MAM
ZenithOptimedia bags Rs 800 mn Honda Siel cars India account
MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia, the global media services agency from the Publicis group, has won the media duties of Honda Siel Cars India, a joint venture between Honda Motor Co Ltd, Japan and Siel Ltd, India.
The account size is pegged at Rs 800 million, according to sources familiar with the deal.
ZenithOptimedia, which handles Toyota, Honda and Lexus globally, had lost the Hyundai account in 2009 to MPG in India.
Strong in the automobile segment, the recent win will help drive ZenithOptimedia‘s growth in India. “We will first focus on Honda. We will then see how it goes for us in the rapidly growing automobile segment in India,” said ZenithOptimedia India CEO Satyajit Sen, while refusing to comment on the financial details of the deal.
Honda is a substantial player in India with brands like Honda City, Accord, Jazz, Civic and CR-V. It faces competition from several players including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai and Volkswagen.
Gearing up for new competition, Honda has decided to consolidate its media account under one outfit. Earlier, Dentsu and Motivator were handling the account.
Says Honda Siel Cars India Marketing Communications AVP Anita Sharma, “We selected Zenith Optimedia because of their in-depth knowledge of the automobile industry and the current competitive environment. Their scientific and process-led planning with the help of tools such as Touchpoint and Portfolio analysis were the main factors for Honda choosing them as their media partners.”
ZenithOptimedia beat agencies such as Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), GroupM, LodeStar Universal and Dentsu Communications to be on the winning side.
Says Sen, “We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Honda and be a partner in their success. We are committed to providing the best ROI to Honda creating solutions that stand out on media-effectiveness, media efficiency and media leadership.”
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IICT partners with Gativedhi to bring studio production tools to students
New MoU lets students explore AI-driven production pipelines for AVGC-XR
MUMBAI: The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) has teamed up with Gativedhi Technologies to give students a front-row seat to modern studio production. The collaboration will integrate Gativedhi’s AI-powered production intelligence platform, Shotrack, into academic programmes, letting students experience the workflow systems used by animation, VFX and gaming studios.
Under the MoU, faculty, students and researchers will get hands-on access to Shotrack through beta programmes, pilot deployments and academic evaluations. This will allow them to explore simulated production pipelines, understand asset management, track tasks and monitor schedules, essentially seeing how complex projects come together behind the scenes.
Shotrack is designed to tackle a key industry challenge: when multiple studios work on the same project, differing internal systems often create bottlenecks, slow approvals and complicate version control. The platform provides a unified production environment, enabling smoother collaboration across distributed teams while generating operational insights and predictive analytics to optimise crew allocation, forecast schedule risks and manage costs.
The collaboration also opens doors to Gativedhi’s wider ecosystem. Upcoming tools include StudioTrack, for studio operations management covering budgeting, recruitment and IT infrastructure, and WorkTrack, which measures workflow efficiency and team productivity across industries.
IICT plans to embed these tools into programmes covering animation pipelines, VFX workflows, gaming production and media project management. Students will also benefit from guest lectures, masterclasses, workshops, internships and research projects that connect academic learning with real-world studio practices.
IICT CEO Vishwas Deoskar, said the partnership provides “An environment where production pipeline tools can be explored, tested and refined while students gain insight into how large-scale productions are organised.”
Gativedhi Technologies founder & CEO Senthil Kumar added, “This collaboration introduces students to real-world studio management tools and helps us improve our platform with academic feedback.”
With Shotrack in classrooms, India’s future animators, VFX artists and gaming producers will get a taste of studio life long before they step into one.
