MAM
Mirchi Kaan Awards take place next month
MUMBAI: In order to recognise work done by advertising agencies on radio Radio Mirch had launched the Mirchi Kaan Awards last year. The second edition will take place on 22 April 2005.
According to an official release, radio today is acknowledged by national advertisers. At present, the advertising fraternity recognises and credits the work carried by television and print advertising medium through the Abbys and the AAAI awards. While both awards have a radio section adequate prominence has not been given attributed to the category. Hence Radio Mirchi came up with the idea for its awards show
The judging will be conducted by a broad segment of industry professionals, comprising of names known for presiding over a section of awards Cannes, the most recognised awards for the advertising fraternity the world over.
Entertainment Network (India) COO Prashant Panday said, “Category building is an important aspect of radio advertising. With a visible lack of any awards instituted to laud excellence in radio advertising, we decided to institute these awards last year. Our objective is to provide a forum through which the advertising industry can showcase its creativity, reward individual accomplishment, and set new standards against which future advertising will be judged.”
McCann-Erickson regional creative director south and south-east Asia Prasoon Joshi said, “Presentation of awards is solely on the basis of merit and is not mandatory in any category. Thus some categories may have more than one winner whereas other categories may not have top winners. Interestingly, in the first year of these awards, none of the entries qualified for the GOLD category, because of the sheer paucity of talent. But clearly radio advertising has evolved over the last one year as is obvious from the sneak preview of the entries received this year.”
The 20 categories will look at the best in radio advertising. Meanwhile the crystal award will go to the Agency of the Year.
Radio Mirchi will sponsor two radio creative writers below the age of 30, to the Cannes Advertising festival. The panel of judges will comprise professional from advertising stalwarts and names in the business including Abhijeet Choudhary, D Ramakrishnan, Elsie Nanjie, Gangadharan Menon, K.V.Sridhar, Mohammed Khan, Piyush Pandey, Prahlad Kakkar, Prasoon Joshi, R. Balakrishnan, Rajat Dholakia, Ram Madhvani, Ram Sampath, Ravi Deshpande and Rekha Nigam.
There are special awards for the most outstanding voice of the year, radio writer of the year, excellence in production and client of the year. Last year’s winners included McCann Erickson, JWT Bangalore, Euro RSCG, and Everest Mumbai.
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
