New Delhi: Senior marketing leader Karan Kumar has concluded his tenure as Chief Marketing Officer at Hero Realty, marking the close of an important chapter in a career spanning more than 25 years across marketing, brand building and business transformation.

During his time at Hero Realty, Kumar played a key role in strengthening the company’s marketing function, advancing its brand strategy and accelerating its digital marketing capabilities. Prior to Hero Realty, he held leadership roles across organizations including ITC, Fabindia, DLF and ART Fertility Clinics, leading business growth and brand transformation across multiple sectors.

Kumar is now entering the next phase of his professional journey, where he is exploring new opportunities while laying the foundations for an independent advisory platform focused on business growth, marketing transformation and leadership. More details about the platform and future collaborations are expected to be shared in the coming months.

Reflecting on the transition, Kumar said, “The most rewarding part of my career has been helping organizations navigate moments of growth and transformation. This next chapter is about bringing those experiences to a wider set of businesses while remaining open to opportunities where I can help create meaningful business impact at scale.”

Further announcements regarding Kumar’s advisory platform and future collaborations are expected later this year.

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Vibin Babuurajan, Co-founder, Epic Slope Partners

As AI reshapes the marketing landscape, B2B companies are rethinking how they generate demand, engage buyers, and measure growth. In this interaction with India Communication Forum, Vibin Babuurajan, Co-founder of Epic Slope Partners, shares his views on building an AI-native agency, the evolution of B2B SaaS marketing in India, common mistakes founders make, and why experienced marketers—not AI—will continue to drive business outcomes.

Tell us about your journey and what led you to found Epic Slope Partners.

I’ve always been fascinated by advertising. As a kid, I loved coming up with slogans, even before I knew there was an entire profession built around it. That curiosity eventually led me into marketing, and I’ve now spent over 14 years working across different areas of the field.

The idea behind Epic Slope Partners came directly from my experience as a marketer. I worked with several agencies over the years and noticed a recurring pattern. The most experienced people would lead the pitch, build confidence during the sales process, and then, once the engagement began, junior team members would take over the account. There were many situations where I felt I understood the subject better than the person managing the work.

That experience shaped the way we built Epic Slope Partners. We wanted clients to work with the same senior team from start to finish. The people who build the relationship remain involved throughout the engagement and stay accountable for the outcome.

AI has only strengthened that model. From day one, we’ve viewed AI as a way to make experienced marketers more effective. It handles repetitive work, allowing our team to focus on strategy, execution, and close collaboration with clients while scaling without compromising quality or ownership. 

For someone unfamiliar with Epic Slope Partners, how would you describe what the company does?

Epic Slope Partners helps B2B businesses reach the right buyers wherever they’re searching for solutions. That includes Google Search, LinkedIn, AI search platforms, and other channels that influence purchasing decisions.

Our objective is simple: help companies generate qualified demand that ultimately translates into pipeline and revenue.

How is that different from a traditional marketing agency?

Our focus has always been demanding generation for B2B businesses. We made a conscious decision not to become a full-service agency. We don’t offer social media management, branding, or creative services. Instead, we focus exclusively on the channels that have the greatest impact on pipeline growth and revenue.

We’re also performance-first and AI-native. AI helps our team work faster and more efficiently, enabling us to deliver stronger outcomes without compromising the quality clients expect.

You describe Epic Slope Partners as AI-native. What does that actually mean?

Being AI-native is really about how we operate internally. From a client’s perspective, it shouldn’t make much difference because what ultimately matters is the quality of the work.

We’ve integrated AI into our workflows so it takes care of repetitive tasks. That frees our team to spend more time thinking strategically, solving problems, and focusing on work that genuinely requires experience and judgment.

The end result is the same high-quality work delivered by experienced professionals. AI simply helps us get there faster and more consistently.

Where do you see AI in B2B marketing heading in India?

I believe India has everything it takes to become a global leader in AI-led marketing. We’re already seeing marketers and companies across the country using AI in thoughtful and innovative ways to solve real business challenges.

India has long been recognised for its engineering and technical talent, and I think AI presents an opportunity to build a similar reputation in marketing.

Today’s Indian marketers have greater exposure to global markets than ever before. We have stronger creative capabilities, a deeper understanding of international audiences, and a solid technical foundation. Put all of that together, and I believe India is uniquely positioned to shape how AI transforms marketing over the coming years.

What kind of results have you delivered for clients?

We’ve had the opportunity to work with companies at different stages of growth, including several that crossed $1 million, $5 million, and even $10 million in annual revenue during our partnership.

What we’re most proud of is seeing the channels we manage become major contributors to our clients’ lead generation and sales pipeline. That’s how we measure success because our role isn’t simply to improve visibility—it’s to help businesses grow.

We’re also proud that more than 85% of our 50-plus clients have come through referrals. In many cases, one client has recommended us to another. We believe referrals are earned through consistently delivering on commitments, not requested.

How do you measure success in B2B SaaS marketing, given the long sales cycles?

We track several metrics, but we focus on those that reflect genuine business impact.

At the top of the funnel, we measure the quality and growth of organic traffic. From there, we look at marketing-qualified leads, sales-qualified leads, pipeline, and ultimately the revenue influenced by the channels we manage.

Every B2B business has a different sales cycle. Some deals close within days, while others take six months or longer. That’s why we don’t rely on a single metric. We evaluate the entire customer journey—from attracting the right audience to generating qualified pipeline and revenue.

How has the B2B SaaS marketing landscape in India evolved over the years?

Working at Freshworks was a formative experience for all three of our co-founders. We were fortunate to be part of a company that helped pioneer modern B2B inbound marketing from India while building a global business through inside sales and marketing teams based in Chennai.

Looking at the ecosystem today, the progress has been remarkable. The quality of marketing talent, the depth of expertise, and the overall maturity of the industry have improved significantly. There’s also a much stronger understanding of how to build brands, generate demand, and scale global B2B businesses from India.

I believe the next few years will be even more exciting, with more globally successful B2B companies emerging from India and marketing innovation continuing to accelerate. 

What is one common mistake you see B2B SaaS companies making with their marketing?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a mistake. It’s more of a natural constraint many early-stage companies face. Hiring a senior marketing leader isn’t always practical in the early stages, so companies often rely on a marketing generalist who’s expected to handle everything—from content and SEO to paid campaigns, events, and product marketing.

That approach can work, but it often leaves gaps in areas such as positioning, channel strategy, measurement, and prioritisation.

That’s why I believe early-stage companies benefit from working with an experienced agency or advisor, even if it’s only in a consulting capacity. The objective isn’t to outsource marketing but to leverage experience, proven frameworks, and pattern recognition developed through working with multiple B2B businesses. A few strategic conversations early on can help founders avoid structural mistakes that become much harder to fix later.

What advice would you give a B2B SaaS founder who knows marketing isn’t working but doesn’t know why?

There’s a principle that’s guided my thinking for years: Most sales issues are marketing issues, and most marketing issues are product issues.

Whenever someone tells me their marketing isn’t working, I rarely begin by looking at campaigns. I start with the product. Is the value proposition clear? How does it compare with competitors? Is there meaningful differentiation? Until those fundamentals are in place, even excellent marketing will struggle to produce sustainable results.

Once the product and positioning are clear, I examine the broader marketing strategy. SEO, paid media, LinkedIn, AI search, and email each play different roles, but they should all reinforce the same story and support the same business objectives.

Only then does it make sense to evaluate individual channels. At that point, it’s much easier to identify what’s working, what’s underperforming, and where tactical improvements can deliver the greatest impact.

An experienced agency or advisor often brings an external perspective that helps founders identify structural gaps and prioritise the changes that matter most. 

Where do you see Epic Slope Partners headed from here?

AI is transforming the way marketing teams operate, and we’re already seeing companies build AI-powered tools and agents to automate different parts of the workflow. I believe that trend will continue.

Our perspective, however, is slightly different. We don’t see AI as the product—we see it as infrastructure.

From the beginning, we’ve believed AI should be applied where it genuinely improves speed, consistency, and efficiency. The decisions that require judgment, creativity, and business context should still belong to experienced marketers.

The question we ask isn’t, “Can AI do this?” It’s, “Should AI do this?”

That’s the philosophy we’ve built Epic Slope Partners around, and I don’t see it changing. We want to continue building better ways of working, help our clients grow, and consistently deliver work that earns long-term partnerships and referrals.

At the end of the day, clients don’t hire us because we use AI. They hire us because we help them grow. AI is simply one of the ways we do that better.

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Gurugram, India, July 7th, 2026: MG Motor India has appointed Tarun Mangal as senior manager – digital marketing. In his new role, he will lead the company’s digital marketing initiatives with a focus on consumer engagement, brand visibility and digital campaigns.

Mangal joins MG Motor India from Apollo Tyres, where he served as digital marketing manager. Over the past 11 years, he has worked across leading automotive brands, including Mercedes-Benz India, Kia India and Honda Cars India, gaining experience in digital strategy, media planning, social media and online brand communications.

Based in Gurugram, he will be responsible for driving the company’s social media marketing strategy and supporting customer engagement initiatives across digital platforms.

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~ The new initiative brings marketers together to share real-world AI use cases, experiences and learnings ~

Mumbai, 30^th June 2026: LS Digital, a leading global integrated Digital Business Transformation (DBT) company, has introduced Marketing Rewired, a community-building initiative designed to help marketers navigate the growing complexity around AI by fostering practical knowledge exchange and peer learning.

Recognising that marketers are increasingly looking for practical examples of how AI can be meaningfully applied to solve everyday business and marketing challenges, LS Digital created Marketing Rewired to bridge this gap by bringing together the marketing community to share real-world applications, experiences and learnings that move beyond theory.

As AI continues to reshape every aspect of marketing – from research and strategy to content, media, performance and customer experience, many organisations are moving past experimentation and looking to embed AI into everyday workflows. However, the rapid proliferation of AI tools, platforms and opinions has also created significant noise, making it increasingly difficult for marketers to distinguish between possibilities and practical implementation.

Built around the principle of ‘Real People. Real Use Cases. Real Solutions.’, Marketing Rewired creates a platform where marketing enthusiasts learn from marketers through authentic experiences and practical applications. Each session focuses on one real business challenge and demonstrates how AI is being used to redesign workflows, improve decision-making and deliver meaningful business outcomes. The emphasis is not on theory or hype, but on sharing experiences that others can adapt within their own organisations.

Prasad Shejale, Founder and CEO, LS Digital, said, “As AI becomes an integral part of modern marketing, the greatest opportunity lies in translating its potential into practical business outcomes. Through our own journey of building over 50 AI-native workflows, we’ve gained valuable insights into how AI can transform the way marketing teams work. With Marketing Rewired, we hope to share these learnings with the wider marketing community, encourage meaningful conversations and inspire more marketers to embrace AI with confidence and purpose.” 

Marketing Rewired is a weekly virtual initiative featuring concise 30-minute sessions, each centred around a practical marketing challenge and the AI workflows used to solve it. The inaugural session, scheduled for 1 July 2026, has already received over 100 registrations, reflecting the strong interest among marketing enthusiasts in practical, experience-led conversations around AI.

The initiative reinforces LS Digital’s continued commitment to enabling businesses through digital transformation while contributing to the broader marketing ecosystem by creating opportunities for practitioners to learn from one another and collectively build AI capability.

The post LS Digital introduces Marketing Rewired to help marketers move from AI awareness to practical application appeared first on India Communication Forum.

New offering brings trusted post-bid measurement to audio formats on YouTube

NEW YORK/ NEW DELHI June 12, 2026 — DoubleVerify (“DV”) (NYSE: DV), the leading software platform to verify media quality, optimize advertising performance and prove campaign outcomes, today announced the launch of AI-powered brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, extending DV’s trusted post-bid measurement capabilities to this listening-first format.

As advertisers increasingly allocate dedicated budgets to audio environments, the need for transparency and control continues to grow. With brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, DV helps customers confidently expand into this media category, applying consistent standards and gaining the visibility needed to drive stronger performance.

“As audio consumption continues to grow, advertisers need the same level of transparency and control they expect across the broader digital ecosystem,” said Steven Woolway, EVP of Business Development at DoubleVerify . “With AI-powered brand suitability measurement, we’re extending the same trusted insights advertisers rely on for video into audio-forward environments, giving our customers the transparency and control needed to protect brand equity while scaling investment with confidence.”

YouTube Audio Ads are designed for listening-first experiences, running as in-stream ads with lightweight creative, typically a static image or simple animation paired with high-quality audio. These ads appear across environments where users are more likely to listen than watch, including YouTube Music, podcast content on YouTube and other audio-forward inventory.

As audio becomes a more intentional part of media plans, it introduces a new layer of complexity for brand suitability. Without proper post-bid measurement, advertisers risk limited visibility into potential misalignment between their brand and the audio content surrounding their ads.

DV’s brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads is powered by Universal Content Intelligence™, DV’s AI-powered classification engine that analyzes content across audio, video, text and image signals to deliver precise, scalable classification. In audio-forward environments, DV applies advanced AI models to interpret spoken language, sentiment, contextual cues and metadata. This multi-signal approach enables more accurate identification of nuanced content, ensuring brand suitability standards are consistently applied.

DV’s brand suitability offering is a key component of DV’s Media AdVantage Platform, which combines media verification, ad performance optimization and campaign outcomes measurement to maximize media effectiveness and return on ad spend. As part of media verification, DV’s brand suitability measurement provides advertisers with actionable insights into content alignment, strengthening confidence in campaign performance.

DV recently announced the launch of DV AI SlopStopper™ for Social, expanding protection against low-quality, AI-generated content and helping advertisers maximize media quality and campaign performance across social environments.

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Mirum India, a Wunderman Thompson company has appointed Anand Krishna as the Director of Brand Management. With an extensive background in brand strategy and marketing, Anand Krishna brings a wealth of experience and expertise to further strengthen Mirum India’s position as a top-tier agency in the industry.

After a rich entrepreneurial journey of close to eight years, Anand has returned to Mirum, where he will reinforce the agency’s standing as a powerhouse in the digital marketing landscape. In his new role, Anand will be responsible for shaping the strategic direction for client brands, and for driving innovation and creativity.

With over 21 years of experience, Anand Krishna’s impressive professional journey includes working with some great brands including Raymond Limited and Burp.com, as well as servicing a portfolio of brands like Dr. Reddy’s, Castrol, Lakme, and more. Notably, Anand dedicated the last eight years to building a digital experiences company as an entrepreneur.

Reflecting on Anand Krishna’s appointment, Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, Mirum India expressed, “We are thrilled to have Anand back with us at Mirum India; It’s Ghar Wapasi for him. Gathering all the wealth of knowledge and experience, Anand has now returned to Mirum as an intrapreneur with new ideas and perspectives. Anand’s rejoining underscores the strong culture we have fostered, where talented individuals choose to return and contribute to our continued success.

Elated with the return, Anand Krishna said, “Returning to Mirum feels like coming home. I am happy to see how Mirum has progressed in the last few years keeping intact the vibrant culture, exceptional talent, and relentless pursuit of digital innovation. I look forward to leveraging my experience and working closely with the talented individuals at Mirum to drive transformative brand experiences and fuel our clients’ success.”

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DNA Digital Factory has announced its operation in Dubai. This marks another territory for DNA with its operational presence in the US, UK, and India already. This strategic move aims to bring the agency’s expertise and innovative solutions to local businesses seeking to thrive in the digital landscape.

With a deep understanding of the dynamic digital marketing landscape, DNA Digital Factory has established itself as a trusted partner for businesses around the world. Their team of experienced professionals possesses a wealth of knowledge in digital marketing strategies, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, content creation, Amazon DSP and more.

Dubai, known for its rapid technological advancements and entrepreneurial spirit, presents an ideal market for DNA Digital Factory expansion. By establishing a local presence, the agency aims to cater to the diverse needs of businesses in Dubai and help them achieve their online marketing goals.

“We are thrilled to bring our expertise and services to the bustling city of Dubai,” said Dheeraj Chawla, CEO, DNA Digital Factory. “With our data-driven strategies, innovative techniques, and client-centric approach, we are confident in our ability to deliver exceptional results for businesses in Dubai and contribute to their long-term success.”

DNA Digital Factory, understands that each business is unique and requires tailored digital marketing solutions. The team takes the time to understand clients’ objectives, target audience, and industry dynamics to create customized strategies that deliver measurable results.

By leveraging the latest technologies and industry best practices, DNA Digital Factory aims to empower businesses in Dubai to enhance their online presence, drive qualified traffic, and generate meaningful conversions. Whether it’s improving search engine rankings, increasing brand visibility, or boosting social media engagement, the company offers comprehensive digital marketing solutions that align with clients’ goals and exceed their expectations.

To celebrate the launch of their operations in Dubai, DNA Digital Factory is offering an exclusive promotion for local businesses, providing them with an opportunity to experience the agency’s top-notch services at a competitive rate. This limited-time offer reflects the company’s commitment to helping businesses in Dubai achieve remarkable digital success.

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The Future is Here: How AI is Transforming PR and Digital Marketing

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its way into almost every aspect of our lives, and the world of public relations and digital marketing is no exception. AI is revolutionizing the way businesses reach their target audiences and communicate with customers. From content creation to personalized marketing, AI is transforming the PR and marketing landscape, making it more efficient, effective, and targeted than ever before. AI is also helping businesses to personalize their marketing efforts. Personalization has become a buzzword in the marketing industry, but it is not always easy to achieve.

AI-powered tools can analyse customer data to create personalized marketing messages and offers. This means that businesses can deliver targeted messages that are more likely to resonate with their audience, increasing the chances of conversion. Consequently, AI is helping businesses to measure the impact of their marketing efforts. AI-powered analytics tools can analyse customer behaviour and provide insights into how marketing campaigns are performing. This means that businesses can make data-driven decisions about where to invest their marketing resources and how to optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.

Today, AI is also being used to streamline the marketing process. Marketers can use AI-powered tools to automate tasks such as lead generation, email marketing, and social media management. These tools can analyse customer behaviour, identify patterns, and make predictions about future behaviour. This means that marketers can make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources and how to engage with customers.

Furthermore, AI is transforming public relations and digital marketing through content creation. AI-powered tools can analyse customer data, identify trends, and create personalized content that speaks directly to the target audience. This means that companies can create more relevant and engaging content, increasing the chances of their message being heard and acted upon. AI can also help optimize content for search engines, ensuring that it is easily discoverable and reaches the right people.

Additionally, AI is transforming public relations and digital marketing is through chatbots. Chatbots can be integrated into websites, social media platforms, and messaging apps, allowing businesses to provide instant support and customer service to their customers. Chatbots can answer common questions, provide product recommendations, and even process transactions. This means that businesses can provide a better customer experience while freeing up resources that would otherwise be spent on customer support. Extrapolating current trends, it can be forecasted with reasonable certainty that AI will continue to play a major role is redefining the communication industry. AI will not only help in transforming public relations and digital marketing, but also galvanize content creation and brand management and personalized marketing. AI-powered tools are already making it easier for businesses to reach their target audiences, engage with customers, and measure the impact of their marketing efforts. As AI continues to evolve, it is likely that we will see even more innovative uses of this technology in the PR and marketing industries. The future is here, and it is powered by AI.

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