MAM
McCann Worldgroup’s Ben Lilley talks about creativity at Adfest 2016
MUMBAI: ADFEST is pleased to announce that Ben Lilley, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup Australia, is joining the line-up at ADFEST 2016.
Lilley presides over one of the region’s most awarded agencies, McCann Australia – the agency behind the multi-award winning ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ campaign of 2012. At ADFEST this year, he will present a session titled: ‘Is the Creative Team Dead? Or has it just been hipsterized?’
“Technology has disrupted everything, including now, it seems, the creative team. Or has it? Just as there’s ‘no I in team’, there’s no ‘I’ in technology either. Agency teams remain as vital as ever to developing original, compelling and effective ideas,” says Lilley.
So has the creative team really changed? This session will examine what exactly a successful agency team should look like these days.
Lilley started out as a creative with some of Australia’s most respected agencies, including George Patterson, McCann and DDB, before launching his own agency SMART in 2000.
Described by AdNews as “one of the best known independent advertising success stories in Australia”, SMART was recognised in theAdNews and B&T Agency of the Year, Employer of the Year, Cannes Lions, Effies, Clios, New York Festivals, BRW Fast100 and numerous other global award shows.
In 2011, SMART was acquired by McCann Worldgroup and Lilley was appointed Australian Chairman and CEO. Within two years, McCann made Australian history as the world’s most awarded agency in the The Gunn Report, Won Report and AdAge Awards Report.
The agency’s campaigns include “Dumb Ways to Die” for Metro Trains, which in 2013 was named the most awarded campaign in Cannes Lions history and one of AdAge’s Top 15 Ad Campaigns of The 21st Century.
In 2014, the agency was awarded its 6th Cannes Grand Prix for V/Line “Guilt Trips”. And in 2015 McCann was Australia’s top ranked agency (and 6th in the world) in the global Warc 100 creative effectiveness rankings.
‘Is the Creative Team Dead? Or has it just been hipsterized?’ takes place on Friday 18th March at 4pm.
Delegate Passes to ADFEST 2016 – which runs from 16th to 19th March at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand – are now available via www.ADFEST.com
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
