MAM
MRUC puts the ball in RSCI court; INS sticks to its 24-hour ultimatum
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The last couple of days have been a nail-biting one for everyone having an interest in the Indian Readership Survey. From the time the IRS 2013 was made public, publishers of newspapers and magazines have gone through a lot of turmoil because of the data provided.
As claimed by many, IRS 2013 has a lot of anomalies and hence, after a meeting on Monday, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) gave an ultimatum to Media Research Users Council (MRUC) to withdraw IRS 2013 within 24 hours or else face its rejection by publishers.
MRUC today held an emergency meeting to decide on how to respond to the ultimatum by INS. After the meeting, MRUC issued a statement saying it cannot unilaterally decide on the withdrawal the latest readership survey.
The Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), a joint body of MRUC and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), has called for a meeting on 19 February before any further decision is taken.
“Unlike three years ago, MRUC no longer can take a decision on its own. RSCI will take a final call now,” says IRS Technical Committee Chairman Paritosh Joshi.
The members of MRUC unanimously voiced their opinion on the findings. They said decided aspects of the study will be placed before the RSCI to help the broader community of stakeholders convince themselves about the study’s robustness and integrity. The IRS 2013 was contracted to Nielsen.
Joshi feels that a new methodology was used for IRS 2013, which could have caused some confusion amongst the stakeholders and that they will need time to understand not only the findings but also the methodology which has gone into it.
The MRUC statement said IRS 2013 cannot be compared with past readership surveys and that the findings are based on the latest census data. It also goes on to say that the study design includes a margin of error.
INS continues to stick to its 24-hour ultimatum given on Monday, 3 January, according to INS newsprint committee chairman Mohit Jain.
Jain told indiantelevision.com, “The report submitted by MRUC (today) has been considered in-depth and the members (of INS) have taken a decision to collectively to reject it.”
INS members were still in a meeting on the issue at the time of filing the story.
Click here to read MRUC’s statement
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
