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The Indian Brand Summit discusses new ways to reach the consumer
MUMBAI: The India Brand Summit 2006 culminated with a final session on ‘New Ways to Reach the Consumer’. Chairing the session was Reliance Retail chief executive consumer durables Rajeev Karwal along with Lintas’ Lynn De Souza, TAM Media Research LV Krishnan, Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma, Maxis CEO Asia Pacific CVL Srinivas and Jet Airways DGM brands Alok Saraogi on the panel for the evening.
Lynn De Souza begun by stating that new media primarily consisted of digital (internet and IPTV), out of home, on the move media and the consumer himself, which she felt is by far the most powerful. However, she was of the opinion that that in India traditional media still has great potential to grow and predicted that it will continue to be important for at least the next 10 years, mainly by recreating itself through interaction with the consumer.
Srinivas on the other hand brought certain key concepts to the discussion. He talked of ‘Media Meshing’ which is the simultaneous consumption of media, as he believes media consumption is changing rapidly and it is time for media owners to ride the tide in this direction. He also spoke of ‘Social Media’ where people are primarily the creators, influencers and observers, something that has been fueled by a concept like blogging. “If you combine the two, you get a multi dimensional black box that will force advertising agencies think more differently. This will give us an impetus to move away from big bang advertising to ‘micropersuation’. The world is changing and change is at our doorstep.”
Sharma addressed the gathering with some eye catching visuals and highlighted the fact that ‘consumer disseminated content’ is what is leading the way. Communication between consumers via the internet and mobile phones has the capacity to spread like wildfire and thus helps to drive the brand. These could include jokes, cartoons, a 30 second spot however, a classic example was that of Gmail, which has absolutely no advertisements but is something that through invites has grown in leaps and bounds merely by consumers acting as agents to pass it on.
Saraogi on the other hand explained how the ‘human quotient’ of media or rather the human needs that new media poses to serve. He added, “Today, while technology reduces boundaries people also desire to be able to communicate thus we need to leverage the power of technology and make it relevant to each consumer.”
TAM’s LV Krishnan spoke specifically from a television perspective and eluded the point that TV has evolved from getting eyeballs to consumer engagement. Studies from his organisation supported suggested, for different categories different mechanisms are used to get more effective engagement. Like for example for house wives it is sound that forces her to rush out of the kitchen and catch the climax while for youth and kids both visuals and sound helped get kids involved in each program.
Taking a shot at the media researchers Lynn added that media research was still not adequately developed and that with the emergence of these newer mediums like the internet and DTH and the interactivity that they incorporate can provide sufficient measurability thus, there would soon be no need for media research.
All these industry experts all tread different paths in the various ways to deliver content, yet they all aim at the same goal of ultimately reaching the consumer!
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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.
