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  • WPP partners with IICT to boost creative and digital talent in India

    WPP partners with IICT to boost creative and digital talent in India

    MUMBAI: When ad world muscle meets academic hustle, you get a creative spark like no other. In a move that blends Madison Avenue with Mumbai’s media dreams, WPP, the global giant in marketing services has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), a Ministry of I&B-supported initiative that aims to revolutionise creative and digital skilling in India.

    This partnership positions WPP as the first agency group to formalise such a comprehensive engagement with IICT, joining the league of global tech titans like Google, Meta, Microsoft, JioStar, Nvidia, and Adobe all of whom have pledged support to build India’s creator economy.

    India, WPP’s fifth largest and fastest-growing market, now becomes the testing ground for a powerful alliance between academic rigour and industry firepower.

    Under the collaboration, WPP will Co-develop IICT’s curriculum to reflect real-world creative, media, and tech skills, Provide mentorship for IICT’s startup incubator, Engage faculty on live projects and joint research, Support technology planning for the IICT campus, Assist with promotional and outreach strategies.

    “This collaboration is a testament to WPP’s deep commitment to nurturing talent and driving innovation in India’s dynamic media and entertainment sector,” said WPP country manager for India CVL Srinivas. “By combining IICT’s academic rigour with WPP’s global industry leadership, we aim to equip the next generation of creative professionals with the skills and insights needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.”

    The alliance comes close on the heels of IICT’s inauguration at the newly established IICT–NFDC campus in Mumbai, a high-profile event attended by Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for railways, information & broadcasting, and electronics & IT, and Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra.

    IICT board member Ashish Kulkarni added, “With WPP, we are bringing together the best in creative, technology, and media. This partnership will help make IICT a world-class institution on par with IITs and IIMs, preparing market-ready talent for tomorrow’s India.”

    With India inching closer to becoming a global creative powerhouse home to over 75 crore internet users and a booming content economy, the timing couldn’t be more apt. If the next big idea is born at the crossroads of commerce and creativity, WPP and IICT might just be laying the road.

  • Waves 2025 Brings Big Deals and Bold Dreams to India’s Media Sector

    Waves 2025 Brings Big Deals and Bold Dreams to India’s Media Sector

    MUMBAI: If the Indian media sector were a movie, Waves 2025 would be the montage sequence fast cuts of big money, bold ideas and breakout talent all coming together for a dramatic makeover. Held in Mumbai, the Waves Summit 2025 saw the Government of Maharashtra sign MoUs worth nearly Rs 8,000 crore, giving the media and entertainment sector a starring role in the state’s growth narrative. Among the headliners:

    . Rs 3,000 crore from Prime Focus to build a 200-acre Film City

    .  Rs 2,000 crore from Godrej for a film, TV and media campus in Panvel

    .  Rs 1,500 crore each from the University of York and the University of Western Australia to set up their first Indian campuses in Mumbai

    And just like that, education and entertainment are sharing billing on the marquee.

    Waves 2025 also introduced the Nifty Waves Index, listing 43 media and entertainment companies finally giving the sector its own Sensex-style snapshot. Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) inked partnerships with industry giants including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Adobe, Nvidia, and Toon Boom, rolling out opportunities for scholarships, internships, rendering parks, game design courses and creative entrepreneurship.

    Waves Bazaar cemented its role as the sector’s B2B-B2G power corridor. Launched in January 2025, the digital-first marketplace has already hosted 2,450 projects, with 6,442 buyers and 6,106 sellers participating across film, animation, XR, gaming and advertising verticals. It’s India’s global swipe-right moment for creative deals.

    Elsewhere, WaveX turned into a high-stakes pitch fest where creative dreams met venture capital muscle. From 1,504 applicants, 30 high-potential M&E startups in gaming, storytelling, immersive tech and the creator economy pitched live to 29 marquee investors including Lumikai, Jio, and Warmup Ventures. With 127 startups securing connections or partnerships, and applications vetted by IAMAI and KPMG, this wasn’t just razzle, it was rigor with returns.  

    Enter the Create in India Challenge, a flagship talent hunt that hosted 34 creative contests across animation, AR/VR, gaming, music and films. Finalists competed in the buzzing Creatosphere, a zone dedicated to next-gen creators. Eight expert masterclasses helped sharpen their edge, while the finals turned the stage into a launchpad.

    Not to be left out, Waves Culturals gave attendees a feel of India’s artistic pulse through performances blending traditional and global forms. The event’s heart, however, was the Bharat Pavilion, inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on 1 May 2025. Designed as an immersive tribute to India’s storytelling roots, it showcased four thematic zones Shruti (oral traditions), Kriti (written heritage), Drishti (visual storytelling), and Creator’s Leap (future tech).

    Over in the FM lane, the 8th National Community Radio Conference saw 12 CR stations receive national awards for innovation and inclusivity. With 531 CR stations and over 400 representatives attending, it was a mic-drop moment for grassroots broadcasters.

    Add to that the launch of the first Indian Film Festival in New Zealand and fresh Indo-UK film collaborations and you’ve got an M&E summit that doesn’t just talk global, it screens it.

    From classroom tie-ups to cultural showcases, and from startup pitches to mega MoUs, Waves 2025 didn’t just imagine India as a global creative powerhouse it laid down the blueprint, cast the crew and started shooting.

    And with Maharashtra calling action on infrastructure, investment and innovation India’s media industry is no longer just watching the story unfold. It’s writing the script.
     

  • Premier League kicks off creative goal with Adobe AI-powered fandom

    Premier League kicks off creative goal with Adobe AI-powered fandom

    MUMBAI: It’s not just the players bringing flair to the pitch now, thanks to Adobe, the fans can too. In a landmark partnership announced at Adobe Summit London, Adobe and the Premier League have teamed up to supercharge the world’s most-watched football league with AI-driven digital experiences putting the power of creativity and personalisation directly in the hands of its 1.8 billion global fans.

    With tools like Adobe Express and Firefly generative AI integrated into the League’s platforms, fans will soon be designing custom Fantasy Premier League kits, badges and standout social content with just a few prompts. Whether it’s editing matchday photos or crafting short-form highlight reels, Adobe is helping fans channel their inner creative midfielder.

    For the 2025/26 season, Fantasy Premier League managers can personalise their team identities using Adobe Express, complete with exclusive Premier League templates and safe-to-use generative AI trained on licensed and public domain content. This marks the first time fans can visually express their support on such a bespoke level taking personal fandom to a whole new pitch.

    But the partnership doesn’t stop at creativity. Using Adobe’s Experience Platform, Real-Time Customer Data Platform, and Journey Optimizer, the League can now send personalised notifications, geolocation-based updates, and even tailor fan experiences across web, app and email based on individual behaviours and preferences.

    For example, Fantasy managers might receive instant updates on player performances or push notifications triggered when they enter a stadium. With Adobe’s AI agents, the League can generate on-brand content and marketing at scale, serve hyper-relevant video clips (say, just your favourite striker’s best goals), and analyse which content fosters deeper loyalty.

    “Adobe AI is helping fans shape how they experience and share the drama of the Premier League,” said Adobe enterprise CMO Rachel Thornton. “Whether it’s Fantasy content or real-time alerts, we’re putting creativity in every supporter’s hands.”

    Premier League chief commercial officer Will Brass added, “This partnership lets us truly tailor the experience for fans however they follow the game, wherever they are in the world.”

    From tactical data to TikTok-ready content, the Premier League’s digital playbook is evolving and this time, the fans are writing the script.

  • Adobe sets Firefly free with mobile app and AI-first moodboarding tools

    Adobe sets Firefly free with mobile app and AI-first moodboarding tools

     MUMBAI: Your next masterpiece might just start on your phone with a text prompt. Adobe has just turbocharged its generative AI game with a major upgrade to Firefly, unveiling a new mobile app and an AI-powered moodboarding feature called Firefly Boards. The expansion, announced today, makes the creative playground more portable, collaborative, and multimodal than ever before bringing AI-assisted image and video generation to IOS and Android, while letting teams co-create across media in real time.

    With over 24 billion AI-generated assets and traffic up 30 per cent quarter-over-quarter, Firefly is fast becoming Adobe’s flagship for idea-to-execution creativity. The mobile app allows users to generate and edit high-quality images and videos on the fly, with tools like Text to Image, Text to Video, Generative Fill, and Generative Expand. Users can mix and match AI models from Adobe’s own to those by OpenAi, Google, Luma Ai, Pika, Ideogram, Runway, and Black Forest Labs directly within the app or Firefly Boards.

    The Firefly Boards feature, now in public beta, is a slick new workspace for creative teams to develop concepts at scale. Think moodboards that breathe, creators can remix video clips, generate new visuals, or use conversational prompts to fine-tune visuals collaboratively.

    More than just eye candy, Firefly also embeds Content Credentials into AI-generated assets, helping creators track origins and safeguard their rights. Adobe’s ecosystem-first approach now lets assets flow seamlessly from mobile to web to desktop, syncing with Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop and Premiere Pro.

    Adobe says the new capabilities support everything from text-to-vector logo design to soon-to-launch features like text-to-avatar and AI-generated sound effects all from a single, intuitive interface.

    Adobe CTO Ely Greenfield put it, “Our goal with Firefly is to give creators a one-stop shop for generative tools across mobile and web.”

    With first-time Firefly subscribers up 30 per cent, and paid subscriptions nearly doubling, the platform isn’t just growing, it’s blazing ahead. The Firefly app is now live on App Store and Google Play, while Firefly Boards can be accessed via the web for Creative Cloud users.

    In a world where creativity rarely waits for a desk, Firefly’s new wings let ideas take off from anywhere and turn sparks of inspiration into full-blown visuals in minutes.

  • Adobe brings the AI thunder to Cannes with creative, campaign and customer orchestration tools

    Adobe brings the AI thunder to Cannes with creative, campaign and customer orchestration tools

    CANNES: Adobe is rewriting the playbook on customer experience with a bold tech salvo unveiled at leading advertising fest, the Cannes Lions. With a sharp focus on creativity-fuelled personalisation, Adobe’s latest updates promise to fuse generative AI, marketing tech and agentic intelligence into a potent cocktail for brands.

    Touted as the next leap from customer experience management, Adobe’s new suite under the banner of customer experience orchestration (CXO) aims to help brands deliver hyper-relevant content at scale across every consumer touchpoint. It’s a creative marketer’s dream: intuitive tools for orchestrating AI agents, conjuring short-form video ads, and even gaming the LLM algorithm to boost discoverability on AI browsers and chatbots.

    ““Delivering one-to-one personalization at scale demands a powerful fusion of creativity, marketing and AI,” said Adobe president digital experience business Anil Chakravarthy. “We are pioneering innovations through Adobe’s AI platform that enable teams to craft the most compelling and relevant customer experiences, helping businesses drive impact and seize this enormous opportunity.”

    Among the star tools:

    * GenStudio for Performance Marketing slashes campaign creation time with generative AI support for video, display, email, and more.

    * Firefly Services offers APIs for 3D images, avatars, and AI-powered video editing with drag-and-drop simplicity.

    * LLM Optimizer is Adobe’s answer to the AI content visibility race, giving marketers an edge in GenAI search results.

    Major brands—from Coca-Cola and Estée Lauder to Publicis and Prudential—are already plugged into Adobe’s AI stack, reporting sharper engagement, higher conversion, and serious time savings
    .
    Also live is the Adobe experience platform agent orchestrator, enabling brands to build and manage intelligent AI agents—like the new data insights agent and product support agent—taking the grunt work out of analytics and user support.

    As Cannes Lions toasts the creative elite, Adobe makes its case clear: in the era of AI-fuelled brand building, experience is everything—and the hotshop is betting big on orchestrating every pixel of it.

  • Global media titans converge, creator economy ignites as NAB Show 2025 concludes

    Global media titans converge, creator economy ignites as NAB Show 2025 concludes

    MUMBAI:  The National Association of Broadcasters (Nab) Show 2025 concluded on 9 April, solidifying its position as the premier global platform for technology for the media and entertainment industry. The event drew 55,000 registered attendees from 160 countries, demonstrating its international reach and influence.

    Nab Show executive vice president  Karen Chupka highlighted  the show’s role in showcasing the latest advancements in storytelling and technology. A significant 26 per cent of attendees travelled from outside the United States, and 53 per cent were first-time participants, highlighting the show’s expanding appeal.

    The exhibition floor, spanning an area equivalent to eight football fields, featured nearly 1,100 global exhibitors, including 125 new companies. Industry giants such as Adobe, AWS, Canon, Sony, and Verizon Business presented their latest innovations, driving forward the evolution of content creation and distribution. David Ross, CEO of Ross Video, described the show as a crucial platform for showcasing their entire product portfolio.

    Key trends at the show included artificial intelligence, the burgeoning creator economy, and the convergence of sports and technology. High-profile speakers, including Gotham Chopra from Religion of Sports, Jody Gerson of Universal Music Publishing Group, and WWE executives Nick Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, engaged audiences with insights into the future of media. Dhar Mann and Steven A. Smith also captivated attendees with their perspectives on content creation and sports media.

    The show featured over 550 conference sessions and more than 1,000 speakers, addressing critical industry topics. The inaugural Sports Summit explored the intersection of sports, media, and technology, while the Business of Entertainment track, in partnership with The Ankler, examined media dealmaking and content strategies. Sessions on AWS, artificial intelligence, and sports streaming saw high attendance, reflecting the industry’s focus on emerging technologies. The Creator Lab provided a dedicated space for digital creators to explore new tools and resources.

    Nab launched its Creator Council, an advisory group comprising influential creators and thought leaders, to amplify creator voices and guide Nab’s engagement with the creator economy. This initiative underscores Nab’s commitment to supporting the evolving needs of content creators.

    Major company announcements included Sony’s unveiling of the HDC-F5500V and HDC-P50A cameras, and Verizon Business’s introduction of a portable Private 5G Network framework designed to streamline live broadcasting.

    The Nab Show will return to New York from 22 -25 October 2025, and to Las Vegas from 18 to 22 April  2026.

  • Adobe unlocks 1,500+ fonts, adds support for 10 Indian languages

    Adobe unlocks 1,500+ fonts, adds support for 10 Indian languages

    MUMBAI: Adobe has rolled out its most extensive font update in half a decade, adding over 1,500 new fonts to its Adobe Fonts library now with full support for ten major Indian languages Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Oriya, and Urdu.

    Available at no extra cost to all Creative Cloud subscribers, this expansion gives Indian creators more flexibility to work across multiple scripts and platforms without compromising on design quality or linguistic accuracy.

    The update brings globally popular fonts such as Helvetica, Gotham, Avenir, Times New Roman, Arial, and Proxima Nova now available in more language variants, including four additional Indian scripts for Proxima Nova.

    With over 30,000 fonts now available, Adobe Fonts ensures seamless access and integration across tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and Adobe Express, allowing creators to stay on-brand and friction-free, whether on desktop or mobile.

    Among the key benefits of this upgrade, consistent typography across branding, presentations, and editorial design, instant access to frequently used fonts across all devices and apps, reduced font-missing errors when sharing or opening design files.  

    This move strengthens Adobe’s global type offerings and caters to India’s multilingual design demands, setting the stage for more culturally inclusive and versatile visual storytelling.

  • NAB Show 2025: Las Vegas event focuses on future of content and entertainment

    NAB Show 2025: Las Vegas event focuses on future of content and entertainment

    MUMBAI: NAB Show 2025, began on Saturday, 5 April, while exhibits opened on 6 April, showcasing innovations in content and entertainment. The event, being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, is featuring technologies driving industry changes, including AI-driven tools, the creator economy, sports technology, cloud virtualization, and streaming/OTT platforms.

    NAB  executive vice president of global connections and events Karen Chupka, stated the show aims to be a central point for content creators across various mediums. Over 60,000 attendees are expected.

    The exhibit floor features nearly 1,100 companies, including 125 new exhibitors. Notable brands such as Adobe, AWS, Blackmagic, and Sony are participating. New exhibit areas are highlighting  emerging technologies and startups, including the “Startup Stage” in PropelME, the “AI Innovation Pavilion,” “Premiere Park,” and the “Sports Business Hub.”

    The conference program includes 550 sessions covering business, creativity, production, and technology. New session tracks include Business of Entertainment, produced in partnership with The Ankler, and Sports Summit: The Future of Sports Rights and Fan Experience.

    Over 1,000 industry leaders are slated to speak across more than 20 stages. Featured speakers include Dhar Mann from Dhar Mann Studios, Nick Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque from WWE, Gotham Chopra from Religion of Sports, and representatives from organisations such as NPR, Universal Music Publishing Group, the Women’s Tennis Association, the NFL, NASA, and ESPN.

    Interactive experiences are available, including the “Creator Lab” and the AWS Racing Simulator.
    NAB Show 2025 is projected to attract over 60,000 attendees from 160 countries, with 50 percent being first-time attendees. The show facilitates significant business connections, with nearly $17 billion in business generated annually.

  • Adobe cranks up the AI: Premiere Pro gets an upgrade

    Adobe cranks up the AI: Premiere Pro gets an upgrade

    MUMBAI:  Adobe has unleashed a game-changing update to Premiere Pro, turbocharging the edit suite with AI-powered features designed to make video professionals faster and more efficient.

    The headline act? Generative Extend, powered by Adobe’s Firefly Video Model. This AI wizard can now seamlessly stretch clips in 4K and vertical formats, filling gaps in footage with eerily natural-looking extensions. Just click and drag, and—voila!—extra frames appear as if they were always there. Need an ambient sound to last longer? No problem, the AI stretches audio too.

    Next up is Media Intelligence, a search tool on steroids. Sifting through terabytes of footage is now a thing of the past. The AI scans metadata, objects, locations, and even camera angles, serving up the perfect clip in seconds.

    Adobe has also thrown in AI-powered caption translation, which automatically localises subtitles in 27 languages—ideal for creators reaching global audiences. Meanwhile, Premiere Color Management takes raw and log footage and instantly optimises it for HDR and SDR, no fiddling required.

    “We’re thrilled to see how filmmakers use Generative Extend and Media Intelligence to craft compelling stories,” said Adobe senior vice president and general manager, digital media Ashley Still. “These tools remove tedious tasks and let editors focus on creativity.”

    After Effects is getting a high-performance preview engine, new 3D motion design tools, and HDR monitoring, making it easier than ever to create jaw-dropping visuals. Meanwhile, Frame.io V4  is rolling out expanded storage, transcription tools, and enterprise-level security upgrades, keeping creative teams organised and secure.

    Adobe’s video tools have already played a starring role in this year’s biggest films. Oscar-winning flick Anora—which bagged best picture, best film editing, and best director—was cut with Premiere Pro, along with Dune: Part Two and The Substance. TV series like The Jinx – Part Two and John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. also relied on Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

    Director and editor Sean Baker, who crafted Anora, said Premiere Pro let him experiment freely while staying true to his vision. “It’s my go-to tool for everything from quick edits to complex sequences.”

    The new features in Premiere Pro and After Effects are available from today. Adobe is offering free Generative Extend generations for a limited time, while new Frame.io tools—including transcription and access groups—are rolling out in beta. The full suite will be on show at the NAB Show 2025 in Las Vegas, April 6–9, at Booth SL2210.

  • Adobe teams up with AWS and Amazon Ads to boost customer experiences

    Adobe teams up with AWS and Amazon Ads to boost customer experiences

    MUMBAI:  Adobe has announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create new offerings that help marketing and creative teams deliver better customer experiences more efficiently. The collaboration, revealed at Adobe Summit, combines Adobe’s customer experience expertise with AWS’s cloud capabilities.

    Building on Adobe experience platform’s availability on AWS, the partnership introduces new integrations with AWS’s generative AI services, Amazon connect and Amazon ads. These tools will enable businesses to create more meaningful customer interactions while leveraging AWS’s security and global infrastructure.

    “The growing digital economy demands more engaging and personalised content to drive customer loyalty,” said Adobe experience cloud vice president Sundeep Parsa, “These new integrations will help businesses deliver impactful customer experiences using deep data insights, while maintaining high privacy and security standards.”

    The collaboration will bring several new offerings to market:

    1    Enhanced omnichannel experiences: Integration between Adobe experience platform and Amazon connect will provide comprehensive visibility into customer journeys while protecting privacy. This combines Adobe’s customer profiles with Amazon connect’s customer care insights.

    2    AI-driven interactions: Using Amazon Q in connect alongside Adobe’s AI assistant and AI agents, businesses can deploy personalised experiences based on unified customer data, enabling more contextual interactions across touchpoints.

    3    Marketing performance boost: Adobe real-time customer data platform collaboration will integrate with Amazon marketing cloud, allowing marketers to combine customer data with performance insights from Amazon Ads to measure segment performance and improve ad spend return.

    4    Streamlined creative workflows: Direct integration between Amazon ads and Adobe creative cloud applications will help businesses create and publish high-quality ads more efficiently. Creative teams will access professional templates for Amazon ads within Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Express.

    Applications powered by Adobe experience platform will also be available in AWS marketplace, making it easier to find, test and deploy solutions.