Digital
Nielsen pushes case for independent audience measurement at India Brand Summit India ’25
MUMBAI: When brands can’t measure right, they can’t spend smart. That was the blunt message from Nielsen at the third India Brand Summit 2025, organised by Indian Television dot com, on 19 September.
The summit brought together a heavyweight mix of marketers from leading FMCG firms, advertising agencies, media buyers, policymakers and digital innovators: all focused on rewriting India’s branding playbook with sharper, more cost-effective strategies.
Speaking on the theme “The need for an independent audience measurement system for enhanced reach analysis,” Nielsen, senior director, Mridul Verma made the case for breaking out of siloed metrics. He argued that platform-specific data clouds the true picture of audience reach, causing wasted ad spend and missed opportunities.
To illustrate, he cited a Samsonite campaign that tapped Nielsen one ads to fine-tune in-flight advertising. By applying unified, cross-platform measurement, the brand was able to optimise outcomes across connected TV, mobile and desktop.
Verma noted that such cross-channel clarity is critical in today’s fragmented media environment, adding that independent measurement is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity for marketers seeking efficient and accountable growth.
With digital advertising spend soaring in India, Nielsen’s pitch for a single yardstick was clear: only a unified view can keep campaigns efficient and effective in a crowded media landscape.
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.
