MAM
PepsiCo’s D Shivakumar to chair Mobile Marketing Association India’s board
MUMBAI: PepsiCo India Holdings chairman and CEO D Shivakumar has been elected as the head of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) India board of directors.
This is the association’s maiden board, which comprises 12 industry stalwarts across the marketing, technology and advertising spectrum.
The board members include Novi Digital Entertainment president Ajit Mohan, OLX South Asia CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, United Spirits Limited chief marketing officer Amrit Thomas, GroupM CEO South Asia CVL Srinivas, Facebook India MD Kirthiga Reddy, Millward Brown MD South Asia Prasun Basu, Hindustan Unilever Limited executive director – Home Care Priya Nair, Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific MD Rohit Dadwal, J. Walter Thompson chief creative officer Senthil Kumar, Godrej Group head – strategic marketing Shireesh Joshi and One97 Communications & Paytm founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Speaking on the appointment of the new board, Shivakumar said, “The Indian market is brimming with great opportunities for mobile media and marketing. The MMA India Board of Directors brings together some of the best practitioners and minds in marketing, advertising and media, and our collective experience and expertise will hopefully propel the market to quickly adopt mobile marketing as a mainstream medium.”
“Our board members have identified key areas where our immediate focus in needed. These initiatives will facilitate sharing insights, create industry benchmarks and guidelines that will help marketers leverage mobile as core to their business and marketing strategies,” he added.
“Mobile continues to push India marketers to re-think the way they approach marketing and use data and technology to engage with consumers. The conversation has shifted towards how we can build capabilities and further help the ecosystem to leverage mobile,” said Dadwal. “I’m confident that under the guidance of the new Board, our members will be able to leverage the MMA’s resources and network to accelerate mobile marketing in India. The Board of Directors will be instrumental in shaping the future of the industry and developing the MMA and its initiatives. I look forward to working with them to drive the growth of our industry.”
Recent studies from the MMA, Mary Meeker and others suggest that there will be a dramatic shift in media spending in the near future and it is imperative for the marketing community to reboot their marketing mix with mobile as a key driver for future business strategies especially when mobile is poised to be the third largest mass medium in India after TV and print.
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.
