Brainchild, a media agency affiliated with the Publicis Groupe, experienced a mass exodus in March:
- Kashif Rafat, SM of media finance, after over eleven years,
- Faiz Kazi, digital director, after nearly seven years with the media agency
- Benish Irsad, CEO of Publicis Media, after nearly five years with the media agency,
- Saud Umar Khan, GM of Publicis Media, after nearly eight years with the agency,
- Hasnain Malik, talent director of Brainchild, after over six years with the agency,
- Waqas Artani, business lead at Starcom, after nearly four years with the agency,
and leaders in the Spark Foundry and MediaVest teams.
Why did this happen?
Industry insiders shared that cash flow issues were the primary reason. Circulars from Pakistan Broadcasting Association for Q1 2025 show that over 60% of the suspended advertisers are clients of Brainchild. These include Procter & Gamble, Mobilink, PTCL, Lipton, Dawlance, Hilal Foods, and many more heavy hitters. This explains why only 40% of the top five advertisers in Ramadan 2025 were clients of Brainchild, while 60% are clients of GroupM.
Where is the agency headed?
In Q2 2025 there has been new appointments & promotions, including
- Moeen Khan as chief commercial officer for North,
- Yasser Akhtar as chief commercial officer for South,
- Iman Hussain as head of commercial for North,
- Anum Matri as head of commercial for South,
- Usman Qayyam as head of BXP,
- Ali Mankani, as head of video production,
- Hazik Ali as business director of public affairs
Insiders shared that Qayyam will now head a unit akin to GroupM’s ESP team, where he will launch or revive unique media IP. This includes resurrecting Pakistan Idol, which was a success on Geo in 2013. Qayyam is reportedly in talks with British multinational television production and distribution company Fremantle.
Brainchild is led by Farhan Khan, who is largely credited with saving the plummeting ratings of Coke Studio. He is the uncredited architect behind the shift from live performance to music video format. Without his guidance, mimicry of this concept has failed. It has been attempted unsuccessfully by music productions Velo, Kashmir, and Nescafe.
Khan is said to be an expert in retail commercial elements such as profit margin, inventory levels, forecasting, and demand planning to inform media decisions. He is widely considered to be the go-to person for gaining a deep understanding of how different media channels work together and how retail media fits within the wider ecosystem.
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Madzine did not receive the requested comments from senior leadership of Brainchild despite offering over ten days deadline.
