MAM
LIC still king, but private players gaining momentum
MUMBAI: With the insurance sector witnessing a boom, owing to private insurance players going all out with their to big-bang advertising to build awareness and recall, LIC although continues to dominate the insurance market in terms of ‘recall’ and market share the private insurance players continue their perusal in making inroads into the consumer mindspace – according to the Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Insurance Tracker.
Insurance companies at large are resorting to different creative strategies with ICICI Prudential using a mix of Corporate (Suraksha Zindagi Ke Har Kadam Par’) and Product (Chintamani – no Chinta only Money) advertising; SBI Life banking on ‘corporate’ (‘Woh Bacchpan Ke Din Lauta Do’) advertising, while some like Dabur Aviva focussing more on ‘product’ advertising.
Says TNS India senior vice president, Shobha Subramanian, “For private insurance players, key task is to build awareness, trust and positive disposition – for behavior to be impacted in the marketplace.”
As a consequence of heightened media activity, private players are gaining in acceptance, and this has meant that LIC is starting to lose ‘share-of-mind’.
The insurance tracker from the market research outfit, TNS India , is the only continuous brand health monitoring study for the insurance sector. Conducted in the seven cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, the study aims to monitor the impact of marketing initiatives unleashed by marketers in the insurance arena, competitive activity and the evolving needs of investor groups.
Digital
OpenAI drops Sora AI video tool, ends planned $1 billion Disney deal
Pivot to coding and AGI leaves media giant rethinking AI tie-up plans
CALIFORNIA: In a move that has sent ripples through both Hollywood and Silicon Valley, OpenAI has pulled the plug on its much-hyped AI video tool Sora, abruptly ending what was shaping up to be a landmark partnership with The Walt Disney Company.
According to media reports, the decision came with little warning. Teams from both sides had been working on a Sora-linked project when the shutdown was communicated, catching even those close to the collaboration off guard.
The fallout is significant. The move effectively scraps a proposed $1 billion, three-year agreement that would have seen Disney invest in OpenAI while opening up access to its vast library of characters for AI-generated short-form video content. The deal, however, had not been finalised and no funds had changed hands.
Sora, unveiled in early 2024, had dazzled the industry with its ability to generate cinematic-quality video from simple text prompts, triggering a wave of competing launches from AI players across the United States and China. Its sudden exit marks a sharp turn in OpenAI’s strategy.
The company is now redirecting its focus towards more commercially scalable areas such as coding tools, enterprise solutions and the long-term pursuit of artificial general intelligence. Internally, resources required to run the video model are understood to have weighed on other priorities, accelerating the decision.
Leadership roles are also evolving to match the shift. Sam Altman continues to steer the broader vision, while Fidji Simo’s remit has been realigned towards deploying AGI capabilities as part of a wider push to consolidate offerings into a unified platform.
For Disney, the setback is more strategic than financial. The company is said to be evaluating alternative ways to collaborate with OpenAI, even as it recalibrates its approach to generative AI in storytelling.
For the wider industry, the episode is a reminder that in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, even the most dazzling innovations can have a surprisingly short shelf life.
