DS Group and WPP Media launch playbook for digital marketing in India | Marketing

In an attempt to bring greater structure to India’s fragmented digital advertising ecosystem, Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group), in partnership with WPP Media, has unveiled DCODE—The Guide to Digital Marketing. The playbook seeks to codify industry practices and provide a framework that can be used by marketers, agencies, and students navigating the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy.

The launch was marked by panel discussions and keynote sessions that unpacked the rationale behind the guide and its potential applications. Attendees were told that the intention is for DCODE to serve as both a starting point for new entrants into digital marketing and a benchmarking tool for experienced practitioners.

The initiative comes at a time when India’s advertising market is on course to grow 7% in 2025 to INR 1,64,137 crore, according to industry estimates. Within this, digital is projected to rise at 11.5%, accounting for 60% of overall ad spend and contributing INR 10,225 crore of incremental investment.

This growth, while significant, has also amplified challenges. These include fragmentation across platforms, lack of standardised methodologies, inefficiencies in execution, and underutilised opportunities in new media formats.

A bid to standardise digital practices

DCODE has been positioned as a reference document that blends academic frameworks with practical templates and tools. Covering areas such as paid media, social media, influencer marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), and online reputation management (ORM), the playbook aims to function as a living guide that will be regularly updated to reflect changes in technology and consumer behaviour.

The guide is freely accessible for download, a decision DS Group says reflects the intent to make it a shared resource for the wider marketing community rather than a proprietary toolkit.

Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of DS Group, framed the initiative against the backdrop of digital’s centrality in marketing strategy. “In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, digital isn’t merely an option; it’s a strategic imperative for connecting with consumers and an increasingly important pillar of our outreach,” he said.

Rajiv claimed that DCODE captures the best practices to remain relevant and efficient, guiding everyone from marketers to digital enthusiasts. “It represents a significant contribution to the industry, designed to empower professionals and agencies to optimise their digital strategies, drive efficiency, and achieve unparalleled marketing excellence. We believe this will truly be a legacy resource for the Indian marketing and media industry,” he maintained.

A client-agency collaboration

The playbook’s development was marked by collaboration between DS Group and WPP Media, with the latter contributing its experience across multiple categories and digital platforms. The partnership, the companies said, ensured that the guide is both academically rigorous and rooted in practical application.

Prasanth Kumar, CEO, WPP Media South Asia, described the project as an attempt to set a new benchmark. “DCODE marks a significant leap in mastering the complexities of the digital landscape. Through our strategic collaboration with DS Group, WPP has harnessed its extensive expertise to co-create a playbook that redefines industry standards, empowering not only businesses but also every marketing enthusiast to excel in a rapidly evolving digital world,” he said.

By bringing together a corporate advertiser and a media agency network, the project highlights an emerging trend of co-created intellectual resources in the advertising sector—tools designed not just for internal use but for the industry at large.

Intended audiences and use cases

The guide is targeted at a wide audience that includes corporate and agency marketing teams, students, academic institutions, media planners, buyers, and senior marketing leaders such as CMOs and CXOs. The stated objective is to make digital concepts more accessible and provide actionable frameworks that can be applied across businesses and institutions, regardless of scale.

While the companies behind the playbook have positioned it as a resource for marketers, its open-access availability also places it in the hands of smaller agencies and independent professionals, potentially democratising access to standardised knowledge.

India’s advertising ecosystem has been undergoing a structural shift, with digital commanding the lion’s share of ad spend. This transformation has been accelerated by mobile internet penetration, short-form video consumption, and social commerce.

Yet, as the report acknowledges, these shifts have also introduced challenges: measurement inconsistencies, the need for scalable influencer strategies, and the management of consumer trust in an environment where misinformation and content saturation are rampant.

By providing systems and templates, DCODE attempts to address some of these frictions. The companies say the guide will continue to evolve in step with the market, a tacit admission that codification in digital marketing cannot be static.

Whether the playbook gains traction will depend on how widely it is adopted across an industry where practices are often shaped by individual agency philosophies and client demands rather than codified norms. As digital grows to dominate India’s media mix, the effectiveness of such frameworks will lie in their ability to keep pace with platforms, consumer behaviour, and regulatory shifts.

For now, the DS Group-WPP Media collaboration positions DCODE as an attempt to bring coherence to an environment that is simultaneously opportunity-rich and operationally fragmented. Its success will be measured not by its download numbers but by its eventual integration into the everyday workflows of marketers and agencies across the country.

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