For years, the advertising industry has romanticised creativity while simultaneously chasing scale. Bigger networks, larger mandates, faster turnarounds and performance-led marketing have increasingly become the reality of modern advertising. Somewhere within that race, the industry has often found itself asking an uncomfortable question, can creativity truly stay fearless when business pressures continue growing louder?
That tension sat at the centre of a compelling conversation on Day 3 of Goafest 2026 during the session Scale vs Soul: Creativity in the Age of Agency Consolidation, powered by CNN-News18. The discussion brought together Ashish Chakravarty, Managing Partner and CCO, Garage Worldwide, Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous, Senthil Kumar, Storyteller and Film Director, and Tarun Bhagat, Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo, each offering a different lens into how creativity has evolved in an industry increasingly driven by consolidation and performance metrics.
What made the conversation resonate was how familiar the conflict felt, not just to agencies but to almost anyone working in creative industries today. The pressure to move faster, scale bigger and deliver measurable outcomes has continued growing across sectors, often forcing originality to compete with efficiency. Yet despite the rise of data, automation and process-heavy systems, the panel repeatedly returned to one common truth: culturally impactful ideas still remain the currency that truly matters.
Reflecting on how differently legacy networks and independent agencies operate today, Chakravarty said, “Legacy agencies and independent setups operate with different pressures, where larger networks often follow global processes while independent agencies build distinct creative cultures.” He also pointed out how marketers themselves have evolved significantly over the years. “CMOs today are more aware and proactive, increasingly asking for disruptive, culturally relevant work that drives fame, visibility, and cultural impact, making communication not just operational but a core driver of conversation and culture,” he added.
The larger shift, however, has also brought its own contradictions. As agencies scale, business realities inevitably begin shaping creative environments. Khazanchi acknowledged that impactful work is not exclusive to independent agencies, noting that larger networks continue producing strong campaigns as well. However, he highlighted the growing pressure that often accompanies scale. “Sustaining scale often shifts focus towards numbers, efficiency, and targets, where Excel-driven pressures can dilute creative freedom,” he said.
At a time when performance marketing increasingly dominates boardroom conversations, Khazanchi stressed that brands still aspire to create memorable work that enters culture and stays relevant. “While the industry is becoming more performance-oriented, brands and CMOs still want work that makes them famous, enters culture, and sometimes requires the courage to say ‘no’ to preserve creative integrity,” he added.
The discussion also moved beyond agency structures into the heart of storytelling itself. Kumar spoke about the relationship between brand thinking and creativity, saying, “Brand ideas build brands while creative ideas come from creative souls, and strong creativity must amplify a central brand idea through persistence and belief.”
As conversations around artificial intelligence continue reshaping the creative industry, Kumar offered a perspective that felt both optimistic and cautionary. “AI is a tool that can improve execution efficiency and reduce production costs, but it lacks emotional depth. It cannot replace human storytelling, which remains defined by characters, individuality, and emotional resonance,” he said.
Bhagat, meanwhile, brought the discussion back to what consumers ultimately remember. According to him, audiences rarely care whether a campaign comes from a large agency network or a smaller independent setup. “The debate between large and small agencies is often overrated, as great work ultimately depends on people rather than agency size,” he said.
He further emphasised that while brands today are balancing long-term legacy building with faster, culturally relevant communication, emotional impact remains central to meaningful advertising. “CMOs are increasingly open to bold thinking, but what ultimately matters is delivering emotionally impactful work that strengthens the brand over time,” Bhagat added.
What ultimately emerged from the session was not a clear winner between scale and soul, but the recognition that modern creativity is now constantly negotiating between both. The industry may have become more data-driven, consolidated and performance-focused, but the desire for ideas that genuinely move people has not disappeared. If anything, it has become even more valuable in a world overflowing with content, automation and constant noise.
