In an industry where platforms change weekly and consumer behaviour shifts even faster, building an agency that stays relevant, let alone ahead, is no small feat. Saatchi Propagate has spent the past few years quietly shaping a model built on strategy, speed, and a deep understanding of how people move through the digital world.
In this conversation with Marketing Mind, Snehasis Bose, Group Chief Strategy Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi India, Saatchi Propagate and BBH India, and Prachi Bali, EVP and Head of Saatchi Propagate break down how the agency nurtures young talent, lands complex mandates, prepares for emerging marketing waves, and reimagines what the agency–brand relationship will look like by 2030. Their answers reveal a simple truth: the future belongs to agencies that can think deeply, move quickly, and create experiences that truly matter.
1. Saatchi Propagate is led by a stable, visionary leadership. How do you nurture and retain creative and strategic talent amid the rapid pace of digital change?
Prachi Bali: “Human capital is what we deal with, and balancing agility with constant learning is always challenging. Close to 70% of our workforce is under 30, and we also maintain a 40:60 male-to-female ratio, women have always been an integral part of the agency, which is something I’m genuinely proud of.
Last year, we delivered over 1,600 hours of training across the organisation, everything from Basecamp for younger talent to leadership-led sessions on digital, case studies, pitching and creativity. It really changes the game when the people you work with every day take the time to teach you how the industry works.”
Snehasis Bose: “Retention is also about helping people see the progress they’ve made, the exposure, the experiences, the skills gained. When talent feels that tangible movement, they know the journey is worth staying on.”
2. Could you walk me through a recent campaign or client win that marked a milestone in Saatchi Propagate’s growth? What strategic pivot or leadership insight made it possible?
Snehasis Bose: “Mapping the consumer journey is one of our biggest differentiators, knowing exactly why each piece sits where it does, from awareness to consideration to trial. When we get that right, you can literally see the room light up because the client feels someone has finally cracked what they were struggling with. That clarity is where a lot of our pitch conversion comes from.”
Prachi Bali: “One recent example is our win of Love Depot, a sexual wellness brand in a highly regulated category where ads get rejected all the time. What really landed us the business was defining why the brand exists on digital and the lens through which all content should be created. In a taboo category, there’s no set playbook, you experiment, test, document every learning, understand platform guidelines deeply, and build a strategic foundation that sets you apart.
We didn’t just make lookalike content; we differentiated through strategy. We told the brand story through social, performance creatives, commerce and website banners, reaching consumers at their moments of truth in contextual ways. With so much noise today, strategy is what helped us cut through, and that’s why the client awarded us the mandate.”
3. Looking ahead, how is Saatchi Propagate ‘future-proofing’ both the agency and the brands you work with, especially in terms of emerging platforms, evolving consumer behaviours and category disruptions?
Prachi Bali: “Influencers, commerce and content are evolving faster than ever, and the real opportunity lies in how these three verticals interact. Thanks to the Groupe’s ‘Power of One’ model, we have complete access to all three, and we’re having some very exciting conversations with clients about their annual strategy and platform evolution.
For us, the direction is clear: a unified consumer experience. If I had to sum up the future of Saatchi Propagate in one line, it’s owning the entire CX conversation end-to-end. It’s no longer about omni-channel or 360, the language has evolved. Today, it’s the world of consumer experiences.”
4. As the agency frames its way forward, what’s your biggest internal ambition- or even audacious goal- for the next 2–3 years?
Prachi Bali: We want to be the go-to CX agency in the market. We want to be that one-stop shop where you can unify all the experiences that your consumers are having. We can help strategically align what the role of each platform should be, craft the communication, and execute the final vision for the brand across various touchpoints while telling a unified story and landing in some fantastic numbers.
Snehasis Bose: Publicis Groupe’s ‘Power of One’ ecosystem gives us more tangible power. It ensures that clients are working with domain specialists, regardless of where you are on the consumer journey and the funnel, and it’s all synced, as opposed to being territorial. I think that gives us more strength and power, and to a large extent, significant differentiation in the market.
5. If digital transformation was the first big wave and AI is the second, what do you see as the third wave that will redefine marketing in the next decade?
Prachi Bali: “The next big wave is consumer experiences. CX brings together everything we’re already seeing, from predictive communication to dynamic storytelling in real time based on where the consumer is. AI will accelerate this by mapping journeys and helping brands deliver customised narratives instantly. At its core, CX is about answering one question: what value are we creating for the consumer, right now? That’s the wave we’re riding hard on.”
Snehasis Bose: “For me, it’s about being relevant on the platform in that moment, not just being everywhere. Brands that use intelligence to land the right narrative at the right time, and build true emotional connection, will ultimately win.”
6. Do you believe the future of agencies lies in specialisation or convergence? And how is Saatchi Propagate positioning for that future?
Snehasis Bose: “Our belief is that neither extreme will win. The future isn’t pure specialisation nor a simple one-stop model, it’s a specialist who can collaborate. Think of it as an ecosystem connected by one strategic spine. The Publicis Groupe’s Power of One already proves this, because media, data and technology all align in one direction. For us at Saatchi Propagate, the ambition is to be the client’s gateway into that ecosystem, seamless integration backed by deep expertise, rather than choosing one end of the spectrum.”
7. Looking 5–10 years ahead, what is one industry practice today that you think will become obsolete, and one emerging practice that will become non-negotiable?
Prachi Bali: “Vanity metrics will definitely fade, followers and surface-level engagement won’t matter. What will become non-negotiable is deep data understanding: who your consumer is, what they’re doing, and how to tailor communication, media and experiences in real time to drive actual value.”
8. If you could future-cast the agency–brand relationship in 2030, what would it look like: transactional partnerships, co-owned IPs, or something we can’t yet imagine?
Snehasis Bose: “It will be built on shared intelligence, almost a shared operating system. Flitting in and out of projects won’t create meaningful growth. The real multiplier will come from agencies and clients being invested in each other’s success at a foundational level.”
Prachi Bali: “By 2030, I don’t think we’ll have different agencies by medium. Clients don’t want platform partners; they want business partners. Even today, we spend time deep-diving GA data in client workshops, that’s where the real work begins. The future is business-first, not advertising-first.”
