Tata Play, India’s premier content distribution platform, has unveiled ‘Coco’, an AI-assisted puppy mascot, a groundbreaking move that marks the introduction of India’s first AI-augmented brand mascot in the entertainment industry. This pioneering initiative combines the emotional appeal of handcrafted animation with the efficiency and scalability of generative AI technology for character-led storytelling.
The development of Coco, a charming, curious, and clever puppy, was a collaborative effort involving Ogilvy and Aesthetic Intelligence Labs. This collaboration resulted in one of the first mascots in Indian entertainment to be built through a generative AI-driven creative workflow, where AI was central to character design, narrative development, and campaign execution.
To overcome technical challenges like ensuring consistent expressions and textures across different media, the creative team employed a sophisticated hybrid AI pipeline utilizing more than 15 advanced tools. Crucially, they developed a custom visual dataset of over 8,000 frames, enabling the AI to replicate Coco’s emotional depth and physical range with high precision. This unique methodology successfully blends the richness of traditional artistry with the high-efficiency of AI.
The new mascot is designed to embody the core Tata Play brand personality—charming, curious, and clever. Coco will be featured across multiple consumer touchpoints, including:
- Television and Digital Platforms
- The Tata Play Mobile App
- All Customer Communication channels
This ensures the brand’s message remains consistent, emotionally engaging, and easily relatable to its diverse audience.
Krishnendu Dasgupta, Head – Marketing Communications at Tata Play, emphasized that the move is rooted in enhancing the customer experience. “Our use of generative AI at this scale underscores our commitment to leveraging technology in ways that are not just efficient, but also creatively distinct,” he said. He added that Coco is designed to make Tata Play “more relatable, memorable, and seamlessly present across every touchpoint” as consumer attention fragments across various platforms.
Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy, highlighted the mascot’s universal appeal. “Coco embodies the brand’s essence of being reliable, friendly, and always there when you need it,” he noted. The strategy involves creating “short, 20-second stories” to naturally and engagingly showcase Tata Play’s features.
Carol Goyal, Executive Director of Aesthetic Intelligence Lab, called Coco a “symbol of the seamless blend between artistry and technology.” She affirmed that the project is a “testament to how AI can revolutionize storytelling while keeping it authentic and humanised” by leveraging generative AI and a custom-trained visual dataset.
With the launch of Coco, Tata Play signals a bold strategic shift in using cutting-edge technology for brand-building, showcasing how generative AI can deliver scalable, consistent, and emotionally rich narratives that truly resonate with today’s modern media audience.
Key Highlights:
- Tata Play has introduced ‘Coco’, India’s first AI-augmented puppy mascot, developed in collaboration with Ogilvy and Aesthetic Intelligence Labs.
- Coco was built using a generative AI-driven creative workflow and a hybrid pipeline of over 15 tools, including a custom dataset of 8,000 frames to ensure consistent emotional depth and design fidelity.
- The mascot will be present across all consumer touchpoints (TV, digital, app, customer communication) to make the brand more relatable, memorable, and consistent.
- The initiative represents a pioneering step in the Indian entertainment industry, demonstrating how AI can create highly scalable, yet authentic, character-based storytelling.