Marketing Stack For New-Age Consumers: Insights From Top D2C & New Commerce Leaders

Inc42 and Google brought together 300 of India’s most influential D2C and retail founders, CXOs, investors and enablers at the ‘The D2C & Retail Summit 2025’ at The Oberoi in Gurugram on July 25 to decode the rise of new commerce in India.  

The Summit had over 15+ powerpacked sessions and fireside chats. One of these sessions which saw a lot of interest from the audience was ‘The Marketing Stack For A New Consumer Reality’. Moderated by Simpl’s Shivam Dang, the session saw participation from Neeti Walia, Google’s head of commerce and mid market sales; Irina Bonich, Oriflame’s marketing director; Rahul Krishnan, Bold Care’s cofounder and CMO; and Santosh Kumar, FreshToHome’s CBO and head of strategic growth. 

The session was designed to bust marketing myths in the D2C world, and deliver practical and candid lessons for brands navigating evolving consumer behavior.

The discussion opened with Dang challenging the myth of performance marketing as a silver bullet for D2C growth. As panellists shared playbooks that worked for their brands, a stream of actionable strategies emerged. 

Oriflame’s Bonich emphasised the power of digital-first communities, internal influencers, personalisation and user-generated content (UGC) to build authenticity. 

“UGC is the most authentic channel for us. For young customers, everything is happening online… When you meet a friend and she is telling you, “Oh my god! I tried this product and it is amazing”, it is more authentic than a big celebrity telling you that this is a proper product for you. Our business is built on personal recommendation,” said Bonich.

Sharing a contrasting journey, Krishnan of Bold Care advocated for celebrity-led advertisements over UGC to break the taboo in sexual wellness. “Nothing else could have worked for our business because no one will openly admit to using a sexual health product or even recommend Bold Care to a friend,” he added.

How AI Can Transform Marketing

With industry leaders laying out these strategies, Google’s Walia reframed the very definition of performance marketing and pitched an AI-led approach.

“In my understanding, performance marketing today is any media intervention that delivers RoI (return on investment) – whether it’s a YouTube campaign, video or search. The user journey is no longer linear. Now, one in five searches with commercial intent comes from Google Lens. Brands must capture and translate it into revenue for their business. Any AI solution that helps brands speak to their users across this network can give RoI,” said Walia.

Continuing on the RoI aspect, she added that D2C brands are increasingly focussing on long-term value over one-time return on customer acquisition cost.

“Brands today aren’t solving only for acquisition anymore. Everyone’s focused on maximising the full customer lifetime value and overall ROI. Measurement becomes the cornerstone. It’s not enough to win a customer cost effectively, you also need to ensure they stay with you for longer and bring business,” Walia said. 

Citing an example of jewellery brand Palmonas to explain how deployment of AI solutions and measuring marketing campaign data correctly can push growth for new-age D2C brands, she said, “Palmonas, a demi-fine jewellery brand, initially faced challenges with returns on just brand search ads. But using a combination of the right AI solution and measurement tools have driven them a 15X jump in quarterly revenue.” 

The Evolving Consumer Taste

Highlighting the rising preference for quick commerce platforms, Krishnan said founders should be mindful of identifying the preferred shopping channel of customers to bolster sales. 

Meanwhile, FreshToHome’s Kumar said that new-age customers value not just convenience and quality but also “post-purchase support” and good service.

“… Millennials and Gen Z are digital natives, valuing convenience and sustainability in their consumption. They are highly conscious consumers, demanding proof points. You can not make claims like ‘organic’ or ‘no preservatives’ without evidence to back them. Authenticity in communication is important. Beyond product quality, they expect post-puchase support with zero tolerance for delays or poor service,” he said while discussing new standards of trust.

As the conversation turned to actionable insights, Walia explained the 4S model that shapes buying behaviour. 

“Today’s consumers are streaming, scrolling, searching and shopping (4S). Brands must show up natively across all these touchpoints, personalise storytelling and use creators and AI. The job is to be hyper relevant at every step, building genuine advocacy and community,” she said.

Responding to a question about an entrepreneur’s dilemma of whether to choose “story” or “functionality” for targeting consumers, Walia called for leveraging both aspects. 

“Start by telling a story that focusses on functionality. Capture the attention first and the only way to do that is to tell a great story. I think it can be more about functionality in the start and then the high level big stories later,” she added. 

The discussion revealed that the new marketing stack is moving beyond ads, and focussing more on personalisation at scale while building lasting advocacy in the rapidly shifting Indian D2C retail market.