MAM
Sony and Max bag 12 awards at Promax&BDA
MUMBAI: At the Promax&BDA Awards held in New York on 23 June, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has bagged four awards (one BDA Silver and three BDA Bronze), while Max swept away eight awards.
Commenting on the same, SET India chief operating officer NP Singh said, “It is indeed an honour to be recognised at a prestigious platform such as the Promax&BDA. The flagship channels of SET India – Sony and Max have been consistently applauded for innovative initiatives be it programming or marketing. These awards are a testimony to the exceptional efforts of our personnel within the organisation.”
Sony bagged the BDA Silver winner for Promotional Items, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin – Special Cover with Special Cancellation. The Special cover was an innovation as part of the marketing campaign of Jassi… wherein the Postal department issued a Special cover commemorating the first anniversary of the show.
The channel bagged two BDA Bronze for Best Program Campaign for Indian Idol. It also bagged the BDA Bronze for Best Channel ID.
SET executive vice president and business head Tarun Katial said, “We are very glad to see India being recognised at a global platform and receiving recognition of the distinctive work that Sony has undertaken to reach out to the marketing, advertising and media community. Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin and Indian Idol in particular reflect the channel’s success in consistently breaking the mould in an industry that has traditionally been ruled by ‘poster type’ advertising.”
On the other hand, Max has bagged the Promax Gold and Silver awards for excellent art direction and design – Special Event Promo for ‘Bliss’ (a campaign promoting cricket featuring Mandira Bedi) and for use of original music composition for ‘Wings of fire’.
This apart, Max has also won three BDA Gold for – Topical promo campaign – ‘Bliss’, ID for Cricket ID, Open for Extraaa Innings and two BDA Silver for art direction & design; Special Events promo-Bliss and sales and marketing presentation for Extraaa Innings.
Max executive vice president and business head Albert Almeida said, “As a brand, Max has always stood for innovation, creativity and attitude – innovation that is visible in our programming efforts, creativity that can be seen across all our communication and finally attitude that is inherent in our core value proposition to the consumer which is ‘Deewana Bana De’. We are delighted at being recognised for our efforts at a global platform like the Promax & BDA.”
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.
