MAM
Fabindia joins Indian Navy’s ‘G20 THINQ’ Quiz as official lifestyle partner
Mumbai: Fabindia, India’s leading lifestyle brand known for its commitment to traditional Indian craftsmanship and contemporary design, in collaboration with the Indian Navy, contributed to bringing together intellect, knowledge, and strategic thinking as the official lifestyle partner for The Indian Navy Quiz, “G20 THINQ.” The national finals were held in Mumbai at The Gateway of India on 18 November, 2023 and the international finals were held on 23 November at India Gate, New Delhi.
In New Delhi, for the International Finals, participants from all 24 countries were dressed in jackets made with Tussar Gicha, a wild silk which is also referred to as Tushar, Tussore, Tasar, Tussur, or Tusser in different regions across India. Contestant’s attire also consisted of white silk blended kurtas made with regenerated cellulose fabric, white churidars or tapered pants and handmade leather jutties.
For the national finals in Mumbai, participants from across 16 schools were dressed in immaculately crafted Ikat designs that carried the combined traditions and skills passed down to artisans through generations. In keeping with this theme, Fabindia offered specially curated gift hampers for the winners, combining Fabindia’s signature style with the spirit of G20 THINQ. This collaboration aligned seamlessly with Fabindia’s ethos of showcasing the diverse, vibrant, and sustainably conscious tapestry of India’s traditions.
G20 THINQ was an engaging and intellectually stimulating quiz, and Fabindia is honoured to be a part of this event. The partnership reflected the brand’s ongoing commitment to fostering a deep appreciation for India’s rich cultural heritage and its contribution towards global knowledge.
Fabindia would sincerely like to thank The Indian Navy and NWWA president, Mrs Kala Hari Kumar, for giving us this opportunity to contribute towards making THINQ a successful event.
About Fabindia Ltd.
Fabindia Ltd. was founded in 1960, with its first retail store in New Delhi. Bringing forth craftsmanship with contemporary designs, Fabindia carries a 63-year legacy of celebrating India’s rich heritage, spanning over 357 stores across 127 cities within the country and 13 international outlets across 7 countries.
The offering includes a variety of Indian and Western wear for men, women, and children. Over the years, jewellery, bags and footwear, home furnishings, furniture, gifts, organic food and personal care products have been introduced to the range.
An amalgamation of aesthetics and affordability, the brand is a celebration of India and its crafts, and is one of the country’s largest private platforms for products made from traditional techniques, skills and hand-based processes. Fabindia connects thousands of craft-based rural producers to urban markets, creating employment for artisans and preserving the country’s traditional handicrafts.
MAM
Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
