AD Agencies
FB-WPP to nurture mobile-first creativity tools
MUMBAI: Facebook has hosted the creative ambassador programme for WPP creative agencies in Mumbai. The programme was aimed at educating WPP Creative agencies in a scaled way and empower them to develop award winning, mobile first creatives that exceed their clients’ business objectives.
As the adoption of mobile accelerates in India, it is transforming the way people are discovering, experiencing, sharing and connecting with people, ideas and organisations that matter to them. With the “Creative Ambassador Program,” Facebook is focused on helping partners develop ideas that intrigue and engage for the mobile world. The program was launched in Asia-Pacific in June last year and has been rolled out in Hong Kong, Singapore and now in India.
“Mobile is the future of consumer and brand interaction. Nowhere is such opportunity more evident than in Asia and in particular, India with smartphones fast becoming the device of choice for spending,” says WPP India country manager Ranjan Kapur.
The program was launched in Asia-Pacific in June last year and has been rolled out in Hong Kong, Singapore and now in India.
Facebook India and South Asia managing director Umang Bedi, said, “Creative agencies have always been at the forefront of every award winning creative work and we see great potential in working together to make rich creative expressions on Facebook and Instagram. The Creative Ambassador Program will help us bring together and educate creative talent to leverage the Facebook targeting tools and personalized marketing at scale to build brands and produce best in class work in a mobile-first world.”
The two-day programme was run by Facebook’s Agency team, Creative Shop team and Blueprint team. It kicked off with a deep dive into different segments of the creative journey with Facebook and Instagram on the first day, and was attended by top creative directors, planning directors, copywriters and client leaders from WPP agencies across India. Day two of the program included partnering with the Blueprint team to run Blueprint Live, a bespoke version especially for Creative Agencies that helps them to come up with “the big idea” and creative concepts.
WPP chief digital and strategy officer Scott Spirit said, “WPP agencies are constantly reinventing ways in which clients can reach out to their audiences. By partnering with Facebook, WPP agencies will have access to the latest technology and knowledge that will enable them to help clients stay ahead of the curve.”
This global programme was co-created by Scott Spirit, Global Head of Strategy for WPP and Edel Horgan, APAC Lead on WPP for Facebook. The partnership program will be expanded to Australia this year, followed by New York to ensure people are up-to-speed on everything Facebook and Instagram has to offer and ensure creative agencies never miss out on new opportunities.
AD Agencies
The smell that told Mumbaikars which station was next
Tata AIA turns Mumbai’s Parle-G memory into a sharp, city-wise outdoor play
MUMBAI: When a biscuit factory became Mumbai’s unofficial station announcement. Long before smartphone maps and automated announcements, commuters on Mumbai’s Western line relied on their noses. As trains rolled into Vile Parle, compartments filled with the warm, sweet smell of baking biscuits from the Parle-G factory. It was a cue to gather bags, wake dozing children and shuffle towards the door.
Now that memory has been pressed into service by Tata AIA Life Insurance as part of its 25-year anniversary outdoor campaign — a city-by-city salute to the lived moments that shape urban life.
One hoarding, mounted close to the old factory site, reads: “We have been protecting Mumbaikars since Vile Parle smelled of freshly made biscuits.” Spare. Local. Loaded.
The broader campaign, rolled out across major metros, leans hard into contextual storytelling. In Kolkata, it nods to trams. In Pune, to Magarpatta’s transformation. In Bengaluru, to a time before IT parks. In Chennai, to OMR before it led to tech corridors. Each line anchors the brand’s longevity to a shared civic memory.
The Mumbai execution is the most evocative. For decades, the Parle-G factory was more than a production unit. It was a sensory landmark. Residents nearby set their clocks by the factory horn. Office-goers marked their commute by the waft of glucose and flour. When the plant shut, the city lost more than jobs. It lost a rhythm.
By placing the hoarding beside the former factory, the insurer collapses distance between copy and context. The site does half the storytelling. The rest comes from commuters who remember opening steel tiffins packed with Parle-G, or jolting awake as the train slowed.
It is a neat piece of brand positioning. Rather than trumpet balance sheets or policy counts, Tata AIA borrows emotional equity from the city itself. Twenty-five years becomes less a milestone and more a presence — steady, local, embedded.
Outdoor advertising is often a blunt instrument. This one is anything but. It whispers. It remembers. And in doing so, it sells trust without sounding like it is selling at all.
The scent may have faded. The memory has not.
