MAM
Ad budgets halved ahead of Durga Puja
KOLKATA: Even as the Bengali community prepares to welcome Goddess Durga, the economic recession seems to have dampened Kolkata’s festive fervour.
Advertising budgets have been slashed to half their size while companies are opting for short-term campaigns spanning not more than 15 days in a bid to save the pennies. Brands are likely to divert funds from large-scale advertising campaigns to quick-win promotions, including coupons and POS discounts so as to attract cash-strapped customers.
Sampark Adverting & Media marketing head Kalyan Brata Ghosh agrees that companies are increasingly opting for short-term campaigns. While Inter Action founder Pranatar Chaudhuri says: “The budget is very low. The biggest spender ITC Vivel is almost non-existent. Vodafone has not yet launched its Puja campaign as normally, the telecom service provider starts the campaign three to four weeks before.”
Chaudhuri adds that clients are optimising costs. For instance, both Berger and Asian Paints haven’t rolled out anything major yet. With the Pujas starting from today, the mood is rather low-key.
“We are selling off space at half the cost so that hoardings do not go blank and we earn something during tough times,” a source from an outdoor media agency reveals.
“Pujas are getting hit. Puja committees have lost clients. Money market companies, which, till last year, either spent a huge amount on the Puja campaigns or donated to big Puja committees have almost contributed nil this year,” says a media planner.
Some brands are even back-tracking as no one is willing to spend. “One of my clients got all the plans made and then backed out even when we quoted the cheapest rates,” says a source from a city-based medium-sized outdoor agency.
Meanwhile Sistema Shyam TeleServices, which provides telecom services under the MTS brand, has announced the launch of the MTS Digital Utsav campaign, near to the Durga Puja celebrations. The campaign has been specially designed to cash in on the power of the digital medium for two special initiatives: the MTS Street Food Festival and MTS Digital Pujo Awards, says an SSTL release.
Ghosh points out that most agencies have kept client campaigns under wraps and will unveil them once people start pandal hopping during the Puja.
Brands
TCS and ServiceNow join forces to fast-track AI in enterprises
New partnership aims to turn clunky workflows into smart, self-learning engines
MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and ServiceNow have teamed up to help businesses move from AI experiments to full-scale adoption. The multi-year partnership will see TCS building industry-specific AI solutions on the ServiceNow platform, transforming slow, manual processes into intelligent, autonomous workflows that learn and improve over time.
Enterprises are eager for smarter ways to handle back-office functions like HR, finance, supply chain, procurement, and employee services. With this collaboration, TCS will offer AI-led solutions that bring together trusted AI, modern workflows, and deep industry knowledge, helping businesses work faster, smarter, and more efficiently.
ServiceNow president and chief product officer Amit Zavery said, “Enterprises need partners who can combine innovation, execution, and governance. Together with TCS, we are embedding AI directly into workflows, modernising legacy systems, and driving measurable results.”
TCS executive director and COO Aarthi Subramanian added, “Companies are ready to move beyond pilots to enterprise-wide transformation. Our partnership will embed intelligence across IT, operations, and customer functions, unlocking speed, efficiency, and lasting advantage.”
The solutions are designed to break down silos, giving organisations a holistic, insight-driven view. HR operations, for instance, could shift from fragmented services to a smooth hire-to-retire lifecycle, boosting productivity and engagement. Similarly, order processing could evolve from a slow, multi-step cycle into a fast-moving engine that drives revenue and cash flow.
TCS is already ServiceNow’s largest user for IT Asset Management, rolling out the system across thousands of devices in just three months. Both companies will also invest in co-innovation labs, solution showcases, and joint go-to-market initiatives to bring these AI capabilities to clients.
With this partnership, enterprises can look forward to workflows that think for themselves, helping businesses stay ahead in the AI era.
