MAM
Ad Club Bombay’s Ad review on 17 February
MUMBAI: The day of reckoning – 17 February 2003 at 5:45 pm; the venue- Presidential Room, Hotel President, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai; the event- Ad Club Bombay’s ‘Annual Ad Review’!
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Pepsi Co India chairman Rajeev Bakshi |
The entire Indian ad industry will wait for the expert opinion of Pepsi chairman Rajeev Bakshi, the genius who has taken MNC giants Pepsi and Cadbury from strength to strength.
Bakshi has been acclaimed for the way in which he turned around Cadbury India’s fortunes. Bakshi had been with Cadbury for more than a decade. For eight years, he was designated as the VP for marketing and sales for Cadbury India post which he was sent to the parent company’s headquarters in London for a stint. He returned back and was appointed as managing director of Cadbury India.
In February 2001 Bakshi was moved to South Africa as managing director and Matthew Cadbury, son of Cadbury Schweppes board chairman Adrian Cadbury succeeded him in India.
The Ad Club review session on 17 February will look at the year’s (2002) work in the most objective manner possible. Bakshi will focus on the landmarks of the year 2002. Picking out the best, pointing out the flaws, suggesting remedies, projecting trends… it’s a soul-searching exercise for the entire industry. Over the years, the occasion has been graced by ad greats like Alyque Padamsee, Ivan Arthur, Gautam Rakshit, Ishan Raina, Mohammed Khan and Piyush Pandey.
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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.
