iWorld
ZEE and Birla Opus Paints unveil content integration across diverse markets
Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment has announced a partnership with Birla Opus Paints, marking a key deal in the Indian media and advertising space. Birla Opus Paints, a new player in the paints industry, is focused on building a strong brand presence across various markets. ZEE Network, with its wide reach in India and globally, offers the brand a platform to connect with its target audience.
Birla Opus Paints has come on board as the co-title sponsor for ZEE’s flagship singing reality show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa across Hindi, Telugu and as a co-powered sponsor in Tamil – further expanding its footprint across multiple regions. The collaboration goes beyond traditional sponsorships, as ZEE’s sales and brand integration teams have devised a unique and creative set of brand placements within Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. In line with the Opus brand’s creative ethos, ZEE has executed a unique network-wide innovation that cuts across both GECs and movie channels, ensuring that the brand’s presence is impactful and widely recognised.
ZEEL chief growth officer – digital & broadcast revenue, Ashish Sehgal shared his excitement about the partnership: “Partnering with Birla Opus Paints, one of the most anticipated new entrants in the market, has been an incredible opportunity. With Birla Opus Paints joining us as the co-title sponsor on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa across Hindi and regional markets, we are amplifying their brand visibility with our initiatives. We’ve pushed the boundaries of creativity with a unique innovation, integrating their mascot into our content across multiple languages, ensuring that the brand’s presence is not only visible, but unforgettable. We look forward to collaborating with them in the future as well and hope the brand rises and shines.”
ZEE CMO Kartik Mahadev emphasised the power of content in driving brand narratives: “At ZEE, we believe that content has the ability to create meaningful connections between brands and their consumers. Our partnership with Birla Opus Paints is a testament to this belief. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa connects cultures through the power of music with its presence across 8 language markets. By seamlessly incorporating engaging touchpoints on our iconic singing reality show, we’ve crafted a richer brand experience for Birla Opus across markets. We’re excited to collaborate with a brand that shares our vision for innovation and storytelling.”
Birla Opus Paints CMO Inderpreet Singh spoke on the strategic importance of this partnership: “Birla Opus Paints wants to add beauty & colour to life of every Indian. ZEE Network, with its unmatched reach and content innovation, is a perfect partner to create meaningful connections with our consumers.”
Speaking on the collaboration, Wavemaker India chief client officer & office head – West, North & East, Shekhar Banerjee said, “At Wavemaker, our commitment is to forge distinctive brand experiences for Birla Opus Paints and we’ve crafted something truly special in partnership with Zee Network. We thank Zee Network for breaking some well-established norms of television to create a partnership that delivers beyond standard sponsorship and also leverages their diverse portfolio of channels. This collaboration is the result of dynamic creative synergy, meticulously designed to be impactful and resonate deeply with our audience, ensuring Birla Opus achieves the visibility and impact.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
