Tag: Mumbai

  • Bridgers teams up with IIT Kanpur for Upstart 2025

    Bridgers teams up with IIT Kanpur for Upstart 2025

    MUMBAI: From ideas to impact, Bridgers is bridging the gap. India’s leading integrated communications agency has signed a strategic MoU with IIT Kanpur’s Entrepreneurship Cell, becoming the official media partner for Upstart 2025, the flagship pitching event designed to empower India’s budding entrepreneurs.

    The Nationals kick off in Delhi on 11th October, followed by Hyderabad (1st November), Bengaluru (8th November), and Mumbai (6th December), culminating in the finals at IIT Kanpur from 23rd–25th January 2026. Bridgers will provide end-to-end communications solutions, helping amplify the event’s reach and spotlight the most promising startups across India.

    “Startup communication is our forte,” said Bridgers founder Anubhav Singh. “Partnering with IIT Kanpur E-Cell lets us support tomorrow’s founders while contributing to India’s Viksit Bharat vision by 2047.”

    IIT Kanpur E-Cell’s Laksh Bansal added, “Bridgers’ expertise ensures Upstart 2025 gets the attention it deserves, highlighting the impact of this event and empowering our country’s future unicorns.”

    The collaboration spans strategic campaigns, community storytelling, reputation management, and media engagement across cities and national and regional platforms, bringing India’s next generation of entrepreneurs into the spotlight.

  • 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.

  • Publicis opens AI-powered content studio in India

    Publicis opens AI-powered content studio in India

    MMUMBAI:  The age of one-size-fits-all advertising is over. Brands now need content that speaks to specific audiences, on specific platforms, at specific moments—and they need it fast.

    Publicis Groupe India has launched a content studio designed to meet precisely that demand, combining artificial intelligence with traditional creative talent to produce personalised, localised marketing material at speed.

    The facility, the group’s fifty second globally, integrates AI-powered tools with editing suites and CGI workstations to help brands respond quickly to cultural moments and platform changes. Unlike standard production houses, the studio focuses on creating what the company calls “intelligent content”—assets tailored to specific audiences, platforms and contexts rather than generic material produced at volume.

    “Marketers today aren’t short on data or ideas. What they need is the ability to turn those insights into powerful, relevant content—faster than ever before,” said  Publicis Groupe south Asia chief executive Anupriya Acharya. “This studio does exactly that.”

    The Mumbai operation joins Publicis Production’s network of studios in creative hubs including New York, London, Paris and Shanghai. It is equipped to handle both high-end production and agile content creation, offering post-production services to complement prodigious India’s existing capabilities.

    The studio integrates with Publicis’s international production ecosystem through LucidLink and data asset management systems, enabling real-time collaboration across markets. It has already produced content for brands across beauty, automotive, fast-moving consumer goods and technology sectors, creating thousands of assets for markets from southeast Asia to Australia and America.

    “Production is no longer the final step; it’s the creative engine that connects strategy, media, technology and commerce,” said Publicis Production managing partner C. “Today, it’s not just about producing more content, it’s about producing intelligent content, made for the right audience, tailored to the right platform, and delivered at the perfect moment.”

    Publicis Groupe South Asia  chief creative officer Rajdeepak Das  said the studio brings “creative, production and technology under one roof,” enabling the company to match the pace of cultural change.

     

  • Instamart sale puts sparkle into festive shopping

    Instamart sale puts sparkle into festive shopping

    MUMBAI: Why wait for the runway when the runway can come to your doorstep? Instamart’s Quick India Movement (QIM) sale has turned festive shopping into a high-style sprint, with accessories, beauty, and grooming deals flying off the virtual shelves in record time.

    Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore are leading the pack in fashion accessory orders, with shoppers loading up on chic bags from Aldo, Lavie, and Accessorize London, while Pune and Hyderabad are racing ahead in beauty and grooming buys. The result? A festive shopping frenzy that proves style doesn’t wait.

    This season’s sparkle comes courtesy of steep discounts: Titan and Clara watches starting at Rs 999, Giva’s sterling silver jewellery up to 68 per cent off, and Sukkhi ethnic picks at a dazzling 90 per cent discount. Bags are equally irresistible, with Aldo at up to 60 per cent off, Lavie from Rs 599, and Baggit offering 80 per cent markdowns.

    Beauty buffs aren’t left behind. From Lakmé essentials at half price to Dove and L’oréal haircare at up to 60 per cent off, plus Beardo and Ustraa grooming kits starting at Rs 499, shoppers are stocking up to glow as brightly as the festive lights.

    Running until 28 September, the QIM Sale has already seen over 200 per cent growth in categories like jewellery, hair accessories, and bags, turning everyday shopping into a celebration. With delivery in just 10 minutes, Instamart ensures that this festive season, the perfect look is always within reach.
     

  • Legendary Zeenat Aman shines in Tyaani’s latest campaign

    Legendary Zeenat Aman shines in Tyaani’s latest campaign

    MUMBAI: When timeless glamour meets contemporary brilliance, the result is Zeenat Aman for Tyaani. The legendary actor, whose style has inspired generations, headlines Tyaani Jewellery by Karan Johar in the brand’s latest campaign, Forces of Tyaani, celebrating individuality and self-expression as the rarest forms of luxury.

    In striking modern attire, Aman is transformed into a living masterpiece, adorned in Tyaani’s signature uncut diamond jewellery. The campaign positions her as more than a cinematic icon, she is the embodiment of the jewellery’s ethos: bold, luminous, and timeless.

    Forces of Tyaani has previously showcased stars like Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Tillotama Shome, and Kalki Koechlin. With Aman joining the roster, the narrative reaches a showstopper moment, pairing her enduring charisma with Tyaani’s contemporary jewellery mastery.

    At the heart of the collection lies Tyaani’s reimagined uncut diamond technique, allowing light to pass freely through each stone, enhancing brilliance while remaining elegantly lightweight. Each piece reflects the balance of tradition and modernity, a mirror to Aman’s own ageless allure.

    Tyaani Jewellery founder Karan Johar said, “Having Zeenat Aman headline Forces of Tyaani is a dream realised. Her legacy stands untamed by time, and she embodies our belief that individuality is the rarest form of luxury.”

    The campaign is a celebration of more than just jewellery. It champions empowerment, inclusivity, and self-expression, encouraging women to embrace their own rhythm and story with jewels that are at once modern and eternal.

    Tyaani Jewellery is available in eight cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and Ahmedabad, and online at tyaani.com.

  • Plates with purpose: ITC Aashirvaad turns Navratri feasts into care acts

    Plates with purpose: ITC Aashirvaad turns Navratri feasts into care acts

    MUMBAI: Food for thought, with a side of care. This Navratri, ITC Aashirvaad Soul Creations has launched ‘Nav creations,’ a festive initiative that transforms everyday vrat meals into acts of kindness.

    At a time when families gather over wholesome vrat thalis and young kanyas are celebrated as symbols of purity, many girls remain outside the festive circle. ‘Nav creations’ steps in to bridge that gap, ensuring each order adds a touch of warmth to lives that might otherwise go unnoticed.

    Here’s how it works, every order from the ‘Nav creations’ menu on Swiggy or Zomato comes with a festive card and a QR code. By uploading proof of purchase, customers earn 100 coins. Once 500 coins are collected, Aashirvaad Soul Creations serves a wholesome Navratri meal to a young kanya. To spread the joy further, contributors also receive a personalised ‘Nav creations’ digital frame to share online.

    The vrat-special menu itself stays true to tradition, prepared without onion or garlic and using only sendha namak. From kuttu paneer pakodas with kali mirch dip, velvety vrat paneer curry, and fluffy sabudana khichdi thalis to soft sabudana parathas and rajgira pooris paired with comforting aloo subzi, each dish brings the festive kitchen to the table.

    Available across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune until 2 October, the menu is more than convenient festive dining. With ‘Nav creations,’ every plate becomes a prayer, and every order an offering of care.

  • Animeta launches AI film studio

    Animeta launches AI film studio

    MUMBAI: Singapore-based Animeta has fired up an AI film studio in Mumbai, betting that artificial intelligence can turbo-charge content creation for brands and filmmakers hungry for rapid-fire storytelling.

    The creator-tech company’s new vertical marries human creativity with machine-generated visuals, promising to churn out everything from promotional clips to feature-length films at breakneck speed. The venture taps into Google Cloud’s start-up programme, which provides access to the tech giant’s Vertex AI Veo3 video generation model alongside copyright protection.

    “We’ve built a hybrid model where human creativity and AI technology work together seamlessly, empowering creators to tell their stories faster, smarter, and infinitely scalable,” said Animeta founder Anish Mehta who has spent two decades reimagining animation storytelling.

    The Mumbai studio aims to capitalise on India’s booming digital content market whilst addressing creators’ perpetual challenge: producing high-quality material at scale without breaking budgets or timelines. The platform allows writers and filmmakers to blend original scripts, music and voice work with AI-generated visuals.

    Animeta already boasts heavyweight clients including Amazon, Starbucks, Warner Music, L’Oréal Group, Tata Group, McDonald’s and Uber through its Brandstar platform, which corrals over 400,000 creators. The company’s tech arsenal spans computer vision, video encoding, natural language processing and large language models.

    The move signals how AI is reshaping content production as streaming platforms and brands scramble for fresh material. Traditional filmmaking’s lengthy production cycles increasingly clash with digital-first audiences’ appetite for constant content consumption.

    Google Cloud’s backing provides crucial copyright indemnity—a key concern as AI-generated content faces legal scrutiny over intellectual property rights. The partnership positions Animeta to exploit AI’s creative potential whilst shielding clients from potential litigation.

    The venture underscores Mumbai’s emergence as a hub for AI-powered media innovation, challenging Hollywood’s traditional dominance in cutting-edge production technology.

  • Betting racket whacked for Rs 307 crore as ED strikes in Dubai

    Betting racket whacked for Rs 307 crore as ED strikes in Dubai

    NEW DELHI: India’s financial crimes enforcers have seized Dubai property and domestic bank deposits worth Rs 307 crore in a crackdown on an online betting operation centred around the Fairplay platform, according to a PTI report. 

    The Enforcement Directorate froze land, villas and flats in the Gulf emirate alongside Indian bank accounts under anti-money laundering laws, the agency said on Monday. The haul represents one of the largest asset seizures in India’s escalating war against illegal online gambling.

    The probe stems from a complaint filed by Viacom18 Media with Mumbai Police’s cyber wing, alleging the betting platform had inflicted revenue losses exceeding Rs 100 crore through violations of information technology and copyright laws.

    Investigators subsequently bundled together multiple cases against Fairplay and its associates for illegal online betting operations. The web of connected entities suggests a sophisticated money-laundering network spanning domestic and international jurisdictions.

    The seizures underscore how Indian authorities are pursuing betting operators’ offshore assets with increasing vigour. Dubai has emerged as a favoured destination for parking proceeds from India’s booming but largely illegal online gambling sector.

    The Fairplay case highlights the complex interplay between broadcasting rights violations and betting operations, with platforms allegedly using pirated content to drive traffic to gambling sites.
    India’s regulatory crackdown on online betting has intensified as authorities grapple with the sector’s explosive growth and its links to money laundering and tax evasion.

  • TCS and CEA join forces to give robotics a ‘physical AI’ makeover

    TCS and CEA join forces to give robotics a ‘physical AI’ makeover

    MUMBAI: When brains meet brawn, the robots of tomorrow are born. Tata consultancy services (TCS) and french research giant CEA have struck a partnership to fast-track the rise of physical AI, a field that blends artificial intelligence with robotics to create machines that can see, sense, and interact with the real world.

    Announced on 9 September in Paris and Mumbai, the alliance promises to take AI out of the cloud and into the factory floor, warehouses, and even social spaces. From versatile robots that adapt to new tasks, to human-friendly cobots for safer shop floors, and assistive bots that provide personal support, the collaboration is setting out to make robots less science fiction and more industrial reality.

    “By connecting cutting-edge research with business needs, we can invent the intelligent systems of tomorrow,” said CEA-list, director, Alexandre Bounouh pointing to how physical AI could transform production chains and boost European competitiveness.

    The deal will see TCS bring its global scale and deep sector expertise together with CEA’s research muscle, including breakthroughs ranging from brain-controlled exoskeletons to AI for self-driving cars. Together, they plan to offer proof-of-concepts, training, and real-world deployments, with support anchored in the TCS pace port Paris innovation hub.

    TCS France, managing director, Rammohan Gourneni called the partnership a “key step” in helping industries embrace physical AI. “It combines the power of AI with the intelligence of physical systems, supporting our clients’ industrial transformation,” he said.

    For TCS, which has been in France since 1992 and works with 18 cac40 companies, the partnership underscores its long-term commitment to the French tech ecosystem. For CEA, it marks another leap in its leadership role on Europe’s robotics roadmap.

  • Mondelez elevates Nikhil Nicholas to global brand director of Cadbury Dairy Milk

    Mondelez elevates Nikhil Nicholas to global brand director of Cadbury Dairy Milk

    ZURICH: Mondelez International has promoted Nikhil Nicholas to global brand director of Cadbury Dairy Milk, placing him in charge of one of the confectionery giant’s most prized assets. He will be based in Zurich.

    Nicholas, who has spent more than 16 years at Mondelez, was most recently global marketing manager for Cadbury. His career has taken him across Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur and Zurich, spanning sales, innovation and category leadership. He has been closely associated with Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk and chocolate innovation in Asia-Pacific, as well as leading marketing for South East Asia.

    Starting out in customer development and sales roles in India, he steadily climbed through the ranks, moving into brand management in 2013. By 2019, he was senior marketing manager for equity and innovation in South East Asia, before taking on the region’s chocolate marketing lead. In 2023, he shifted to Zurich to handle global duties.

    The promotion cements his role as the custodian of a brand that has defined affordable indulgence for generations and remains central to Mondelez’s global chocolate portfolio.