Are big ideas disappearing?

Take a pause. Think back to the last ad you truly remembered, not just laughed at, but one that made the brand pop into your mind instantly. For many of us, it’s not a passing Instagram Reel. It’s the Fevicol bench ad, Surf Excel’s ‘Daag Acche Hain’, or the Hutch pug quietly following a kid around. These weren’t just campaigns, they were stories with a soul. Stories that stuck with us. 

Today, with endless content and lightning-fast trends, it feels like the era of the ‘big idea’ is fading. So, what changed? And is there still room for a lasting brand idea in a world chasing clicks?

In simpler times, before digital took over, when advertising lived on TV screens, newspaper pages, and billboards, brands had space to tell one clear story. ‘The big idea’ acted as the north star, everything pointed back to it. It gave brands a face, a voice, and most importantly, a soul.

Bhuvana Subramanyan, Fractional CMO, says, “In the past, a single, powerful ‘big idea’ served as the emotional and strategic cornerstone of brand building. Legacy brands thrived in a slower, more unified media world, where consistency mattered more than speed.”

For Anindya Ghosh, Founding Partner at Sam & Andy, these weren’t just creative campaigns, they were strategic assets. 

He says, “The 'big idea' was more than a campaign—it was the organising principle around which all brand activities were structured.”

Think of Asian Paints’ long-running campaign with Gattu, the mascot drawn by R.K. Laxman. Over time, that evolved into a deeper story with the 'Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai' campaign, reinforcing home and identity. 

And today, a relatively new brand like The Whole Truth has shown that even in a fast-paced world, a consistent narrative built around ‘honest food’ can lead to trust, loyalty, and recognition. From packaging to social content, their brand voice doesn't waver. ‘Truth’ remains the big idea for the brand. 

And as Anand Murthy, CSO, Fundamental, puts it, “Legacy brands and successful brands—past or present—know this. And have worked tirelessly over time to clearly identify, articulate and then deliver on this promise.”

This approach was built for long-term cultural impact. In fact, WARC’s Anatomy of Effectiveness report found that brand-building campaigns outperform short-term sales campaigns by 2.6x on market share growth. That’s because memory structures, emotional recall, and trust, all shaped by big ideas, drive customer preference.

The magic was in how these ideas lived across brand touchpoints, not just in ads but in the product, the jingle, the shelf, and even in conversations over chai.

D2C’s focus on performance 

Fast forward to now. Startups and D2C brands are entering the market faster than ever, and their priorities are different. The pressure is high, the timelines are tight, and platforms reward performance over patience.

“Many digital-first and D2C brands prioritise performance over permanence. This often results in tactical content and influencer tie-ups over cohesive, long-term storytelling,” says Bhuvana Subramanyan. 

Anindya Ghosh explains that many D2C brands are ‘built in reverse’. “They begin with a product innovation or supply chain efficiency, launch quickly, and immediately switch to conversion-driven tactics. Instead of crafting a brand story, they assemble an offer stack,” he adds.

Nandan Majumdar, Senior Strategy Director, DDB Mudra, adds a crucial point about consumer journeys. “In the past, consumer journeys used to be much more linear and singular but with media and journeys being fragmented, the delivery of a single overarching thought has become a little complicated,” he says. 

This shift started to show up in ads in the early 2010s, with the explosion of digital marketing and the rise of programmatic advertising. Brands moved from broad-reach TV campaigns to hyper-targeted ads focused on short-term metrics like CTRs, ROAS, and engagement rates. According to Nielsen’s 2023 Annual Marketing Report, 67% of global marketers now prioritise performance marketing over brand building, especially in high-pressure, high-growth categories like D2C.

You can see this shift play out with moment marketing. Try to remember a quick delivery app’s social media feed during IPL. Suddenly, their entire social feed becomes about cricket banter, memes, and match moments. The original brand voice is often lost in the noise. While it grabs attention, it rarely builds any lasting memory.

There’s also a growing dependence on influencer marketing. In many cases, the creator’s voice becomes the brand’s voice. This can bring reach, but when done without guardrails, the brand’s identity starts to blur. What was once a brand story now feels more like scattered shoutouts.

Even platform design nudges brands toward short-term thinking. Social media algorithms reward trends, reels, and virality. That encourages brands to chase clicks, often at the cost of consistency. Brand love, recall, or emotional depth don’t show up in analytics dashboards as quickly.

There’s also a talent pipeline issue. With faster campaign turnarounds and an always-on calendar, there’s little time or budget for deep thinking. ‘The industry is optimising for speed, not originality’, notes a 2024 IPA report, which calls out the erosion of strategic planning time as a reason for declining creative effectiveness.

According to Bain & Company’s report, while India’s D2C market could hit $100 billion by 2025, many brands are struggling to stand out. And the problem might be the lack of clear positioning and emotional connection. Price and convenience can win a sale, but without meaning, there’s little reason for customers to stick around.

Still, Anand Murthy reminds not to generalise. “There are many VCs, startup founders, and D2C brand owners who are extremely worried about creating a long-term, sustainable brand platform… They’re not averse to attention-grabbing stunts, but also worry about how all of it fits together to create that promise to customers.”

So are all brands dropping the big idea? Not quite. Recent studies show heritage categories, such as personal care and baby products, tend to allocate a significantly higher share of their ad budgets to brand-building versus immediate response. 

A 2024 FutureBrand study revealed that 68% of personal care brands maintain a brand: performance ratio of at least 40:60, while only 30% of commoditised tech and fashion aggregators do the same. 

Additionally, Nielsen's 2023 CMO Report noted that insurance and financial services brands increased brand investment by 25% YoY, while quick-commerce players continue to focus on conversion-centric tactics. This suggests that emotionally resonant categories and legacy sectors are keeping the big idea alive, while transactional, trend-reliant sectors are letting it go.

Can the big idea be revived?

In today’s chaotic media landscape, the big idea needs to be more flexible than ever, but that doesn’t mean it can’t exist.

Subramanyan says, “Yes, today’s big idea can and must be modular… The most effective ideas are no longer singular campaigns. They’re flexible systems built around a strong emotional core.”

Ghosh adds, “A modular big idea doesn’t mean fragmented storytelling. It means unified storytelling adapted for fragmented media.”

To get there, brands need a solid platform idea that stretches across formats and touchpoints without feeling disjointed. Murthy says, “Focusing on long-term goals requires the unglamorous, hard work… articulating this understanding in action-oriented language.”

For that to happen, agencies need to go beyond just churning out platform-specific content. Subramanyan believes they must reclaim their role as brand stewards, guiding not just campaigns but brand belief.

At the same time, creators and customers are now co-creators. And the more rooted your brand’s promise is, the easier it becomes to adapt while still staying recognisable.

Ghish sums it up by saying, “It takes commitment: to consistency, to creative craft, and to customer meaning beyond the click.”

The big idea hasn’t disappeared. It’s just waiting for brands to believe in it again.

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