Brands
BANG BANG launches new avatar
MUMBAI: Launched in 2006 by Roopak Saluja, BANG BANG disrupted the Indian commercials production industry by introducing international directorial talent to the market. Additionally, BANG BANG was also the first to introduce standard global processes like detailed transparent costing, etc.
With an initial focus on visual storytelling, BANG BANG cornered the beauty and automotive advertising market by significantly raising the bar for production values in Indian advertising. Subsequently, it expanded its repertoire by serving as a home for iconic Indian directors like Dibakar Banerjee.
Over the years, BANG BANG has produced iconic spots for brands like IKEA, Google, Pepsi, L’Oréal, Sony, Unilever, Indigo, Netflix and dozens of others with Ogilvy, JWT, Lowe Lintas, Dentsu Taproot, Wieden + Kennedy, BBH and many other agency partners.
BANG BANG launched its new avatar earlier this year, working with Dentsu India on a mammoth production to deliver IKEA’s iconic India launch campaign, being rolled out across media over the coming months.
To announce its #Production2020 mission and evolution, BANG BANG released this high-octane video last week across social media channels.
BANG BANG founder and managing director and group CEO of The 120 Media Collective Roopak Saluja said, “It’s hard to overstate the extent of flux our industry has seen in recent years. But wait, there’s more coming. The world needs a recalibrated production model to cater to the needs of 2020. We at BANG BANG have been ramping up to this reality for years and are delivering it here and now in 2018, with commercials at the core but augmented capabilities, backed by a vast body of work, across content, photography, digital, interactive, gaming and more. The one constant is storytelling but there are now a thousand ways to get there.”
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
