Advertising isn’t what it used to be. Attention spans are shrinking, audiences are skeptical, and traditional marketing playbooks don’t work like they used to. In a world where consumers have learned to ignore ads, Ishrath Nawaz isn’t just adapting—he’s redefining the game.
For Nawaz, modern advertising isn’t about making brands louder. It’s about making them irresistible. It’s about creating campaigns that don’t just capture attention but demand engagement.
“The biggest mistake brands make is thinking advertising is about messaging,” says Ishrath Nawaz. “It’s not. It’s about behavior. You don’t convince people with words—you convince them with actions.”
This shift in thinking has led to some of the most unconventional, high-impact strategies his team has executed.
Take the case of a major Indian media brand that wanted to break into the F&B space. The product? A new snack. The challenge? Snacking is an insanely crowded category. Every major player was already competing on flavors, ingredients, and health benefits. There was no room for another brand to say the same things in a slightly different way.
So Ishrath Nawaz flipped the script. Instead of marketing the snack as something you eat while watching entertainment, he turned the snack itself into entertainment.
The campaign reimagined every element of the product as an interactive experience. Magicians used the snack in magic tricks. Beatboxers turned the packaging into a percussion instrument. The product wasn’t just part of the conversation—it became the conversation.
The result? It worked too well. Sales exploded, and the brand had to pause expansion due to supply chain limitations.
That’s what Ishrath Nawaz means when he talks about advertising beyond messaging. It’s about creating an ecosystem where people experience the brand, not just hear about it.
It’s the same approach that helped a legacy advertising agency rediscover its relevance.
They had spent decades building brands for others, but somewhere along the way, their own positioning had stagnated. Nawaz was brought in to modernize the agency’s website, but he immediately saw the real issue—their digital presence wasn’t the problem. Their identity was.
The agency didn’t need a new website. It needed a new mission. A new way to see itself.
So instead of focusing on UI/UX and branding tweaks, Ishrath Nawaz rebuilt the agency from the inside out. He created a mantra that resonated internally, retold the agency’s success stories through a modern lens, and reshaped how they presented themselves to the world.
The rebrand wasn’t just a facelift. It was a cultural reset. Employees felt the shift. Clients noticed the energy. Old partnerships reignited. The agency became relevant again not because of a website redesign, but because of a complete redefinition of its place in the market.
“That’s what people miss about advertising,” says Nawaz. “It’s not about what you tell the world. It’s about what the world sees, feels, and experiences—without you having to say a word.”
Modern advertising isn’t about catching attention. It’s about earning it. It’s about understanding what people actually care about and inserting the brand into that space in ways that feel natural, not forced.
For Ishrath Nawaz, the evolution of advertising isn’t about keeping up with trends. It’s about staying ahead of them. Not by chasing what’s popular, but by shaping what’s next.
That’s why brands don’t just hire him for campaigns. They trust him to redefine how they exist in the world. And in today’s landscape, that’s the difference between a brand people forget and a brand they can’t ignore.
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