MAM
Signature Packaged Drinking Water presents Ziro Festival 2024
Mumbai: “The earth has music for those who listen.”-William Shakespeare.
A life connected to nature can be deeply rewarding. Signature Packaged Drinking Water encourages natural living and has partnered with the Ziro Festival, a major festival in India set in Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. The festival, running from 26 to 29 September 2024, offers a range of experiences for nature and music lovers.
The Ziro Festival promotes eco-friendly practices with activities like masterclasses, farm-to-table cuisine, and plogging. It features bamboo and Apatani craftsmanship, biodegradable Tamul plates, and reclaimed wood signages. Free water is provided to encourage the use of reusable bottles.
This year’s festival includes a diverse lineup of musicians: Tamikrest with their Tuareg beats, Kailash Kher’s soulful performance, genre-blending Hanumankind, Kerala’s hip hop star Dabzee, Singapore’s post-rock band Amateur, Arunachal’s Dobom Doji Carolina Norbu, Nepali chart-topper Sushant KC, Swedish psych-rock group Hollow Ship, and Veena maestro Dr. Jayanti Ramesh.
Diageo India VP and portfolio head, marketing, Varun Koorichh said, “As we continue our relationship with Ziro Music Festival as the presenting partner, we recognize that new age consumers are proactive, informed, and intentional in their choices, seeking meaningful experiences. There is a clear shift towards mindful living among today’s diverse audiences. Last year’s success reinforced the synergy between Signature Packaged Drinking Water’s ‘Live Good, Do Good’ philosophy and the Ziro Music Festival’s reputation as one of the most eco-friendly music festivals in India. This year, our focus is to build on that success and take it to newer heights. Set in stunning Arunachal Pradesh, the festival offers a stellar lineup, immersive experiences, farm-to-table cuisine, and eco-conscious initiatives. Our partnership aims to bring together nature enthusiasts, positioning Signature Packaged Drinking Water at the forefront of a space where music and eco-conscious living blend to create an immersive and impactful experience to enable meaningful connections with nature.”
Ziro Festival co-founder and creative producer Anup Kutty said, “Ziro Festival has always been about discovering new sounds and creating a space where artists can connect with a diverse, global audience against the backdrop of the spectacular Ziro valley. Each year, we’re amazed at how music from all parts of the world resonates with our attendees. This is what makes Ziro Festival so special, and we’re thrilled to have partners like Signature supporting this mission of discovery.”
Ziro Festival co-founder and festival director Bobby Hano said, “Sustainability has been at the heart of Ziro Festival since its inception. Our partnership with Signature Packaged Drinking Water is an important step in continuing our commitment to preserving the environment while celebrating music and culture. Together, we aim to showcase how events like ours can balance eco-conscious practices with impactful, memorable experiences.”
Signature Packaged Drinking Water invites green seekers to reconnect and revel in nature’s authentic experiences at Ziro whilst embracing the art of mindful living for a more vibrant and harmonious future.
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.
