MAM
Star Sports: A new logo, packaging & brand identity
MUMBAI: It was a historic moment for Star India when on 6 November at the stroke of midnight it unveiled the new identity for six of its sports channels – Star Sports1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD 2 – and its website (starsports.com). (Star Sports 3 replaced Star Cricket, while Star Sports 4 replaced ESPN and Star Cricket HD and ESPN HD were rebranded as Star Sports HD1 and HD2.)
Today all the channels have a single logo – a star with a thinner silver outline with a streak of colours swishing into it. “The new brand identity is a metallic star with an explosive incandescent trail symbolizing the authority and passion of sports,” elaborates Star India exec VP marketing Gayatri Yadav.
The Star India broadcast design team and the UK-based brand consultancy Venturethree have created the brand identity while the broadcast package has been designed by Los Angeles based design and branding studio Capacity. Venturethree has a client roster that includes Myspace, The Times, Orange, Penguin, Reliance Industries, king.com and Discovery Communications while Capacity has done work for the NFL (national football league) and CW channel.
“The bold new star icon is to stand for a new era of sport. The star is sharp, bold and iconic. It brings strength and authority to the channel. The incandescent trail is explosive and dynamic. It brings the intensity and passion of sports to life. The fiery trail ignites and unites every sport, every player and every fan. It’s the glue that runs through everything on the channel. This expresses the fluid and dynamic nature of sports,” says Yadav.
Sridhar feels that it is just a matter of habit for people to star using the new names
The unified logo highlights the network’s ambition “to change the face of sports broadcasting in the country’ as well as provide world-class sports coverage to Indian sports fans. “To signal the change to the consumer, Star India is bringing all the six diverse TV channels under one brand name, Star Sports, and one purpose ‘believe’,” says Yadav.
According to Leo Burnett Chief creative officer K V Sridhar, the new logo is much more energetic and brings through the focus they are trying to put with Star Sports. “It is a Diwali colourful logo. Their biggest challenge is to merge ESPN and Star Sports. Now promoting their channels will become much easier for them. What they are doing is just the beginning because they are taking upon themselves a very beautiful and visionary strategy to make Star synonymous with sports,” he says.
Wouldn’t it be a difficult task for those used to calling the channels by their former names? “It is actually simpler than before now and it is just a matter of habit before people will start referring to a channel like- Star Sports channel 3,” quips Sridhar.
If it does happen as Sridhar predicts, it will be a job well done.
MAM
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.
