MAM
Media fraternity upbeat about AAP’s way ahead!
MUMBAI: What was once touted as a game changer for Indian politics has fallen flat on its face. So, is an obituary in order for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)?
The fledgling party founded by activist Arvind Kejriwal shook the nation when in its maiden election last year, it emerged the second largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly
Indians from all walks of life hailed the party. Marketing gurus encouraged brands to learn a lesson or two from it. AAP’s USP was that it gave the common man hope that there would be a better tomorrow, which would be created by, of and for the common man.
AAP caught the country’s imagination to the extent that everyone wanted to be a part of the party and what it stood for. The media fraternity was so taken up that not only did it cover the party’s every move, several journalists left cushy jobs to support the cause.
Former journalists Shazia Ilmi and Manish Sisodia became founding members of AAP which also attracted the likes of K V Sridhar (Pops), Sameer Nair, Meera Sanyal, Manisha Lath Gupta and Ashutosh to its fold.
However, all was lost when Kejriwal quit as chief minister of Delhi and jumped into the battle for the 16th Lok Sabha. Neither the Congress nor AAP could make a dent in the popularity of BJP which went on to win with an overwhelming majority.
Soon after, prominent members of AAP quit the party to the nation it looked like rats leaving a sinking ship but the reasons cited were around differences around leadership and instability.
It can be noted that on 5 June, Maharashtra leaders of the party Anjali Damania and Preeti Menon who resigned from the party, hours later took a u-turn after they were assured of effective communication within the party.
The question then that raises eyebrows is AAP uncertain about its away ahead?
“People joined the party because they wanted to see change. However, with a clear mandate to one party, they are now scattering,” says Scarecrow Communications co-founder Manish Bhat, whose agency even organized an award function named Aam Aadmi Party where it honoured behind the scenes people from the advertising industry on the occasion of its fourth anniversary.
Nonetheless, many from the media continue to support AAP and feel that the hurried decisions of a few members should not impact the real motive for which the party was created.
“The party was started for a noble cause – clean politics – and it still stands for it. There might be a little shake up but that is alright. It will give a chance to the party to rediscover itself and come back with a bang,” says Pops, who continues to support the party. “Right now, India doesn’t have a strong opposition and hence, it is very important for AAP to become one. They are the change agents and need to keep that conscience/hunger alive in the common man’s heart.”
Like Pops, former Axis Bank CMO Manisha Lath Gupta, who quit her job for the party, believes that flux is needed for a party to grow stronger and rediscover itself. “One must not forget that AAP is still the only entity which will and can raise voice against all the ills gripping our society,” she says. “People might say that the party is crumbling, but it is not. After the national executive meeting, I am sure that we will remerge like a phoenix.”
“It’s a standard revolution procedure,” says former media executive Sameer Nair who had joined the party to support and contribute to its communication strategy. He adds, “Even large companies go through similar situation when there is any change (win or a loss).”
As much as there are members who left AAP after the Lok Sabha debacle, there are others who refuse to let go of the ideology of the party they supported so passionately.
MAM
Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement
Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted
MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.
The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.
The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.
Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.
Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.
For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.
More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.
The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.
In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
MAM
Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships
At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.
Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.
Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.
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