GUJARAT, AHMEDABAD | 13th OCTOBER 2025: MICA, hosted the third edition of its flagship leadership summit, Insight Out 2025. Themed “Marketing in 4D: Immersion > Information,” the summit brought together eminent industry leaders, marketers, and academicians to explore how brands can build deeper, more meaningful connections in an increasingly digital and attention-scarce world.
Organized by MICA’s Marketing and Leadership Series (MLS) Committee, the event focused on how marketing must go beyond digital screens to create felt experiences — turning passive audiences into active participants who remember moments, not just messages.
Delivering the inaugural address, Jaya Deshmukh, Director and CEO of MICA, stated, “At MICA, we believe the future of marketing lies in empathy-driven creativity — where technology amplifies human storytelling rather than replaces it.”
The day-long summit featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including Priya Choudhary (Director – Brand Solutions, Google); Mayur Hola (Vice President – Brand, Swiggy); Manorath Dhillon (CEO & Creative Head, Okhai);Manish Gupta (CMO, Yum! Brands); Kunal Sharma (Senior Director & Head of Sales, Bimbo Bakeries India); Sandeep Balani (Vice President, Jio Ads); and Taranjeet Kaur (VP – Media, Brand & PR, TCPL India).
Two power-packed panel discussions anchored the summit’s proceedings:
1. “Sensory Storytelling: Curating Experiences That Move Beyond Metrics”
2. “Crafting the Phygital Experience: The Future of Hybrid Engagement”
In the first panel, moderated by Prof. Bikram Bindra (Global Content & Creative Strategist, Pernod Ricard), panelists explored how brands can use sensory and emotional design to create memories that outlast metrics. Discussions highlighted that consumers today buy into beliefs and values as much as they do into products. Examples such as Okhai’s long-form storytelling and Pizza Hut’s customer rituals underlined that true impact lies not in what’s tracked but in what’s felt.
The second panel, moderated by Swapnil Kumar (Founder, Asymmetry Marketing Collective), delved into how technology and human touch can combine to craft participatory, immersive brand experiences. Panelists discussed strategies for capturing attention in a fragmented digital landscape, leveraging user-generated content, and ensuring that data leads to authentic human connection.
Insight Out 2025 underscored a key message: while technology and AI continue to transform marketing, the human element remains irreplaceable. As echoed across discussions, “AI amplifies, but humans create.”
The summit reaffirmed MICA’s role as a thought leader in marketing, communications, and creativity — inspiring a new generation of marketers to blend empathy, technology, and imagination in shaping the future of brand storytelling.
