maybe creativity becomes performance—raw, real, in-the-moment stuff machines can’t fake.
Quote: “What we call creative will change. What we value will change.”
Santosh bets on authenticity winning out. Machines can’t cry, laugh, or bleed—not yet, anyway.
Can Brands Heal a Broken World? “Are Brands Our New Priests?”
In a world where journalism’s a joke and trust’s crumbling, Santosh sees brands stepping up. Not as saviors, but as anchors.
The Void: We’re running out of things to believe in. Advertising’s oddly more believable than news now.
The Power: Brands like Safola (heart health oil) went from grim reaper vibes to playful mortality games—real, relatable, human.
The Hope: If brands get real, they can help us make sense of the chaos.
Verbatim: “The market has the chance to be more authentic.”
Santosh’s throwing down a gauntlet—brands, be the truth we need.
Conclusion: The Heart of It All
Brands aren’t just selling stuff—they’re shaping culture, wrestling tech, and chasing Gen Z’s wild energy. The trick? Stay human. Be authentic.
Dig deep. Tanishq is reviving tradition. Royal Enfield roars with primal joy. AI forces us to rethink creativity. The future’s wide open. Brands that get it will thrive. The rest? They’ll just fade into the noise.
Santosh Desai is one of India’s most insightful cultural commentators. He is also a brilliant branding mind. He is known for his ability to decode the everyday with rare clarity and wit. A columnist, author, and thought leader, he currently serves as the Managing Director and CEO of Futurebrands India. Santosh has decades of experience in advertising. His tenure as President of McCann Erickson India is part of this experience. He brings both strategic depth and cultural intuition to the world of brands.
He is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. He is widely recognized for his weekly column City City Bang Bang in The Times of India. In his column, he explores the quirks, contradictions, and evolving aspirations of modern India. His bestselling book, Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense of Everyday India, is a brilliant portrait of middle-class life. It is filled with insight and humour.
Jagged with Jasravee, the Marketing Show 
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