Abhimanyu Ghoshal 🟢

It's the end of easy data, and the start of a new regime based on consumer-friendly principles of privacy and consent. How will advertisers navigate this brand new ecosystem? I explore in today's edition of Financial Express (India)

54

1 Comment

Demand for content writers has seen a shift in 2025 And the sooner you understand this & come out of the bubble, the faster you move. AI is not replacing writers, but most valued skills for writers in an AI-driven market are shifting toward strategic and creative roles. → storytelling → content strategy → providing human oversight Organizations using AI writing tools report an average 59% reduction in time spent on basic content creation and an average 77% increase in content output volume. (source: Firewire Digital) So, if you think "just writing" is enough in 2025, it's time to reflect. The demand is more for "good writers" who can deliver beyond basics. Level up & upskill to expand to content strategy & more. #AI #contentwriters #contentwriting

124

62 Comments

Canva’s 12th acquisition, MagicBrief, brings real-time ad performance insight into the design workflow—no more waiting on lagging feedback loops. As Canva ramps up its enterprise game, I learn from Cat van der Werff, the design company's executive creative director, about how the move signals a push toward data-fuelled iteration, not decoration. She explains that insight meets execution, without letting AI drain the creative juice marketers thrive on. https://lnkd.in/dK_GFE9J Melanie Perkins, George Howes, #creativity #advertising #artificialintelligence #AI #adcampaigns #campaigns #storytelling

8

I don’t think every brand needs to jump on trending drama I'm sure you have seen the Astronomer CEO caught on the kiss cam. Everyone is suddenly jumping on the incident. But I think your brand doesn’t always need to talk. Not every headline is a content opportunity and not every trend is a marketing moment. Especially when the moment has nothing to do with your values, your mission, or your audience. Jumping on a trend just to “stay relevant” is how brands end up sounding confused. Or worse, desperate. In branding, silence is sometimes a strategy. No, you don’t need to jump on every wave. No, you don’t need to perform relevance. Speak when it matters. Shut up when it doesn’t. ⚗️

16

5 Comments

Most agencies start with Content. We start with Goal. On our glass board at Inhouse, there are only 6 words. Goal, Strategy, Content, Media, Promotion and Evaluate. That’s it. No jargon. No shortcuts. No random posting. Whenever we at Inhouse handle a client — be it Consulting, Overall Branding, Social Media, Events, or Campaign Planning — we follow this exact flow. First, we define the Goal. Because without clarity, creativity is noise. Then we build the Strategy. Because strategy decides direction. Then comes Content. Not just good-looking creatives — but purpose-driven communication. Then Media. Right platform. Right audience. Right timing. Then Promotion. Distribution is as important as creation. And finally — Evaluate. Data. Response. Market reaction. And here is the real secret… After evaluation, we don’t celebrate or panic. We go back to Strategy → Content → Media → Promotion Until the Goal is achieved. It’s a loop. Not a one-time campaign. This simple 6-step discipline is the reason our clients grow consistently — not accidentally. Sharing this especially for new agencies started in the last few years: Don’t just chase trends. Build systems. At Inhouse : Brand Creator, we don’t just design communication. We design direction.

32

2 Comments

Excited to share that Colab@Verse is officially starting content operations in Surat and Lucknow 🚀 As we continue scaling our creator-commerce ecosystem, these two vibrant cities mark an important step in building stronger regional creator communities and enabling high-quality content production closer to where creators are. Looking forward to collaborating with local creators, brands, and partners to build impactful, scalable content from these markets. Onwards and upwards! #ColabAtVerse #CreatorEconomy #ContentOperations #Expansion #Surat #Lucknow #LiveCommerce #InfluencerMarketing

44

One of the most interesting shifts we’re seeing in the media–communications space today is the crossover of talent between journalism and public relations/corporate communications. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 30% of PR professionals have prior experience in journalism. In India too, anecdotal patterns show a steady stream of reporters moving into communications roles, citing stability, broader storytelling scope, and organizational impact as key drivers. On the flip side, we’re also seeing communications experts move back into the newsroom. Their inside knowledge of brand strategies and corporate structures adds depth to investigative and business journalism. This two-way exchange highlights something bigger: Journalists bring the instinct to question, simplify, and tell stories that cut through noise. PR and Corporate Comms professionals bring strategic thinking, crisis management, and reputation-building. When the two worlds intersect, both industries benefit; richer stories on one side, sharper strategies on the other. For example: Former reporters joining corporate comms teams often strengthen media relations by bridging empathy between “the pitch” and “the story.” Similarly, ex-PR professionals who join newsrooms bring an understanding of how narratives are shaped behind the scenes. Maybe the line between journalism and PR isn’t a wall anymore; it’s a revolving door.

101

Unpopular opinion: Not every brand is built for depth. And not every agency is built to deliver it. For us at Connekting Dots India, this was never about scale. It was about substance. We're not a traditional agency but a culture-first studio for founders who want to be remembered for what they stood for, not just noticed for what they sold. Recently, we explored this in a special founder-led series. Today, we’re sharing a glimpse of it here. Because if you’re building a brand that chooses meaning over momentum, this is the sequence for you. We don’t chase noise. We craft meaning. This is storytelling that doesn’t follow the algorithm. Strategy that doesn’t react but resonates. If that sounds like your kind of story, you’re not late to the conversation. You’re just on time. #BrandBuilding #CultureFirst #PR

35

4 Comments

Even if your PR budget is Rs. 1 lakh a month, don’t invest in PR until you truly understand it. I say this from experience. I often speak with potential clients who understandably want outcomes: How many stories will go out? What coverage can we expect? What are the deliverables? And while deliverables absolutely matter, PR isn’t only about counting outputs. A large part of the work happens behind the scenes. The positioning conversations. Shaping the right narrative. Advising on timing. Even putting together opportunities like award nominations- work that requires significant thought, effort and strategy but isn’t always immediately visible. PR isn’t just about results you can track on an Excel sheet. It’s about consistently shaping how a brand is perceived over time. When PR is viewed only through numbers or deliverables, the real depth of the work often gets missed. Over the years, I’ve realised that PR works best when it’s understood as a long-term partnership - not just an activity. If you’ve worked with PR before, what mattered most to you, deliverables or long-term brand building? #PublicRelations #PR #Entrepreneur #WomeninPR #Entrepreneurship

112

11 Comments

As a a user, creator & media professional this is a great move India just set a clear rulebook for AI / synthetic content. The IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 introduce a formal definition of synthetically generated audio-visual content and bring it directly into platform compliance . In short: • Users must declare AI/synthetic content • Platforms must technically verify that declaration • Synthetic content must be clearly labelled — and failure to act is treated as lack of due diligence For news, video and creator ecosystems, this makes trust and content provenance a product feature — not just an editorial principle. #AIContent #SyntheticMedia #DigitalPolicy #NewsMedia #ContentStrategy #IndiaTech Storyboard18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited https://lnkd.in/dYCRuszr

62

6 Comments

Here are the 6 ways that Swetha Venkiteswaran and I have used AI to help create written content for the Pixis blog. All of them were 🤌🏻perfect! Just kidding. Anyway, here's what we tried so you can tell us how we messed up. 1️⃣ AI does everything except choose keyword targets and edit Verdict: 🏎️🪙👎🏻📈 Fast and cheap. Won some kw positions quickly with low-effort content. Wouldn't recommend this, but we had a lot of content foundations to build quickly. We'll re-write this content with actual expertise or prune them later. Took more editing time than I'd like to admit and still ended up with dry, undifferentiated content. How: We built a pair of Clay workbooks, just because it lets us chain together AI prompts and we don't have something like Copy.ai or AirOps right now. First workbook takes a keyword and does some really basic SEO research. Second workbook does actual topic research, builds a content brief and writes a shitty first draft. 1️⃣🅰️ AI drafts sections separately We also tried having separate AI columns draft just one H2 of the outline at a time, then combining sections later. Each individual section we got this way was better on its own (more specific and detailed), but there was repetition and the flow between sections was terrible. 2️⃣ Hire an AI-Content Agency Verdict: 💰🏎️👍🏻📈 Expensive (for us), but fast. Decent content even with not enough input from us, lots of volume, some good kw rankings. But the content is still pretty dry and will need re-writes to keep the traffic we won. How: AirOps workflows with over 200 steps. Mostly AI-driven, aimed specifically at SEO, but leaned heavily on human editing, especially towards the end of the workflow. 3️⃣ AI as sparring-partner Verdict: 🐌👍🏻👍🏻 Slow, but much leads to better quality. Free. Has lent some great insights and helped me be more decisive. How: Conversational back-and-forth with ChatGPT and/or Claude as we ideate, outline, write and edit. Use projects to organize source files. Prompt LLM to use socratic method so it asks questions that help me get my own answers. 4️⃣ AI as Audience Role Play Verdict: 🐌😍 Slowest, but also helps quality the most, probably because it forces us to think more. These GPTs have raised some surprisingly good questions or challenged our assumed knowledge level of our audience in good ways. We haven't used this for SEO content much. More for newsletters and thought leadership/POV pieces. How: Set up GPTs that act like a few different audience personae. They tell us how the article made them feel, what it taught them, and what they'll be able to do differently having read it. They also share whether they'd recommend it and if it achieved the JTBD. 5️⃣ AI as Researcher/Outliner Only Verdict: 🏎️ Nothing super impressive here, but saves a ton of time getting the basics down for pre-outline work. -------- Biggest takeaway: for quality, use AI to force you to slow down, not speed up.

15

9 Comments

Every personal brand needs a strong story. But that story doesn't have to be a sob story. We get it you were underpaid, overworked & gaslit by Abhinav in your team. But do we really need to hear about it in every piece of content you create? Not saying it didn’t happen. Or that it doesn’t matter. Just… maybe not everything needs to be a LinkedIn arc. You've done cool, clever, useful stuff too. Don’t bury that under the trauma highlights. 💚 #personalbrand

56

18 Comments

Usually, PR folks are asked to think like a journalist. No, I say. Just think. Ask questions like any normal human being. That will help you and journalists deliver better stories. If I ask you how many offices you have in a story related to India centres, I need you to tell me how many offices in India does your client have. Do not give me global numbers! When you forward responses, read them once to see if they make sense! If there are numbers, are the sentences framed in a way that numbers make sense. Think like a reader, like a normal human being who knows nothing. That will help you get better responses from your clients. #Thursdaythoughtoftheday #PR #Journalists #TOI

256

13 Comments

Positive Effects of AI on Content Writers 1) Boosts Productivity AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and Quillbot help writers draft faster, fix grammar, and improve tone, freeing time for creative thinking. 2) Idea Generation & Research AI can suggest topics, outlines, and headlines based on trends or keywords, making content planning easier. 3) Multilingual Writing AI can translate or write in multiple languages, helping writers expand reach without needing fluency in those languages. 4) SEO Assistance AI tools optimize content for search engines by suggesting keywords, meta descriptions, and readability improvements. 5) Personalization at Scale For businesses, AI enables creating personalized content for different audience segments without increasing human workload. Negative Effects / Challenges 1) Job Displacement Threat Some companies may reduce hiring human writers, relying instead on AI for low-cost bulk content generation (e.g., product descriptions, social media posts). 2) Content Quality Concerns Overreliance on AI might lead to generic or repetitive writing. AI lacks deep emotions, cultural nuance, and lived experiences. 3) Ethical and Authenticity Issues Audiences may start questioning: Is this written by a human? – which affects trust and authenticity of content. 4) Skill Devaluation Some fear that AI might undermine the value of skilled writing, especially in environments focused only on speed and quantity. 5) Dependence on AI Tools Writers may become too dependent on AI for creativity, weakening their own writing and critical thinking abilities over time. Reality: AI + Human = Best Results Rather than replacing writers, the best outcomes happen when writers use AI as a tool, not a replacement. Human creativity, storytelling, and emotional intelligence are still irreplaceable. #AI #Content

30