ASSEMBLEThree days of unscripted conversation between India’s senior media and marketing leaders.
A closed-door offsite for the people who shape India’s media and marketing industry. No stages. No keynote decks. Just the right conversations, in the right place.
ASSEMBLE is a 4-day closed-door offsite for 25 of India’s top media and digital marketing leaders, joined by 5 senior counterparts from Vietnam’s leading organisations. Curated by Agency Reporter. Hosted on Phu Quoc Island.
No stage. No keynote presentations. No broadcast panels. What you get is structured dialogue, shared experience, and the kind of candid conversation that only happens when you leave your desk 3,000 kilometres behind.
Every roundtable session is off the record unless agreed otherwise. Every attendee is personally reviewed. The agenda is built around real problems and live decisions, not thought leadership theatre.
This is not a conference that happens to have nice weather. It is four-day of deliberate investment in the relationships and ideas that will define your next twelve months, in one of Southeast Asia’s most extraordinary settings.
What happens at Assemble
Closed-Door Roundtables
No slides. No scripts. Four curated roundtables covering AdTech, CTV, AI in advertising, and the future of media buying. Indian and Vietnam delegates in the same room. Facilitated by Agency Reporter editors.
1:1 Curated Meetings
Pre-scheduled 20-minute pairings matched by Agency Reporter. The logic is built on business complementarity, not just seniority or title. Two dedicated meeting blocks across three days.
Partner Keynotes
Three 15-minute partner keynotes placed at the highest-attention moments of each day: after breakfast, before the day’s first session. Heard by a fully captive room of 30 leaders. No competing streams.
Morning Sessions
Each day opens with a 90-minute structured session after the keynote. Formats rotate between debate, deep dive, and scenario planning. Topic inputs collected from all attendees before arrival.
Vietnam Experiences
One full afternoon each day dedicated to Phu Quoc. Island hopping. Night squid fishing. The world’s longest sea cable car. Ham Ninh fishing village. Vietnam is not the backdrop. It is the point.
The Assemble Report
A proprietary intelligence document synthesised from all roundtable conversations. No names. No attribution. Distributed exclusively to attendees and partners within 30 days of the event.
Four days. Three of conversation.
Arrive + Settle
Arrivals and Check-In
Individual arrivals at JW Marriott Phu Quoc. Rooms assigned. Welcome kits in each room. No agenda until evening. Time to walk Khem Beach, settle in, decompress from the journey.
Sunset Cruise
Private catamaran departs Khem Beach. Open bar, grilled fresh seafood, Gulf of Thailand at golden hour. The correct way to arrive in Phu Quoc. No agenda. No introductions required yet.
Cocktail Hour — Live Music
Pre-dinner drinks on the Lamarck Terrace. A Vietnamese jazz-pop quartet playing upbeat contemporary covers with brass and bass. Open bar. No seating plan yet. The India and Vietnam delegations mix here for the first time at their own pace.
Welcome Dinner
Seated dinner at Red Rum, the resort’s signature oceanfront restaurant. Long-table format. Curated seating mixing both delegations. Multi-course Vietnamese cuisine. Hosted by Agency Reporter. No speeches beyond five minutes.
Exchange + Connect
Optional Sunrise Yoga on Khem Beach
60-minute guided session. Entirely optional. Worth setting an alarm for.
Keynote by Partner 01
15 minutes. Full assembly of 30 leaders. Fresh from breakfast, no competing sessions. The highest-attention slot of the event.
Roundtable 01: The State of Indian Digital Media
Where the money is moving. CTV, programmatic, AI-driven buying, creator commerce. Both delegations in the same room. No slides from attendees. Facilitated by Agency Reporter editors.
1:1 Curated Meetings — Block One
Pre-scheduled 20-minute pairings. Dedicated meeting spaces in the Lamarck House private villa. Agenda set by attendees in advance.
Lunch — Hosted by Partner 02
Relaxed seated lunch at Pepper Tree. Open seating. Partner 02 host welcome. An intentional break before the afternoon out.
Keynote by Partner 02
15 minutes before the afternoon excursion. The full group departs together immediately after. High energy, sharp timing.
Afternoon Excursion — Island Hopping and Cable Car
Private speedboats to the southern islands. Snorkelling at Hon Mong Tay coral reef. The world’s longest sea-crossing cable car to Hon Thom. Groups of 10 per boat.
Cocktail Hour — Live Music
Beach-side cocktails at Tempus Fugit before dinner. A live DJ spinning upbeat Afrobeats and tropical house as the sun drops over the Gulf of Thailand. The most charged hour of the retreat. Open bar, no agenda, nowhere to be.
Dinner — Hosted by Partner 03
Outdoor dinner at Tempus Fugit beach club. Informal. Long table. The energy from the cocktail hour carries straight into the meal.
Explore + Build
Optional Morning Activity
Sunrise swim, a run along Khem Beach, or quiet breakfast on the terrace. The full day ahead earns this slow start.
Keynote by Partner 03
15 minutes. The room is now at peak familiarity after two days together. The most receptive audience moment of the retreat.
Roundtable 02: India and Vietnam — What Each Market Gets Right
A joint session with both delegations. What Vietnam has figured out that India has not, and vice versa. Three questions, 30 minutes each. No diplomacy required.
1:1 Curated Meetings — Block Two
Second round of pre-scheduled pairings. Agency Reporter coordination desk available for any last-minute requests.
Hosted Lunch
Informal. Open seating. Free afternoon follows immediately after.
Free Afternoon — Self-Directed
Ham Ninh fishing village, HARNN Heritage Spa, Phu Quoc pepper farm, or simply the beach. No organised activity. The schedule earns this gap.
Cocktail Hour — Live Music
The last evening together. A Vietnamese acoustic duo playing upbeat indie-folk and pop — familiar songs, unhurried pace, the right level of energy before the final dinner. Open bar on the resort terrace.
Dinner — Hosted by Partner 04
The final dinner of ASSEMBLE 2026. Closing evening before departures begin. The most memorable meal of the four days. Long table, open floor, no agenda.
Night Squid Fishing
Traditional wooden boats depart into the Gulf of Thailand. Drop lines under light arrays. The catch is cooked on deck. One of Phu Quoc’s most legendary local experiences. Entirely optional.
Checkout + Depart
Breakfast and Checkouts Begin
Departures are staggered throughout the morning and afternoon depending on individual flight times. No organised agenda. The resort lobby and restaurant remain open for the group.
Individual Departures
Transfers to Phu Quoc International Airport arranged by Agency Reporter based on confirmed flight details. Late checkout available on request subject to availability.
The Assemble Report
A synthesised intelligence document covering all roundtable themes from the three days. No attribution. Distributed exclusively to all attendees and partners within 30 days of the event close.
The island does the heavy lifting
Phu Quoc is a different kind of place. Over half the island is national park. The sea runs warm and clear year-round. The food is built on black pepper, fresh seafood, and fish sauce that has been made here for 200 years. Every excursion below is available as a private group booking for 25 to 30 people.
Island Hopping + Cable Car
Private speedboats to three southern islands. Snorkelling at Hon Mong Tay coral reef (300+ species). Then the world’s longest sea-crossing cable car to Hon Thom. Three hours on the water.
Night Squid Fishing
Traditional wooden boats depart at 21:00. Drop lines in the open Gulf of Thailand under light arrays. Squid come to the surface. The catch is cooked on deck. One of Phu Quoc’s most legendary local experiences.
Ham Ninh Fishing Village
The oldest village on the island. A short boat ride across the bay. Fresh crab, raw oysters, and grilled fish from boats that arrived that morning. Rickety tables on the dock. Genuinely extraordinary.
Phu Quoc Pepper Farm
The island has grown its black pepper for over two centuries. A private group tour of one of the working farms on the northern road. The kind of detail that makes a trip feel like a trip, not a hotel stay.
Sunrise Yoga on Khem Beach
The resort sits directly on Khem Beach, one of Vietnam’s most consistently beautiful stretches of sand. A 60-minute guided session on the beach at 06:30. Entirely optional. Worth setting an alarm for.
Phu Quoc Cooking Class
A private two-hour class with a local chef at a heritage kitchen. Banh cuon, bun keo, and the island’s fish sauce-based dressings. Groups of 10. The food made in class becomes part of lunch. Available as an alternative to the cable car for those who prefer land.
Sunset Cruise
A private catamaran departs Khem Beach at 17:00. Open bar, grilled fresh seafood, Phu Quoc sunsets over the Gulf of Thailand. Two hours on the water before the welcome dinner. The correct way to arrive at the island properly.
HARNN Heritage Spa
The resort’s floating spa suites on the Lotus Lagoon. Private treatment rooms. Traditional Vietnamese therapies using locally sourced herbs and rice bran. Available across all four days for attendees between sessions or after dinner.
Who is in the room
Heads of Media and Digital
From India’s top independent and network agencies. People who control significant media budgets and are actively shaping how clients buy.
Country and Regional Heads
From AdTech platforms, CTV publishers, programmatic vendors, and data companies active in the Indian market. P&L owners, not sales representatives.
5 Senior Leaders from Vietnamese Organisations
A curated group of senior marketing, media, and digital leaders from Vietnam’s leading brands, platforms, and agencies. Announced to confirmed attendees only.
Curated with intent. Not filled to capacity.
The room is small on purpose. Twenty-five Indian leaders plus five Vietnamese counterparts is the ceiling. Beyond that, conversations become broadcasts. Everyone at ASSEMBLE is there because someone personally vouched for their presence.
The Vietnamese delegation is not ceremonial. They are working practitioners with real budgets, real platforms, and direct relevance to the conversations happening in the Indian room. The cross-market exchange is a feature, not a courtesy gesture.
There is no general registration. There is no open ticket sale. The application process exists so Agency Reporter can verify profile, relevance, and intent before confirming any seat.
JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort and Spa, Khem Beach, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay
Designed by Bill Bensley as a fictional 19th-century French university campus, the JW Marriott Phu Quoc is genuinely unlike any meeting venue in the region. Each building tells a part of the story. The Dean’s Library anchors the main lobby. Guest rooms were reimagined as university classrooms. Private event spaces carry names like Lamarck Ballroom and the Lamarck House private oceanfront villa.
The resort sits directly on Khem Beach in southern Phu Quoc, the most consistently clear and calm stretch of coastline on the island. The location matters for September: southern Phu Quoc is sheltered from the northeast monsoon and sits largely outside the central Vietnamese typhoon corridor. Afternoon rain is possible; full-day disruption is rare.
Four partners. Equal standing.
ASSEMBLE has four partnership slots and no hierarchy between them. Every partner pays the same, receives the same deliverables, and holds the same billing. What distinguishes each partner is what they host: one moment on the programme across Days 02 and 03 is theirs alone. The room knows who put it on.
Partners of ASSEMBLE 2026
All four partners hold identical billing, identical credit, and identical presence across the event and its communications. What each partner distinctly owns is one hosted moment on the programme.
Day 02 Lunch
First hosted meal of the programme. The room is warmed up from the morning roundtable and 1:1s. Relaxed, open seating. The afternoon excursion follows immediately after.
Day 02 Evening Dinner
Outdoor beach dinner at Tempus Fugit. Live acoustic performance. The most social and free-flowing evening of the retreat. High recall, long table, great energy.
Day 03 Lunch
Mid-retreat. Relationships are fully formed by this point. Conversations run long. The free afternoon that follows means no one is watching the clock.
Day 03 Evening Dinner
The final dinner of ASSEMBLE 2026. The closing evening before departures begin. The most sentimental and memorable meal of the four days.
One Keynote Slot
15-minute address to the full assembly of 30 leaders after breakfast. No competing sessions. The most concentrated senior audience of any India media event in 2026.
Equal Presenting Credit
All four partners listed identically as “Partners of ASSEMBLE 2026” across all event communications, the microsite, and The Assemble Report.
Welcome Kit — One Branded Item
Every attendee receives a curated welcome kit on arrival, assembled entirely from premium Vietnamese sources. Each partner owns one branded item inside it. Four items, four partner logos, nothing else.
Request your invitation
ASSEMBLE 2026 seats 25 Indian delegates and 5 Vietnamese counterparts. Applications are reviewed personally by Rahul Puri, Founder, Agency Reporter. Confirmations are issued eight weeks before the event. There is no waitlist beyond five names.
