The annual FICCI Frames event, a much-anticipated yearly international forum for the Indian film industry, continued yesterday (commencing on 5 March) under the coordination of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
The overarching theme for this year is '#Reinvent'. Over three days, media and entertainment experts will illuminate the growth potential and innovations in OTT, cinema, and broadcast through panel sessions, keynote speeches, and masterclasses. The discussions highlight the dynamic nature of the media industry in India, with panellists emphasising the importance of innovation, audience engagement, and adaptability.
Campaign India takes you behind the scenes on the second day of this year's forum. You can read all about day one here. Day two of FICCI Frames 2024 brought insightful discussions on how Instagram Reels is transforming brand advertising across India's digital landscape, contextual advertising, AI, copyright and more.
Here are the highlights:
1. Instagram Reels and brand engagement
Paras Sharma, director of global partnerships, Meta India
The day started with a keynote session by Paras Sharma, director of global partnerships at Meta India. Sharma emphasised the significance of Instagram Reels in repurposing existing catalogue content for impactful brand campaigns.
"We triggered a program called Retros Reasons, where you use your existing catalogue song— reimagined and repurposed—for Instagram Reels. This has resulted in a significant impact on the original song's engagement," said Sharma.
The discussion also expanded to how Instagram Reels are revolutionising movie marketing strategies. Sharma presented a case study on the successful launch of the movie ‘Fighter,’ which utilised Instagram Reels to build anticipation and engagement leading up to the release.
The session concluded with insights into content trends on Instagram Reels. Sharma highlighted three key trends: Retro, culture club, and mix it up—referring to touching on retro as a way to engage audiences, tapping into culture for differentiation and mixing up content strategies to stand out.
He also emphasised the importance of authentic storytelling and leveraging trends effectively to connect with audiences.
"Trends are a powerful way to drive engagement and build cultural relevance. Brands must understand which trends align with their objectives to create impactful content," Sharma concluded.
2. ‘Shaping the future of creativity in the digital age—AI and copyright
In another engaging panel entitled ‘Shaping the future of creativity in the digital age—AI and copyright’, industry experts delved into the dynamic digital landscape in India, to unravel the intricate intersections of artificial intelligence, copyright, and the ever-evolving legal environment.
Moderated by Uday Singh, managing director, Motion Picture Association, the panel included Rohit Pandharkar, partner at Ernst & Young, Pravin Anand, managing partner at Anand and Anand, Niraj Ruparel, emerging tech lead for WPP India and Gautam K M, partner at K Law.
The discussion addressed the challenges of defining authorship and ownership in works produced by AI, whilst also tackling the increasingly rising hurdles posed by deep fakes.
Uday Singh underscored the importance of flexible legislation to maintain a delicate balance between protecting creators' rights, encouraging innovation, and ensuring public access to AI-generated works, as he delved into the nuances of these issues with the panelists.
Speaking about the complexities that need to be considered while dealing with the ethical and legal aspects of an AI-human hybrid creation, Rohit Pandharkar of Ernst & Young surmised, “It's an interesting area and I feel all you have to do is embrace the technology but make sure that artists’ rights are protected and we create a magical world—a world of equality, where AI and humans treat each other with a pilot and co-pilot relationship.” He drew a parallel from the real world, where the human being is like a pilot who drives a plane and the co-pilot is the one sitting beside the pilot to assist them in navigating.
The panel also dwelled on the possibilities presented by machine-generated content while navigating the complex legal frameworks governing AI-based creativity, with a specific focus on the legalities.
Taking the discourse ahead, Niraj Ruparel, who heads emerging tech at WPP India quipped that his best friends at the organisation are legal folks now. “I specialise in using the power of creativity and AI to deliver solutions for marketers. And of every 10 ideas that we propose for marketing campaigns, nearly 8 are shot down citing what could go wrong.”
"We now are a team of about 150 people, of which at least 5 are legal folks who are working as a part of this community," he said. He also shared that in a space like Creative AI, they start the conversation with the legal team at least 6 months prior to launching a campaign to get around the necessary legal hurdles.
Ruparel cited the example of the ‘
Young Sachin’ campaign executed for Ageas life insurance, which was one of the foremost AI-campaigns crafted before technology like chatGPTs became popular, according to him.
The panel took a hard look at the challenges of navigating the myriad complexities shaping the future of creativity in the digital era, where artificial intelligence converges to redefine the boundaries of innovation and expression surrounding deepfake technologies.
"While AI can be predominantly used to solve a problem, there are many utilities that one can create with it, provided we take into account all the possible legal issues that can arise from it in India well in advance," Gautam K M stated.
The discussion also addressed the increasingly prevalent challenges presented by deep fakes while also throwing light on the complexities of determining authorship and ownership in AI-generated works.
In conclusion, the session emphasised the necessity for adaptive legislation to maintain a delicate equilibrium between safeguarding creators' rights, fostering innovation, and ensuring public access to AI-generated works.
