Event Coverage
MIS 2024: Catering to the digital India narrative – brands leveraging automation
Mumbai: The Media Investment Summit 2024 which is being held on 4 April at Novotel, Mumbai is a dynamic platform that aims to bring together minds from the brand, media, advertising, digital & TV fraternity to explore the ever-evolving landscape of content, Adtech, Martech, metaverse and Web 3.0, the evolution of traditional media planning and buying, data and privacy infringement and ROI on advertising.
The day-long affair is to make sure to tantalise the thoughts of those looking for answers to myriad topics under the branding, advertising, TV, digital media planning, and buying roof.
The session will cover the multifaceted role of brands leveraging automation in the digital India narrative, providing insights into the opportunities, challenges, and impact on various sectors of the economy.
The session of the event is chaired by Publicis Groupe India CEO digital technology business Amaresh Godbole, consisting of panelists including – Kotak Life EVP & head of digital business unit Prasad Pimple, GSK associate director – customer experience Delnaaz Irani, Lenovo head, corporate citizenship, Asia Pacific Pratima Harite, Fractal ink Design Studio Pvt Ltd co-founder, COO and CBO Geeta Suthar and mFilterIt head of product Arvind Mathur.
Talking about financial services being the most automated industry, Godbole asked Pimple about his insights, “I agree that the way the overall technology stack has been created, it has helped most of the brand and industries to build on automation into the purchase journeys as well as the overall customer experience management but we’re not as fortunate as the leaning business where it is simplified in terms of just financial underwriting based on credit score.”
He also spoke about financial and medical underwriting still remaining unautomated, and that a lot of work has also happened in terms of the automation perspective on the customer experience part of it. He also said, “In terms of automation, significant progress has been made in enhancing customer experience throughout the marketing funnel, from building awareness to tracking it, transitioning to consideration, purchase intent, actual purchase, and finally sharing purchase information with relevant media platforms.” He also spoke a bit about CKYC, EKYC, and the UPI moment in India during the pandemic, among other topics.
Answering Godbole’s question on the challenges in automation, in the pharma industry, Irani said, “The challenge is integrating doctors into the marketing funnel with a clear strategy for exclusive communication and validation.”
Moving on, Harite said, “When we talking about the automation i think we should look at the work for human kind project that we looked at where we were thinking of how do you revitalise millets using technology.”
Sharing her thoughts on automation, Suthar said, “Process optimisation has largely been digitisation. We identify things that are manually done or they’re not efficient and then we figure out ways in which to digitise them, put them on the cloud or some service somewhere and then join the dots to make everything seamless.”
Mathur then spoke about deploying technology, including AI and generative models, to monitor and distinguish between positive and negative elements within the system. He also spoke about the guardrails that need to be made around systems.
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
