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  • Mouni shines bright as Ivana Jewels’ new face in sparkling TVC debut

    Mouni shines bright as Ivana Jewels’ new face in sparkling TVC debut

    MUMBAI: When it comes to diamonds, the script often writes itself sparkle, shine, forever. But Ivana Jewels has decided to flip the script, quite literally. In its first-ever television commercial, the fast-growing lab-grown diamond brand has roped in actress-entrepreneur Mouni Roy as brand ambassador, asking audiences to “See it. Wear it. Believe it.”

    The ad takes a behind-the-scenes route, with Mouni ditching scripted lines to simply invite viewers to “see for yourself.” The focus is refreshingly unorthodox not on the science of lab-grown diamonds, but on what today’s buyers really crave: design, individuality, and the sheer joy of jewellery that feels personal.

    “Mouni Roy represents the modern woman who values authenticity and individuality, which are also the values at the heart of Ivana Jewels,” said Ivana Jewels co-founder Ayushi Jindal. “Her journey from television to films reflects the confidence and style our brand stands for, making her the right choice as we expand across India.”

    For Mouni, the association feels just as personal. “I’m truly excited to join hands with Ivana Jewels as their brand ambassador,” she said. “What I love about Ivana is how their jewellery is designed to feel personal and real, not just for special occasions but as part of everyday style. This campaign is all about celebrating confidence, authenticity, and the joy of wearing jewellery that truly belongs to you.”

    The Surat-based brand, known for its lab-grown diamond and Polki jewellery, is in expansion mode, aiming to connect with a new generation of buyers who value sustainable luxury as much as individuality. With customisation, personalisation and accessibility at the heart of its offering, Ivana is betting big on the future of diamonds that sparkle with both glamour and conscience.

    By marrying star power with sustainability, Ivana Jewels isn’t just polishing gems, it’s polishing a new way of looking at jewellery.

  • Sheher Ghumawa hits the right note for Soulmates

    Sheher Ghumawa hits the right note for Soulmates

    MUMBAI: Turn up the volume, the party has just begun. Tips Films and Tips Music have dropped Sheher Ghumawa, the high-octane first track from their upcoming film Soulmates, and it is already shaping up to be the season’s dance anthem.

    Belting out the vocals is none other than Mika Singh, with Sunny Vik’s foot-tapping music and Raj Fatehpur’s playful lyrics making it a surefire crowd-pleaser. The track, out on 30 September, leads up to the digital release of Soulmates on 17 October.

    The video adds an extra splash of colour, pairing Mika Singh with Hira Warina in a vibrant, visually striking sequence that matches the track’s celebratory mood.

    “This song sets the tone for Soulmates, uplifting, energetic and fun,” said Tips Music managing director Kumar Taurani. Mika Singh called it “infectious” and promised it will stay on party playlists for a long time. Composer Sunny Vik added that working on the song was about finding “the perfect balance of fun and meaning.”

    For actress Hira Warina, the track was pure joy to be part of. “It instantly lifts your mood,” she said.

    With its addictive rhythm and feel-good vibe, Sheher Ghumawa looks set to soundtrack many nights out before Soulmates hits screens in October.

  • Heineken 0.0 fuels India’s Formula 1 fan rush

    Heineken 0.0 fuels India’s Formula 1 fan rush

    MUMBAI: Talk about putting the pedal to the metal. Heineken 0.0 and Fancode are shifting Indian Formula 1 fandom into top gear with a new partnership designed to bring race-day thrills closer to home.

    The showstopper is The Ultimate F1 Fan Park at UB City Amphitheatre in Bengaluru, where the Singapore Grand Prix will be screened live on 5 October. Expect cheering crowds, roaring engines on the big screen and a festival-style buzz right in the city centre.

    India is no pit stop when it comes to Formula 1 passion. According to Nielsen NFI, the country now boasts nearly 79 million fans, a 41 per cent surge since 2019, making it one of the sport’s fastest-growing markets. Heineken, with its global F1 legacy, is seizing the moment to fuel that growth.

    Beyond Bengaluru, more than 200 curated screenings will light up pubs and sports bars across Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Adding extra horsepower, actors Siddhant Chaturvedi, comedian Rohan Joshi and creator Rizwan Bachav will rev up the digital experience with exclusive content around the Singapore Grand Prix.

    Fancode, the official F1 broadcaster in India, will also put fans in the driver’s seat with live race coverage, behind-the-scenes stories and digital exclusives.

    “Heineken 0.0 has always stood for innovation and responsible enjoyment. With F1’s popularity soaring in India, we’re excited to create inclusive fan experiences that make the sport part of everyday culture,” said Heineken Company chief corporate affairs officer Joanna Price.

    For United Breweries, Heineken’s India partner, the move is about more than just screenings. “Formula 1 gives us the perfect stage to bring fans together and shape a culture of community, passion and responsibility,” said chief marketing officer Vikram Bahl.

    Fancode co-founder Yannick Colaco summed it up, “F1 has grown from a niche to one of the fastest-rising fan cultures in India. Fan parks like this strengthen that community spirit.”

    With engines revving and fans rallying, it seems India’s love affair with Formula 1 is only just leaving the starting grid.

  • Nielsen adds Big Data muscle to new weekly TV rankings with sports flair

    Nielsen adds Big Data muscle to new weekly TV rankings with sports flair

    MUMBAI: Nielsen is giving TV viewership a fresh scoreboard with the launch of its revamped weekly ranking reports, now supercharged by Big Data plus Panel measurement.

    Unveiled for the first official week of the new broadcast season (starting 22 September), the reports don’t just track traditional programming anymore. Two new lists are in play:Top 25 Live Sports Events and the Top 250 Total Scheduled Programmes across broadcast, cable, streaming and syndication.

    Sports wasted no time making a splash in the inaugural rankings, with college football, Major League Baseball, the NFL, Ryder Cup and the WNBA all scoring spots in the Top 25.

    The refreshed Nielsen rankers now span broadcast, cable, syndication and streaming, giving a more holistic view of evolving TV habits. The reports shift to total day viewing and cover demographics from households to coveted age brackets like 18–49 and 25–54.

    At the heart of this is Nielsen’s Big Data plus Panel system, which blends the company’s long-standing representative panel with viewing data from 45 million households and 75 million devices, including set-top boxes, smart TVs and first-party streaming data. The result? A richer, more precise picture of who’s watching what, when and where.

    Beyond advertising, these insights can influence content programming, licensing, and TV distribution deals. Nielsen is also folding the new rankings into its website’s Top 10 lists, while continuing to flex its lead in streaming measurement through tools like streaming content ratings and The Gauge.

    With Big Data now in play, Nielsen isn’t just reporting on TV, it’s rewriting the playbook for how viewing is measured. 

  • Sonu sets Dal Lake afloat with melodies in Srinagar’s first mega concert

    Sonu sets Dal Lake afloat with melodies in Srinagar’s first mega concert

    MUMBAI: When the valley sings, the world listens. On Sunday, 26 October 2025, Srinagar will echo with music as Sonu Nigam headlines the first-ever live concert of its scale in Kashmir, a spectacle curated by NDTV Good Times at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), framed by the shimmering Dal Lake and the mighty Himalayas.

    The evening will be more than a setlist of filmy hits. It will carry the weight of history, with Nigam paying tribute to Mohammed Rafi, the golden voice of Indian cinema, on the year marking a century of his birth. For fans, hearing Rafi saab’s immortal melodies reimagined against Dal Lake’s twilight shimmer promises to be nothing short of spine-tingling.

    “It is more special because we have not seen the celebration of 100 years of the late Mohammed Rafi sahab at Dal Lake. Can you imagine!” said Sonu Nigam. “The whole world knows my connection with my peer, my guru, my inspiration but celebrating his legacy at Dal Lake in Kashmir, celebrating the zest of Kashmir, is going to be really wonderful and special. Looking forward to see you all there.”

    The choice of SKICC as the venue is no accident. Nestled on Dal’s banks, its quiet grandeur will transform into a stage where nature becomes part of the performance. As dusk falls, the lake will mirror the stage lights, turning the concert into a once-in-a-lifetime union of landscape and sound.

    NDTV CEO & editor-in-chief Rahul Kanwal framed the event as a cultural milestone: “Good Times was created as a canvas for India’s most extraordinary cultural expressions. To bring Sonu Nigam to Srinagar, with the Dal Lake as his stage, is an affirmation of India’s confidence in presenting its heritage, its beauty, and its artistry to the world. This concert is a defining cultural moment for Kashmir and for the country.”

    Adding to that, NDTV Good Times chief experiences officer Rahul Kumar Shaw said: “When we said Good Times will be about extraordinary experiences, this is what we meant. The first one is here Sonu Nigam at Dal Lake, a never-seen-before cultural spectacle that puts Srinagar on the world stage. We are the first ones in many years to come here and create something of this scale, and it is a privilege to do so in Kashmir, a land whose people have an unmatched spirit. We’ve promised audiences that every NDTV Good Times experience will be bigger, richer, and more immersive, and this evening is exactly that, a concert you don’t just attend, but one you carry back with you.”

    For Kashmir, long immortalised in poetry and cinema, this isn’t just about melodies under the stars. It is about reclaiming a space on the cultural world map, showing the valley as a venue of celebration, pride, and artistry.

    Tickets for the concert, available exclusively on District, are already in high demand, with limited seating adding urgency to what is billed as one of Kashmir’s most significant cultural events.

    On 26 October, as Sonu Nigam’s voice floats over Dal Lake, the valley will not just host a concert, it will witness music, memory and mountains merge into history.

  • Godrej’s AI washing machine cleans up the detergent residue problem

    Godrej’s AI washing machine cleans up the detergent residue problem

    MUMBAI: Godrej is out to scrub away an invisible laundry menace – leftover detergent. Its latest ad campaign for the brand’s AI-powered front load washing machines takes a bubbly problem and turns it into a cheeky, watchable spin.

    The campaign zeroes in on something most of us don’t notice but often feel: detergent residue clinging stubbornly to freshly washed clothes. Over time, it can dull colours, roughen fabrics and even irritate skin. Enter Godrej’s new AI-powered turbidity sensing technology, which can detect detergent traces in the wash cycle and rinse out up to 50 per cent more of the harsh stuff.

    To get the message across, Godrej has rolled out a series of 20-second films that exaggerate the problem to comic effect. In each film, detergent makes a foamy, surprise appearance playful, over-the-top and impossible to ignore before the smart washing machine swoops in with its fix.

    Godrej Enterprises Group head of marketing- appliances business Swati Rathi, explained. “Detergent residue is a real but often overlooked issue. Our AI-powered turbidity sensing tech ensures smarter washes, gentler fabric care and skin-friendlier laundry.”

    The campaign, conceptualised by Creativeland Asia, leans on humour to drive home the point. “We took an invisible problem and dramatized it until it couldn’t be ignored,” said co-founder & creative vice-chairman Anu Joseph.

    The films are live across digital video platforms and give laundry care, quite literally, a whole new spin.

  • Animeta’s star power turns influence into real business currency

    Animeta’s star power turns influence into real business currency

    MUMBAI: When influence meets intelligence, the result is Animeta Brandstar’s latest winning streak. The tech-data enabled influencer marketing firm has been scripting campaigns that don’t just trend, they translate into measurable brand outcomes.

    Take Uber India’s campaign with cricket stalwarts Gautam Gambhir and Ravichandran Ashwin. Known for their stern on-field personas, the duo were reimagined in playful avatars, highlighting how Uber flips daily commutes from frustrating to delightful. Animeta managed the marquee talents and execution, sparking chatter across social feeds and proving its knack for stitching stars into relatable, mass-consumption narratives.

    And that’s just one play. Since July 2025, Animeta has rolled out 30 influencer campaigns, activating 1000 plus creators across Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat. In the same period, it has partnered with 20 new brands, while also retaining repeat mandates from stalwarts, a testament to its consistency.

    The roster spans global giants like Amazon Fashion, Starbucks, Warner Music and Uber, alongside homegrown champions such as GCPL and Jyothy Labs, whose everyday staples Cinthol, Maxo, Margo, Exo and Pril have been re-energised through creator-driven storytelling.

    Animeta also helmed influencer rollouts for fresh launches: Shotgun, Fratelli’s carbonated wine label; Ninja, GCPL’s pet food brand debuting in Chennai; and Reposenergy, a doorstep fuel delivery entrant making waves in a nascent category.

    At its core is the Animeta Brandstar platform, which powers creator discovery from a verified pool of 85,000 plus profiles, minimises spillovers, and tracks campaigns in real time. Performance isn’t just judged on reach but also advanced metrics shares, saves, click-throughs and trials linking influencer buzz directly to consideration, leads and even sales. The result: a 30 per cent ROI uplift compared to industry benchmarks.

    “Influencer marketing today is no longer just about amplification, it’s about authenticity, storytelling, and business outcomes. At Animeta, we take pride in servicing diverse categories and partnering with brands at every stage whether they are global leaders, homegrown stalwarts, or ambitious challengers. What sets us apart is our ability to consistently deliver across objectives, from awareness to trials, leads and even creator-led commerce,” said Animeta Brandstar SVP for branded content & creator strategy Biswamitra Ray (Vishu Ray).

    From scaling pop culture with Arijit Singh, Ed Sheeran and Guru Randhawa, to onboarding micro- and nano-creators for hyperlocal impact, Animeta has shown it can flex seamlessly across the spectrum.

    Looking ahead, the company is doubling down on its promise to unlock full-funnel influencer marketing. As advertisers increasingly demand conversion-driven storytelling over vanity metrics, Animeta is positioning itself as the partner that blends data, cultural relevance and creator firepower into campaigns that both trend and transact.

  • Raj Kamble takes the chair as ANDYs’ first Indian Asia head

    Raj Kamble takes the chair as ANDYs’ first Indian Asia head

    MUMBAI: When it comes to big ideas, Raj Kamble now has the best seat in the house. The founder & CCO of Famous Innovations has been named the Asia Chair for the 2026 ANDYs Regionals, a first for India in the award show’s history.

    Joining Kamble on the global roster of Regional Chairs are Yaa Boateng (Africa), Youri Guerassimov (Europe), Josefina Casellas (LATAM), Emma Robbins (Pacific) and Federico Fanti (SWANA), forming a jury line-up that spans every creative corner of the globe.

    Far from a run-of-the-mill awards programme, the ANDYs Regionals flip the script: entry is free, with fees kicking in only if the work is shortlisted for the global show. And the track record is enviable 90 per cent of ANDYs-winning ideas later go on to win at Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Clios and other heavyweight festivals.

    “I’m thrilled to be chairing the Asia Jury at this year’s ANDY Awards Regionals. The ANDYs have always stood for fearless creativity and bold ideas. With 90 per cent of this jury having served as Jury Presidents at shows like Cannes Lions, D&AD and The One Show, we have the chance to not only recognise but also advocate for groundbreaking work from Asia. Let’s push creative boundaries together and make waves on the global stage,” said Famous Innovations founder & CCO Raj Kamble.

    By design, the ANDYs are more than a gong show, they’re an advocacy platform for creativity, ensuring winning work doesn’t just get applauded regionally but also gains momentum globally. With Kamble at the helm for Asia, expect some bold ideas from the region to earn their rightful place on advertising’s world stage.

  • Ross Video acquires ioversal to offer clients immersive experience solutions

    Ross Video acquires ioversal to offer clients immersive experience solutions

    OTTAWA: Ross Video is buying ioversal, the German creator of Vertex, a platform for immersive audiovisual experiences that has powered interactive exhibits and large-scale productions worldwide. The deal, announced on Thursday, marks the Canadian firm’s first serious push into experiential technology, extending its reach beyond traditional broadcast and live sports production.

    Vertex unifies video, audio, lighting and control systems into a single suite, allowing production teams to orchestrate complex installations—from projection mapping spectacles to interactive museum displays—without wrestling with multiple incompatible systems. The platform has earned its stripes through high-profile deployments, though Ross declined to disclose financial terms or specify which installations.

    “Vertex gives our customers a powerful new way to tell their stories,” said David Ross, chief executive of Ross Video, the family-owned firm his father founded in 1974. “It extends our live production solutions into the experiential world, opening creative possibilities that inspire audiences everywhere.”

    The acquisition fits Ross’s strategy of building an end-to-end production ecosystem that spans broadcast studios, sports venues, corporate events and cultural institutions. For customers already using Ross’s switchers, graphics systems and production control gear, Vertex offers a natural extension into permanent installations and experiential work—areas where margins can be fatter than in the commoditised broadcast kit business.

    Jan Hüwel and Martin Kuhn, ioversal’s co-founders, will join Ross along with their team, bringing decades of expertise in media servers and interactive control systems. “Joining Ross Video is a natural next step in our journey,” said Hüwel. “Ross shares our passion for empowering customers and our belief that innovation should always serve creativity.”

    Kuhn added that the tie-up would help Vertex reach a broader audience. “From the beginning, our mission has been to simplify complex audiovisual productions so creators can focus on storytelling,” he said. “Together, we’ll unlock incredible new possibilities for experiential media.”

    Ross Video, headquartered in Ottawa, has been on an acquisition spree in recent years as it seeks to fend off competition from software-defined production tools and cloud-based workflows. The privately held company does not disclose revenues but is estimated to generate several hundred million dollars annually from sales of production switchers, graphics systems and robotics to broadcasters and live-event producers.

    The firm plans to showcase Vertex through demonstrations and events in coming months, highlighting how the platform integrates with Ross’s existing production kit. Whether customers—many of whom are wrestling with tighter budgets—will embrace yet another platform remains to be seen. But Ross is betting that simplifying the chaos of experiential productions will prove irresistible to creative teams tired of duct-taping incompatible systems together.

  • Laura Maness steps down as global chief of Grey after three-year stint

    Laura Maness steps down as global chief of Grey after three-year stint

    NEW YORK: Laura Maness is stepping down as global chief executive of Grey, the 105-year-old advertising agency, after more than three years at the helm. In a LinkedIn post published on Thursday, Maness—the first woman to lead the storied shop—said she would be “passing the baton” to close colleagues whilst embarking on what she described as a “bold new chapter.” She offered no details about her next move.

    The departure marks the end of a brief but eventful tenure for Maness, who became only the sixth global chief in Grey’s history when she took the reins in September 2022. During her time leading the WPP-owned agency, Grey operated as a standalone brand within the Ogilvy network, a structure designed to preserve its independence whilst leveraging the broader group’s resources.

    Maness joined Grey from Havas, where she spent nearly a decade, most recently as chief executive of the group’s north American flagship. At Havas she drove what the industry regarded as a remarkable turnaround, earning the agency accolades including Digiday’s most innovative culture and Ad Age’s best places to work. She also steered Havas to become the first major network agency in America to achieve B Corp certification.

    Before Havas, Maness spent six years at Designkitchen, an independent Chicago shop that was acquired by WPP in 2008 following growth she helped orchestrate. Her career spans stints at FCB Global, Propane and Wunderman, with early roles at Black Dog Interactive and Giant Step during the dot-com era.

    Beyond her executive roles, Maness serves on several boards, including Tory Burch Foundation, Alembic Technologies, B Lab and the 4A’s, where she is vice chair. She co-chairs 50/50 Women on Boards and is a founding member of Chief, the invitation-only network for women leaders.

    Grey, founded in 1917, markets itself on creating “famously effective” ideas for brands. The agency has been named to Newsweek’s top 100 global most loved workplaces and America’s greatest workplaces for women, with women representing 50 per cent of its executive leadership.

    Maness’s cryptic sign-off—”As for what’s next? More to come”—has left industry observers guessing about her future plans.