MAM
Ajay Chandwani is new Percept H CEO
MUMBAI: Percept H, a joint venture between Percept and Japanese firm Hakuhudo, has roped in former SSC&B Lintas president Ajay Chandwani as chief executive officer of the company.
The vacancy was created after CEO Rajesh Pant was moved to head Posterscope MENA (Middle East and North Africa), as part of Percept’s plans to spread its footprint across the globe. Percept H offers services like account management, account planning, creative and market research and has a wide range of clients including Bharti, Siyaram, Bajaj Tempo and Sahara.
Chandwani was responsible at SSC&B for gaining brands like Mercedez Benz, Hexit, Philips, Parachute, Kissan, Walls Max candy, Green label whisky, Hero Group, Vardhman Group and Moser Baer.
Assisting Chandwani is Prabhakar Mundukur who has joined as chief operating officer. He was earlier with J Walter Thompson where he worked as business development director.
Pant, who would have been based out of Dubai, was given the responsibility of setting up a whole new division in Posterscope MENA, but has decided instead to explore new opportunities.
Percept is now scouting for a CEO of Posterscope MENA to replace Pant. The Indian operations of Posterscope started in 2003 and the company quickly rose to become the top five outdoor agencies in the country. It has clients like Airtel, Pilsbury, Pantaloon, Sahara India and Afro Asian Games.
Pursuing its global plans, Percept Group’s celebrity management and event marketing arm Percept D’Mark (PDM) recently set up its international operations out of Dubai. Sanjay Lal, who was founder and executive director of PDM India, has moved to Dubai as managing director and CEO of PDM International. Preeta Singh, earlier with O&M, has been put in charge of PDM India.
Pant, meanwhile, has joined Mirza Tanners Ltd (makers of the well known footwear brand Red Tape) as director for a new division that the company has launched. Pant has been appointed as director Red Tape Asia, his ambit being to expand the Red Tape product line beyond just high-end footwear into a fashion brand. Pant will also have the responsibility of setting up a retail chain of Red Tape “lifestyle” stores across Asia and the Middle East (India included of course).
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.
