BW Marketing World, in association with BW Businessworld, hosted the second edition of the BW Momentum Conference and BW Merit Awards 2025 on May 27 at Novotel, Andheri East, Mumbai. The event brought together leading minds from marketing, technology, and communications to explore the evolving landscape of modern marketing through a day-long conference and awards ceremony.
The conference opened with an address by Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld, and Founder, exchange4media, setting the tone for a day of strategic dialogue and knowledge sharing. It featured seven panel discussions, two headline sessions, a standalone keynote, and culminated in the BW Merit Awards Ceremony. Conversations throughout the day focused on the convergence of creativity, technology, and consumer behaviour.
One of the key highlights was the keynote by Mainak Dhar, Managing Director, McCain Foods India, titled “Marketing 30 Saal Baad.” He spoke about the long-term evolution of brands and consumers, remarking, “Technology has enabled real-time data on the performance of campaigns and their success.” Another impactful session was delivered by Shubhranshu Singh, CMO of Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles, who led a masterclass on “Storytelling in Seconds.” He shared, “We live in an algorithmic world; everything gets algorithmically fixated, and at the bottom of the algorithm is a lever. Therefore, attention has become the most scarce commodity.” Singh explained how brands can still thrive creatively in an era of short-form content.
Ajay Dang, President and Head – Marketing, UltraTech Cement (Aditya Birla Group), presented a solo session on ‘Navigating the New Era of Storytelling with Content Marketing’. He discussed how even traditional sectors like cement are embracing content-led approaches and emphasised the emotional aspect of consumer decision-making, stating, “People decide emotionally and justify rationally.”
The conference covered themes including MarTech in 2025, AI and Gen AI in content creation, influencer and shopper marketing, experiential marketing with AR/VR, and strategies to navigate the evolving media mix of traditional and digital platforms.
Industry leaders who participated included Rohit Talwar of Castrol, Shwetal Basu of Polycab India, Shruti Kaushik of Tata Realty, Amandeep Malhari of JK Cement, Tushar Malhotra of Bisleri, Himanshu Khanna of Raymonds, Somesh Surana of HDFC ERGO, Jyoti Kumar Bansal of Tata Power, Samyukta Iyer, Founder of The Simple Thing, Shirin Rai Gupta of upGrad Enterprise, and Jiteen Aggarwal of Hettich India, among others.
Following the conference, the BW Merit Awards 2025 honoured marketing professionals and organisations for their contributions to brand storytelling, innovation, consumer engagement, and social impact. The ceremony recognised those who are redefining marketing standards in India through their strategic and creative efforts.
